Review by Leonard Norwitz

 

Studio: Fox (USA)

 

Video:

Aspect ratio: 1.85:1

Feature film: 1080p / MPEG-2 @ 18 MBPS

116 minutes

Supplements: 480i / MPEG-2

1 disc: BD-25 single-layer

 

Audio:

English DTS HD 5.1 Master Lossless Audio

French DD 5.1 Surround

Spanish DD 5.1 Surround

 

Subtitles:

English SDH, English, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Portuguese, and Thai

 

Extras

• Director's commentary track

• Trivia track (exclusive to the HD content)

• Theatrical trailers in 1080

 

28 chapters

Standard Blu-ray case.

Release Date: January 23, 2007

 

Courage Under Fire

The tag line reads: "The first casualty of war is truth."  I have to say that this wasn't my conclusion after seeing this movie.  Possibly contrary to the filmmakers' intentions I felt that the first casualty of war is the sixth commandment [or the fifth, if you are so inclined.]  If we are taught from childhood that killing violates one of the basic rules of our civilization, it is no wonder that we must be carefully indoctrinated to see the enemy as less than human in order to kill them.  This has to have serious ramifications for returning soldiers.  But more difficult is the question: What happens to us when we cause the death of our own, be it from carelessness, faulty intelligence or fear?  The burden of guilt is a powerful force, leading to substance abuse, more killing – the truth being one of its victims - and, in some cases, to the death of the soul.

 

Lt. Colonel Nathaniel Serling is haunted by the knowledge that he gave the command that led to the death of a fellow soldier and friend.  The Army, looking after its own image and, instead of bringing charges against Serling, offers him and his commanding officer a post in Washington where they rule on recommendations for citations of valor – a heartbreaking and cosmically comic irony, not at all lost on Serling.  The assignment at hand is Serling's investigation of a nominee for the Medal of Honor, for which there is considerable political pressure to confirm because the would-be recipient is a woman – and thus the first to be so awarded for combat.  (We learn from the "Trivia Track" – an uncomfortably inappropriate designation under the circumstances – that the Medal of Honor was in fact awarded to a woman in a non-combat capacity, an army surgeon during the Civil War.)  Serling sees discrepancies in the testimony of those involved that not only places his investigation in turmoil, but also continually asserts his own past culpability in his mind.  Being the together commander that he once was, he is unable to confide in anyone except the bottle.  His family is an innocent casualty of his failure to unburden his guilt.

 

Courage Under Fire

The Score Card

 

The Movie : 8

During the first Iraq war, a medivac helicopter is shot down during an attempted rescue and, even though the crew's actions lead to the saving of lives, questions of motivation and cowardice arise. The story is told in a Rashomon-like narrative in which the various surviving crew members offer conflicting accounts of events to Serling.  Meg Ryan, in an uncharacteristic and generally underappreciated performance, plays Karen Walden, the captain of the UH-1 Huey helicopter.  Matt Damon, in his first important role, plays one of her crew; Lou Diamond Phillips, another.  Damon and Phillips are both riveting, especially in their re-telling of events.  They are also physical opposites: Damon, having lost considerable weight for the part, is strung out on dope; Phillips looks after his body like a temple.  Their souls are another matter.  Serling is passionately and intelligently underplayed by Denzel Washington.

 

Image : 8

Due to the ever-changing focus, a score here is hard to figure.  Given that most of the time the image is sharp but at other times a little blurry, we should debit the original camera work, not Fox’s transfer to Blu-ray.  The fact remains that sharpness in this movie is all over the map.  It’s not for any of the usual purposes: to apply soft focus for a dreamy look or to hide blemishes or in certain action shots.  I assume this due to a limited number of takes from which the editor had to choose to create a compelling narrative.  That said, the image, even at its best, is not so much better than Fox's pretty good SD from 2000 that we should rush to upgrade.