Courage Under Fire (1996)

A year after a devastating friendly fire incident during the Gulf War, Lt. Colonel Nathaniel Serling (Denzel Washington) is in a Washington, D.C., desk job assigned the rudimentary task of overseeing a Medal of Honor candidate who died in the war. However, the case and soldier in question are a political hot potato--Captain Karen Walden (Meg Ryan) is America's first female soldier to be killed in combat.

Serling soon finds discrepancies in the case of a downed Medevac helicopter in the rocky Kuwait territory. What unfolds in flashback are several versions of Walden's tactics (à la Kurosawa's Rashomon) to rescue the soldiers and survive the downing. As with Glory, Director Edward Zwick's cast of unknown and famous faces always comes off as the real article. Walden's crew is especially convincing. Matt Damon as the medic comes off as the giddy scaredy-cat when telling his story to Washington. In battle he's a flawed, humorous soldier. The most surprising work in the movie is done by Lou Diamond Phillips (as the group's gunman), whose career had been headed to straight-to-video oblivion.

Then there's Ryan. She has done well with dramatic work in the past (When a Man Loves a Woman, Flesh and Bone) but has never been able to escape the romantic-comedy image. With dyed hair, a light accent, and the dramatics of the situation, Ryan finally has an enduring dramatic film. Even though she has half of Washington's screen time, her brave and ultimately haunting performance makes Courage something special, right down to its curious but rewarding final scene. --Doug Thomas Amazon.com essential video

Courage Under Fire - Blu-ray Info

Version: U.S.A / Region A
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
MPEG-2 BD-25
Running time: 1:56:27
Movie size: 21,92 GB
Disc size: 23,54 GB
Average video bit rate: 20.37 Mbps

DTS-HD Master Audio English 4477 kbps 5.1 / 48kHz / 24-bit / 4476kbps (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48kHz / 24-bit / 1536kbps)
Dolby Digital Audio French 448 kbps 5.1 / 48kHz / 448kbps
Dolby Digital Audio Spanish 448 kbps 5.1 / 48kHz / 448kbps
Dolby Digital Audio English 224 kbps 2.0 / 48kHz / 224kbps

Subtitles: English SDH / French / Spanish
Number of chapters: 28

#Audio commentary by director Edward Zwick
#Theatrical trailer
#Bonus trailers
#Pop-up Trivia Track November 10, 2008

Denzil & Meg under fire with courage

This was Denzil's second pairing with director Ed Zwick, their first being his Oscar winning "Glory". This is a worthy follow-up and it was almost largely ignored since it was the year of Titantic & LA Confidential and "Courage" was lost in the shuffle. Nevertheless this is a thought provoking meditative film about courage & cowardice under fire. Washington in a very difficult (he should have been nominated at least!!) is outstanding as a stoic officer who makes a bitter mistake under fire and accidentally kills one of his men. Ryan is just as fine as the late officer who is under investigation for her part in a fire fight with the enemy. I disagree with a lot of the reviewers who felt she was miscast since before this film she did a number of comedies and was severely type cast. The acting is solid thoroughout with Lou Diamond Phillips & an emaciated Matt Damon being the standouts. Also Michael Moriarty is fine as Washington's superior. I have had the Standard Dvd version of this film but am planning to get this on Blu-ray. Whole heartedly recommended for Washington fans and war buffs!! June 11, 2008

A matter of honor.

Courage Under Fire in my opinion is Meg Ryan's best work to date. This movie is anything but a chick flick, real dramatic and gutsy film also starring Denzel Washington, Matt Damon, and Lou Diamond Phillips. This movie is hard to watch but it is very important, the movie takes during the Golf War. Great performances, and a tearjeker of a story, I highly recommend checking this film out, enjoy! May 18, 2008

War is hell

An army colonel (Denzel washington) is motivated to find out whether a female helecopter pilot (Meg Ryan) is worthy to recieve a posthumous Medal of Honor killed during Desert Storm. Different version of events thru the survivors eyes. Good casting, solid storyline. January 20, 2008

Great movie to own.

I purchased this movie after renting the blu-ray disc. A good movie to have on hand with a great story. Denzel Washington gets a 5 star performence from me. September 8, 2007

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