Courage Under Fire (1996)

Featured Audience Ratings

• danny d

  
  the rashomon technique employed by a great director and a wonderful cast, the film was intriguing and the characters compelling. one of washington and zwicks 3 films together.

• Anthony L

  
  Not brilliant. A good cast but no great performances.

• Dan S

  
  An extremely well-told story about honor, loyalty, and doing the right thing even when the wrong way is the easiest. Denzel, like always, gives a great performance as a conflicted, disgraced former captain who carries a heavy load on his shoulders, in addition to trying to validate… More
  An extremely well-told story about honor, loyalty, and doing the right thing even when the wrong way is the easiest. Denzel, like always, gives a great performance as a conflicted, disgraced former captain who carries a heavy load on his shoulders, in addition to trying to validate why a courageous soldier (Meg Ryan) deserves to be awarded the medal of honor posthumously. The different stories that are shown in this movie are incredibly integrated into an emotionally heavy plot which requires a lot from its viewers. Ryan is surprisingly great, you'd think she'd be a total miscast, but she is nothing short of outstanding here. The ending is very fitting, although certainly depressing. An overall great movie, one that deserves to be seen.

• Jani H

  
  "Now let's kill 'em all." Edward Zwick, director of top movies like "Glory" and "The Last Samurai", is probably a distant relative to Steven Spielberg. Most of his movies suffer from an overdose of melodrama, and "Courage Under Fire"… More
  "Now let's kill 'em all." Edward Zwick, director of top movies like "Glory" and "The Last Samurai", is probably a distant relative to Steven Spielberg. Most of his movies suffer from an overdose of melodrama, and "Courage Under Fire" is a perfect example of that. I'm not a big fan of these movies that market themselves as war movies but end up being some desk officers chase for the truth. They tend to be quite slowpaced and all of a sudden pumped with aggressive discussions between two sides. The opening scene must be one of the most stupid war scenes I've ever witnessed. I'll admit, I'm not a specialist of armoured vehicle battle, but I know something about tactics and planning. I hate illogical scenes that try to be something tense and electrifying. Denzel Washington does a decent portrayal, as always, but Meg Ryan was totally wrongly cast. I've learned to like her in romcoms etc but as an officer very much unconvincing.. Some actors are just typecasted to some specific roles, that's all. I noticed that I started to enjoy the film much more during the last quarter, or so, as the story finally started to get more compelling. But "Courage Under Fire" doesn't step up enough to be something above average.

• Lenny M

  
  Descent film, good casting (LDP), Meg Ryan not good as a soldier.

• Dean M

  
  Magnificent story after the Gulf War where a troubled office must now uncover is the truth about a female pilot could be a hero of the war.

• xGary X

  
  Decent wartime drama as Denzel Washington invetigates the death of helicopter pilot Meg Ryan. An interesting story told in retrospect from differing perspectives despite the unpromising cast.

• Jason S

  
  Pretty good but a little boring at times. If you like the courtroom drama and war movies then this might be a good fit for you.

• Dean !

  
  A pretty good military based drama. Denzel leads an investigation into whether or not a pilot was a hero or not.

• Bradley W

  
  Courage Under Fire is a incredibly tenseful thriller, and its also a mystery of the death of a soldier. The plot cares about the main character and that made the film very likable, then we switch to this mysterious circumstance of a soldiers death and the film really gets intense and… More
  Courage Under Fire is a incredibly tenseful thriller, and its also a mystery of the death of a soldier. The plot cares about the main character and that made the film very likable, then we switch to this mysterious circumstance of a soldiers death and the film really gets intense and I could tell that what they were going for. As for the cast, Denzel Washington is brilliant as usual and the scenes with Meg Ryan were very memorable, these two performances saved the films ensemble cast and it just seems like if Edward Zwick makes any film then it will automatically have incredible acting. The film is one of the best films directed by Edward Zwick even if I did have some problems with how the film follows up, and when I say that I mean I guess I was hoping for a more shoking conclusion. But this is me complaining about a great film that I highly reccomend.

