
The pilot of a rescue copter, Captain Karen Walden, died shortly before her helicopter crew was rescued after it crashed in Desert Storm. It first appears that she made a spectacular rescue of a downed helicopter crew, then held her own crew together to fight off the Iraqis after her copter crashed. Lt. Colonel Serling, who is struggling with his own demons from Desert Storm, is assigned to investigate her worthiness for the Medal of Honor. But some conflicting accounts, from... (Full plot summary below)
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The pilot of a rescue copter, Captain Karen Walden, died shortly before her helicopter crew was rescued after it crashed in Desert Storm. It first appears that she made a spectacular rescue of a downed helicopter crew, then held her own crew together to fight off the Iraqis after her copter crashed. Lt. Colonel Serling, who is struggling with his own demons from Desert Storm, is assigned to investigate her worthiness for the Medal of Honor. But some conflicting accounts, from her crew and soldiers in the area, cause him to question whether she deserves it.
Leave your thoughts about Courage Under Fire.
| Sacramento BeeJoe BaltakeZwick pulls off the trick of making each story plausible, while Ryan successfully sheds her usual overmannered acting style and turns in a solid, if fleeting, performance as a no-nonsense, leathery woman. |
| Internet ReviewsSteve RhodesAn extremely moving picture that left me with my heart racing and my arms clutching myself and staring at the screen. |
| Lawrence Journal-WorldJon NiccumUnderrated war flick with a surprisingly effective performance by Meg Ryan |
| ReelViewsJames BerardinelliAs profound and intelligent as it is moving, and that makes this memorable motion picture one of 1996's best. |
| Kansas City KansanSteve CrumA provocative film with Oscar caliber performances. (published 7-19-96) |
| Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranIntelligent, involving and serious, it is as honestly emotional as Hollywood allows itself to get, a story of the search for wartime truth whose own concern for the genuine makes all the difference. |
| Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertThe 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. |
| The New RepublicStanley KauffmannSteven Rosenblum's editing is excellent, smoothly uniting present and past, articulating individual scenes alertly. |
| Deseret News (Salt Lake City)Chris HicksA riveting contemporary wartime melodrama. |
| Rolling StonePeter TraversIn 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. |