Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2908 in DVD
• Released on: 2004-06-07
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Formats: PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: Czech, Danish, Finnish, Hungarian, Icelandic, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Swedish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 112 minutes

Special Features
1.85 Wide Screen
16:9 Wide Screen
DVD 9
English
English
Region 2
Dolby Digital 5.1 English
Dolby Digital 5.1
Interactive Menus
Scene Access
Original Theatrical Trailer
Czech\Danish\Finnish\Hungarian\Icelandic\Norwegian\Polish\Portuguese\Swedish

Synopsis
Following the 1991 Gulf War, Lieutenant Colonel Nathaniel Serling (Denzel Washington) is assigned to review the background of the late Captain Karen Walden (Meg Ryan), who has been posthumously nominated for a medal of honor. While investigating Walden's candidacy, Serling is forced to face his own disillusionment and guilt surrounding the war. As he begins the interviewing process, he uncovers several inconsistencies in the stories told by the late pilot's crew. The three officers, who may or may not have been saved by the captain's actions, all give drastically different accounts of the events leading up to Walden's death. Ilario (Matt Damon) paints Walden as an unselfish, courageous hero, while the surly Monfriez (Lou Diamond Phillips) describes her as a crybaby and a coward. The third soldier, Altameyer (Seth Gilliam), lies dying in an army hospital, mumbling guilty confessions in a medicated haze. Similar to the storytelling technique used in Akira Kurosawa's RASHOMON, director Edward Zwick's COURAGE UNDER FIRE features each officer's account of the fateful incident reenacted onscreen, offering wildly diverse portrayals of Walden. Meg Ryan shines in a role that demands she play one character a multitude of ways. As Serling pieces together the radically different tales of combat, he uncovers the painful truth and simultaneously faces his own pent-up guilt regarding the war.

Customer Reviews

A film narrated from many perspectives
Denzel Washington plays an officer in charge of a tank brigade during the war. The unit he commands is involved in a friendly fire accident that kills one of his own men. After the war he tries to take responsibility for his part in the accident, but his superiors won't allow him to.
Also in the movie Denzel Washington's character seems to have developed drinking problems and other family problems due to his guilt. Whether or not he is actually guilty of anything or not he is consumed by his guilt and states more than once that he just wants to get this investigation right. It is almost as if he feels he can get rid of his guilt by handling this properly.
The character who gets killed is Meg Ryan who doesn't share any screen time with Denzel. Also featured are Matt Damon and Lou Diamond Phillips; members of Ryan's unit.
The filming uses a little known technique known as the Rashomon technique where the versions of each of the unit members are related, and believe me do they conflict ! Watch the film to see to what extent and whether Denzel absolves himself.

Courage under fire
Hi, if you are a fan of denzel washington then don't hesitate, buy this now, if not then still buy it because this is a brilliant war movie. i'll start by saying if you've ever seen the movie "basic" then this is similar to that, this is because it has one man trying to find out the truth of what really happened, appart from this is set in the gulf war, not a training excercise in the jungle. it may sound boring but i can assure you there are plenty of flashbacks with a decent amount of action to keep you interested. if you want to know what it's about read amazons review. p.s if you interested in this film maybe you'll be interested in some other of my reviews. thanks for reading.

A Meg movie that is not a comedy
Lieutenant Colonel Nathaniel Serving (Denzel Washington) makes the ultimate boo boo. In the heat of the moment he targets our side.

While still in a slump over this he is challenged to check out Captain Karen Emma Walden (Meg Ryan) who is inline for the Medal of Honor (posthumously). We go through several conflicting versions of her story as told from different view points of survivors. Each teller seems to have something to hide. Lieutenant Colonel Nathaniel starts to get suspicious as to why he was picked for the job.

Meg Ryan does a good job of portraying the different personalities ascribed to her along with the different scenarios as described in each version of the story.