• Mark K

  
  The study of a soldiers' experience in war has always fascinated movie audiences. Some of these films are jingoistic and some are realistic. Some, like Courage Under Fire are a hybrid of battlefield drama and investigative drama, almost a whodunit, and it does a good job… More
  The study of a soldiers' experience in war has always fascinated movie audiences. Some of these films are jingoistic and some are realistic. Some, like Courage Under Fire are a hybrid of battlefield drama and investigative drama, almost a whodunit, and it does a good job straddling those genres. It was unique in a numbers of ways: It dealt with a contemporary conflict, a female soldier was the focus of the story, and it told the story from multiple character perspectives to arrive at the true scenario. Like any detective solving a crime, you have to interview witnesses, and each is a human with a different perspective. Well written and intelligently directed Edward Zwick, Courage Under Fire is a Denzel Washington vehicle, (collaboration that went back to Zwick's Glory film in '89) but has some great supporting cast members like Matt Damon (a fascinating character); Lou Diamond Phillips and of course Meg Ryan as the deceased Medal of Honor winner whose courage is called into question. The movie also touches on the often-asked: 'What really happened out there?' theme, which we've seen in the recent Iraq conflict many times. Thought the press involvement in Courage Under Fire is strictly secondary to the military investigation by Denzel's character, you can't help but think that this film resonates well today. It's also interesting to see how the attitude has changed since 1996. In the film, clearly the military is doing its best to understand what happened 'out there' because it assigns someone of high integrity like Denzel Washington's character. Today, with all the Tillman-type stories that have circulated, the attitude is clearly that we can't believe these military investigations alone, we still have to question authority. Washington introduces the concept of that as an insider, and does a good job of that, risking his own career. Although the action sequence makes up a small part of the film, it's chillingly similar to things we've seen in Hurt Locker, Valley of Elah, and other films. There are some inaccuracies in terms of weapons allowed on that type of chopper used, and there was little support from the Department of Defense on the film, so that hurts the overall technical aspects. However, if Courage Under Fire has non-technical faults, it's because it's a little over-the-top in terms of the emotions, but other than that the court sequences are tightly handled, and the resolution is quite a bit different from what you might expect. A good film, and deserving of another look if you missed it the first time around.

• Donna D

  
  Denzel Washington did a great job in this movie.

• Marcus W

  
  Does Meg Ryan deserve a medal? There wouldn't be a happy ending if she didn't. It's just a shame it takes them 47 hours to decide.

• Chosen 7

  
  Good film. Great performances by Denzel Washington, Matt Damon, and Lou Diamond Phillips. Good performance by Meg Ryan.

• monty h

  
  Exceptional drama that has two plots crossing over. The first one is the opening scene as American forces are battling the enemy in Kuwait under Operation Desert Storm. Tanks led by LT Colonel Nathaniel Serling (a riveting Denzel Washington) are engaging the enemy when a mistake leads… More
  Exceptional drama that has two plots crossing over. The first one is the opening scene as American forces are battling the enemy in Kuwait under Operation Desert Storm. Tanks led by LT Colonel Nathaniel Serling (a riveting Denzel Washington) are engaging the enemy when a mistake leads to a friendly fire casualty. Serling's friend is killed in the accident and Serling himself is the one to blame. Flash forward a few years and Serling is requested by his superior to lead an inquiry into rescue pilot Captain Karen Walden (Meg Ryan) who is to receive a posthumous Medal of Honor award. But as Serling begins his investigation, conflicting stories begin to cast doubt on the whole situation. This is really a strong and intriguing movie with top notch performances. Denzel is solid as usual. Lou Diamond Phillips is fiery as Sgt Monfriez, one of Walden's crew. Matt Damon is very good in an early role as her medic. And Meg Ryan herself shines in one of her few dramatic roles. She imbues Karen with heroic and strong values. She easily carries the role off and makes you realize she is a really good actress. We knew she could handle comedy, but she handles drama just fine also. There are also several explosive battle scenes that add to the movie, but doesn't over power it. The only regret is that Denzel and Meg have no scenes together since their stories take place at different points but still Courage Under Fire is an excellent movie. As a former soldier I can relate to all the jargon and customs and can say the film makers did it an awesome job. A wonderful music score is an added bonus. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nathaniel Serling: I think, uh... in order to honor a soldier like Karen Walden, we have to tell the truth, General, about what happened over there. The whole, hard... cold truth. And until we do that, uh, we dishonor her and every soldier who died, who gave their life for their country. [Colonel Sterling gets up out of his chair, walks over to General Hershberg and throws his report on the desk] Nathaniel Serling: My full report General.

• Leo L

  
  Fantastic movie!

• Anthony V

  
  Interesting take on Rashômon.

Read all 17 featured audience ratings