Casualties of War
![Watch film Casualties of War — Casualties of War (1989) Original Trailer [FHD]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/2S5uKG0uCLo/sddefault.jpg)
Short description
Based on a real incident during the Vietnam War, Casualties of War follows Private Eriksson, a recent arrival in Vietnam who is rescued from danger by Sergeant Meserve and initially feels loyalty toward him. That bond is tested when Meserve, after the squad's radio operator is killed, orders the kidnapping of a young Vietnamese woman so the men can use her for their own purposes. Eriksson refuses to take part, and as the patrol's actions turn violent, he finds himself isolated from his fellow soldiers, including those who were once his comrades, and forced to weigh his duty to the unit against his own conscience.
Brian De Palma directed the film, the thirteenth of the twenty-four features listed in chronological order, arriving between The Untouchables in 1987 and The Bonfire of the Vanities in 1990. David Rabe wrote the screenplay, Art Linson produced, and Columbia Pictures released it. Michael J. Fox plays Eriksson, with Sean Penn as Meserve. The cast also includes Don Harvey, John C. Reilly, John Leguizamo and Thuy Thu Le as Oanh, among forty-four credited performers. The production had a budget of 23 million dollars and took in about 19 million worldwide, a return below its cost.
Audience response has been solid rather than overwhelming: on IMDb the film holds 7.1 out of 10 from roughly 52,000 votes, and on TMDB it sits at 7.2 from just over a thousand. A critics' rating of 7.4 from fifty reviews places it somewhat above those audience scores, suggesting that reviewers rated the film more favorably than general viewers did.
What's left behind the scenes
- The film is based on Daniel Lang's novel "Casualties of War" (1969), which he wrote after his own article on the same real-life events for The New Yorker.
- A body double was used for the scenes with the nude heroine, as nudity on screen is taboo for women in Southeast Asian countries.
- John C. Reilly's first film role.
- Eriksson falls asleep on a city tram in San Francisco. The prologue and epilogue of the film were shot there.
- To elicit the desired reaction from Michael J. Fox, Sean Penn would criticize the actor before each take, claiming that Fox was nothing special and was just another soap opera actor.
- The script is based on a real incident involving servicemen of the 1st Cavalry Division of the US Army.
- Michael J. Fox repeatedly gave gifts to people who chased away cobras that crawled onto the set.
- As John Leguizamo (who played Diaz) wrote in his autobiography, the scene where Sergeant Meserve, played by Sean Penn, hits Diaz was filmed in only 14 takes, and each of Penn's punches was quite palpable and painful.
- Stephen Baldwin was initially cast in the role of Hatcher and even filmed several scenes, but the role was then given to John C. Reilly, who was originally cast in a minor role.
- During filming in Thailand, many actors became ill as their immune systems could not cope with the local food.
- According to director Brian De Palma, he wanted to film this movie as early as 1969, when he read an article titled "Casualty Reports" in "The New Yorker" weekly. At that time, it was impossible, as the Vietnam War was still ongoing, and it remained impossible even after the war ended. The management of "Paramount Pictures" only gave the director permission for this project in the late 1980s, riding the wave of success of war dramas such as "Platoon" (Oliver Stone, 1986) and "Full Metal Jacket" (Stanley Kubrick, 1987), as well as his own crime thriller "The Untouchables" (1987).
- The man who stabbed and then shot his rape victim was former First Class Private Stephen Thomas, depicted as Clark in the film. Thomas received a 20-year prison sentence for murder and rape, but the sentence was reduced to 8 years with the possibility of parole after 4 years. Upon his release, Thomas became the head of an organization called "The World Church of the Creator," which preached the supremacy of the white race and agitated for a white war against all other races. In 1992, Thomas was accused of complicity in the murder of a Black air traffic controller for the U.S. Navy.
Similar movies
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
