CASUALTIES OF WAR (EXTENDED CUT) (DVD/WS 2.40 A/DD 5.1/ENG-SUB/FR-SP-PO-BOT DVD

Casualties of War
Casualties of War was based on a New Yorker article by Daniel Lang. This, in turn, was inspired by a true incident which illustrated the dehumanizing aspects of the Vietnam experience. Michael J. Fox plays Eriksson, a member of an American squadron stationed in the deepest jungles of Southeast Asia. Sean Penn co-stars as Meserve, the squadron sergeant, who vows revenge after his best friend is killed. He orders his men to invade a village and "requisition" a young Vietnamese girl (Thuy Thu Lee), who is repeatedly tied, gagged and gang-raped. The horrified Eriksson refuses to participate in these atrocities, and he does his best to console the girl and to attempt to free her. Before this can happen, however, Meserve orders another man to kill the girl. Once he returns to camp, Eriksson attempts to file a report on the tragedy and to bring Meserve and the others to justice, but he is stonewalled by the brass and threatened with death by his fellow soldiers. Eventually Meserve and his co-conspirators are jailed for their crimes, but Eriksson can never forget his "compliance" in the incident by failing to save the girl. The script is by well-known playwright David Rabe. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Cast Michael J. Fox as Pfc. Eriksson Sean Penn as Sgt. Meserve Don Harvey as Clark John C. Reilly as Hatcher John Leguizamo as Diaz Thuy Thu Le as Oahn Erik King as Brown, Radio Man Jack Gwaltney as Rowan Ving Rhames as Lt. Reilly Dale Dye as Capt. Hill Sam Robards as Chaplain Kirk Darren E. Burrows as Cherry Ba Thuan T. Le as Oahn's Mother

Crew Bernard Hides - Art Director Art Smith, Jr. - Consultant/advisor Fred Caruso - Co-producer Art Linson - Co-producer Richard Bruno - Costume Designer Brian De Palma - Director Bill Pankow - Editor Ennio Morricone - Composer (Music Score) Paul Engelen - Makeup Wolf Kroeger - Production Designer Bernard Hides - Production Designer Stephen H. Burum - Cinematographer Hugh Scaife - Set Designer Peter Hancock - Set Designer Kit West - Special Effects Peter Odabashian - Sound Editor Jeff Jensen - Stunts David Rabe - Screenwriter Brian De Palma - Screenwriter Daniel Lang - Book Author

Casualties of War
Brian De Palma's films may not be best known for their somber high-mindedness, but the style suits the director well for most of this harrowing, true-life film about the conflict in Vietnam At a time when Platoon received much credit for its supposed realism -- never mind that the characters played by Tom Berenger and Willem Dafoe may as well have been labeled good and bad angels -- the opening sequences of Casualties does an excellent job establishing the complex psychological landscape of the war. Its characters suffer overwhelming fear, frustration, and unrelieved sexual tension in an environment where each minute could be the last. All of which helps to contextualize their later atrocity without in the least forgiving it. Michael J. Fox received criticism for his character's unrelieved goodness, but the film needs him to avoid descending into the moral relativism of its other characters, and Fox plays the role well. He finds himself in good company, as Sean Penn's work ranks among his best and a cast full of the next decade's best character actors fills out the credits. Unfortunately, the film goes slack after Fox and company return to base, as David Rabe's script descends into pontificating, then heads to an unsatisfying finale and an even more puzzling dénouement. But a weak third act only slightly blunts the impact of an otherwise haunting, uncompromising film. ~ Keith Phipps, All Movie Guide
 

Ennio Morricone: Golden Globe, Best Original Score (nominated)

General Specifications: Language Options: English, French, Spanish, Por Subtitle Options: English, French, Spanish, Por Sound Processing: DD5.1: Dolby Digital w/ sub-woofer channel Additional Features: cc All new extended cut includes footage added back into the film Eriksson's War: A conversation with Michael J. Fox The making of Casualties of War DVD Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1: 2.40:1 MPAA Rating: NR DVD Discs Included: 1 DVD Sides: 1 DVD DVD Region Code: 1 Content Length: 119 min   DVD Chapters: Disc #1 -- Casualties of War 1. Start [2:23] 2. Mortar Attack [3:42] 3. Almost Easy Prey [4:15] 4. Brownie's Philosophy [4:08] 5. A Lot to Learn [6:08] 6. Evening Plans [4:12] 7. No Fun Tonight [1:45] 8. Plan for Portable R 'N' R [2:34] 9. Take the Pretty One [3:51] 10. A Modern Genghis Khan? [2:38] 11. Rest 'N' Justification [5:44] 12. Decency Deal [5:12] 13. Real Weapons [7:39] 14. Not the Army [2:33] 15. Gonna Kia Some VC [2:49] 16. Trying to Ease Pain [7:04] 17. Order for an Execution [4:30] 18. Slow Death Under Fire [5:17] 19. Reminder as Warning [2:45] 20. The Way Things Are [2:59] 21. "Maybe it Matters More" [4:18] 22. Illuminating the Terrain [3:42] 23. A Target [4:46] 24. Confession of Failure [3:09] 25. The Remains Remain [2:48] 26. Testimony [4:23] 27. "They Killed Her, Sir" [3:57] 28. End of a Bad Dream [9:36]