Casualties of War (1989)
82%RT Audience Score: 75%
Awards & Nominations: 1 win & 5 nominations
Casualties of War takes a harrowing plunge into the Vietnam War with a well-acted ensemble piece that ranks among director Brian De Palma’s more mature efforts
Casualties of War is a movie that will make you feel like you’re in the trenches of Vietnam. Michael J. Fox’s performance is a standout, and the direction and score are top-notch. But don’t be fooled, this movie is not for the faint of heart. It’s a sobering reminder of the atrocities of war and the dehumanizing effects it can have on soldiers. However, if you’re looking for a film that will leave you feeling like you’ve been through a war yourself, then Casualties of War is the movie for you. Just make sure you have some tissues handy.
Production Company(ies)
Alfred J. Hitchcock Productions,
Distributor
Columbia Pictures
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
Phuket, Thailand
MPAA / Certificate
R
Year of Release
1989
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby
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Aspect ratio:2.39 : 1
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Runtime:1h 53m
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Language(s):English, Vietnamese
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Aug 18, 1989 Original
Release Date (Streaming): Dec 11, 2001
Genre(s)
War/Drama
Keyword(s)
Worldwide gross: $18,671,317
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $45,497,742
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,382
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 4,961,586
US/Canada gross: $18,671,317
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $45,497,742
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,116
US/Canada opening weekend: $5,201,261
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $12,674,287
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 876
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $22,500,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $54,827,370
Production budget ranking: 733
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $29,524,539
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): -$38,854,166
ROI to date (est.): -46%
ROI ranking: 1,663
Ron Yuan – Hing
Mykel Shannon Jenkins – Jim
Jae Suh Park – Caryn
Raymond Ma – Sifu Wong
Matthew Page – Carter
Director(s)
Brian De Palma
Writer(s)
David Rabe
Producer(s)
Fred C. Caruso, Art Linson
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
1 win & 5 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (47) | Top Critics (12) | Fresh (39) | Rotten (8)
Casualties of War is the strongest, the simplest and the most painful of all the Vietnam movies because it isn’t about how terrible it is not to understand what’s going on around us — it’s about the agony of seeing terrible things too clearly.
January 11, 2020
Terrence Rafferty
Sight & Sound
TOP CRITIC
Michael J. Fox is a revelation as the mouse that roared, whilst the score, the direction, and the rest of the cast turn a risky film into a solid addition to the Nam canon.
March 16, 2015 | Rating: 4/5
Ian Nathan
Empire Magazine
TOP CRITIC
There’s a moral charge to the action, but it’s also swooningly exciting, coldly scary. Every friend may be an enemy, every innocent a traitor.
March 16, 2015
Michael Wilmington
Los Angeles Times
TOP CRITIC
A powerful metaphor of the national shame that was America’s orgy of destruction in Vietnam, Brian De Palma’s film deals directly with the harrowing rape and murder of a Vietnamese woman by four GIs.
March 26, 2009
Variety Staff
Variety
TOP CRITIC
De Palma uses his consummate filmmaking skill to craft a reflection of his own grave sorrow about the Vietnam era.
September 6, 2006 | Rating: 4/4
Eric Henderson
Slant Magazine
TOP CRITIC
Casualties of War is dull.
June 24, 2006
Brian Case
Time Out
TOP CRITIC
A grim and sobering work.
May 30, 2021 | Rating: 3/4
Matt Brunson
Film Frenzy
Does Vietnam have a geographical place, a national history, a culture, or a political future? Not really, for as we are reassured at the end of Brian De Palma’s military slasher film, Casualties of War, Vietnam was after all only a “bad dream.”
May 19, 2020
Peter Bowen
OutWeek
Speaking to our near-masochistic desire to revisit works in the hope that we can reverse the tragic outcome, Casualties of War perhaps transcends the very label of “war film.”
July 20, 2016
Ethan Vestby
The Film Stage
The strong conclusion ensures that the film ends on a somewhat powerful note…
May 10, 2016 | Rating: 3/4
David Nusair
Reel Film Reviews
Makes us look at the mistaken Vietnam War as something that’s dehumanizing.
May 28, 2015 | Rating: B-
Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews
This Vietnam War saga, inspired by a true story, is among De Palma’s better pictures, devoid of his usual gimmicry and cynicism.
April 23, 2011 | Rating: B+
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com…
Plot
During the Vietnam war, a girl is taken from her village by five American soldiers. Four of the soldiers rape her, but the fifth refuses. The young girl is killed. The fifth soldier is determined that justice will be done. The film is more about the realities of war, rather than this single event.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
NA
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