Courage Under Fire Poster
77
metacriticBased on 19 Critics
67
Based on 26 Users

Release Date: 1996

DVD Release Date: December 5th, 2000

R|1 hr 55 min

Plot Summary
During the 1991 Gulf War, Lieutenant Colonel Nathaniel Serling (Denzel Washington) accidentally caused a friendly fire incident, a mistake that was hushed up by his superiors. Following the war, he is assigned to investigate the case of Army Captain Karen Walden (Meg Ryan), killed in action when her Medevac unit was attempting to rescue the crew of a downed helicopter. But, as Serling interviews the members of Walden's crew, he realizes their stories about the incident don't add up.

Cast: Denzel Washington, Meg Ryan, Lou Diamond Phillips, Michael Moriarty, Bronson Pinchot, Seth Gilliam, Regina Taylor, Zeljko Ivanek

Director: Edward Zwick

Genres: Drama

Production Co: Fox 2000 Pictures

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Ratings & Reviews

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  • 100
    James BerardinelliReelViews

    As profound and intelligent as it is moving, and that makes this memorable motion picture one of 1996's best. show more

  • 88
    Roger EbertChicago Sun-Times

    The end of the film understandably lays on the emotion a little heavily, but until then Courage Under Fire has been a fascinating emotional and logistical puzzle--almost a courtroom movie, with the desert as the courtroom. show more

  • 88
    Peter TraversRolling Stone

    In Washington's haunted eyes, in the stunning cinematography of Roger Deakins (Fargo) that plunges into the mad flare of combat, in the plot that deftly turns a whodunit into a meditation on character and in Zwick's persistent questioning of authority, Courage Under Fire honors its subject and its audience. show more

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