History Film / CasualtiesOfWar

* DirtyCoward: Antonio Díaz. He is one of the few besides Eriksson who hesitates to rape Oanh, but he changes his mind due to the possible consequences of the squad to him.

* ALighterShadeOfBlack: While all members of Meserve's unit other than Eriksson are culpable in the kidnapping, rape, and murder of Oan, they are not all equally depraved. The perpetrators, in relative order of depravity, are:

** Meserve planned the kidnapping and rape and probably bears the highest ultimate responsibility. However, unlike Clark, he has some humanizing qualities - most importantly, Meserve is genuinely devoted to the men in his unit.

** Diaz is morally repulsed by the kidnapping and rape, but he went along with it and participated out of fear and the pressure to fit in with the other men in his unit, especially after seeing how Eriksson was threatened and ostracized.
* AntiVillain: As crooked as Meserve becomes in the film, he ''did'' begin the film saving Erikson's life; and he describes in great detail his struggle some time ago to save a Vietnamese girl from dying. He's also obviously heartbroken by Brownie's death, which all suggests that he's very loyal and devoted to every soldier in his unit.

* AntiVillain: As crooked as Meserve becomes in the film, he ''did'' begin the film saving Erikson's life; and he describes in great detail his struggle some time ago to save a Vietnamese girl from dying.

* MoralityChain: Brownie eventually reveals himself to be this for his friends before most of them fall off the deep end except Eriksson. Also see SmallRoleBigImpact below.

* MoralityChain: Brownie eventually reveals himself to be this for his friends before most of them fall off the deep end except Eriksson. Also see SmallRoleBigImpact below.

* ALighterShadeOfBlack: While all members of Meserve's unit other than Eriksson are culpable in the kidnapping, rape, and murder of Oan, they are not all equally depraved.
** Clark is a vicious sadist with no redeeming qualities.
** Meserve planned the kidnapping and rape and probably bears the ultimate responsibility. However, unlike Clark, he has some humanizing qualities - he's genuinely devoted to the men in his unit.
** Hatcher is just a passive dimwit who goes along with whatever his superiors are doing.
** Diaz is morally repulsed by the kidnapping and rape, but he went along with it and participated out of fear and the pressure to fit in.

In 1966 in Vietnam, a squad of five American soldiers, lead by Sgt. Tony Meserve (Sean Penn), kidnap a young Vietnamese woman named Oanh (Thuy Thu Le) from her village and take her on a patrol, making her their sex slave. Of the five men, only one - Pvt. Max Eriksson (Michael J. Fox) - refuses to take part in Oanh's rape and torture, and is determined to bring his fellow soldiers to justice, no matter what the cost.

Music/EnnioMorricone composed the score. It's also notable for being the film debut of Creator/JohnCReilly, and for featuring John Leguizamo in a very early role (his second film, and his first major role).

* BarefootCaptives: Oanh lose her shoes after being captured alive by the Americans, and spends the entire film trudging through the jungles of Vietnam barefoot.

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Eriksson succeeds in exposing Meserve, Clark, Hatcher and Diaz, and finds peace after a chance encounter with a girl who strongly resembles Oanh (played by the same actress, at that). However, that doesn't change that Oanh was brutally murdered.]]
* BlatantLies: Meserve tries to pass off the kidnapping of Oanh as the capture of a Viet Cong POW, and the subsequent gang-rape as "interrogation".
* BloodKnight: Clark. Not only is he gung-ho about the kidnapping, rape, [[spoiler:and murder]] of a Vietnamese girl, the prospect of combat excites him enough to try and shove the job of guarding Oanh to Eriksson when the opportunity for a firefight arises.

* CruelAndUnusualDeath: [[spoiler:Oanh is stabbed repeatedly by Clark, then tries to escape but is shot numerous times to death and falls off the bridge screaming.]]
* DirtyCoward: Antonio Díaz. He is one of the few besides Eriksson who hesitates to rape Oanh but changes his mind due to the possible consequences of the squad to him.

* DrowningMySorrows: Eriksson gets sloshed after his repeated failure to bring the squad to justice and [[spoiler:almost getting killed by them for it]].

* FromBadToWorse: Oanh keeps getting sexually abused by the soldiers and Eriksson can't do very much to help her. [[spoiler:Then she is shot to death.]]
* HateSink: Clark is the most detestable of the squad. Even prior to the kidnapping plot he bullies Private Eriksson and advocates for genocide against the Vietnamese. During the kidnapping, rape, and murder of Oanh, Clark is the cruelest in the group, taking sadistic glee in the woman's suffering and being the most eager to do the deed. After Eriksson tries to report the crime, [[spoiler: Clark is the one who attempts to kill him with a grenade]].

* NiceGuy: Eriksson seems to be one of the only people to give half a damn about the Vietnamese, treating them with respect while his fellow soldiers act contemptuous of them. He also emphatically refuses to participate in the rape of Oanh and [[spoiler:tries to save her from being murdered]]. He's also the only one who attempts to bring the crime to the light and is disgusted and horrified when his superiors brush it off.
* MoralityChain: Brownie eventually reveals to be this for his friends before most of them fall off the deep end except Eriksson. Also see SmallRoleBigImpact below.
* TheNeidermeyer: Captain Hill and Lieutenant Reilly, who both initially demanded Eriksson to sweep the rape and murder incident under the rug to prevent an international incident and [[CruelToBeKind possibly to protect Eriksson from the wrath of Meserve's vengeance if he ever want to retaliate against him for exposing him and his accomplices]]. Meserve and his fellow rapists follows this most definitely.
* TheOner: A Creator/BrianDePalma trademark. There are two tense oners shot in a similar manner to ''Film/TheUntouchables'': when the soldiers are about to kidnap the poor Oanh and when [[spoiler:Clark attempts to kill Eriksson.]]

** After Brownie is killed in action and they're denied the ability to go out and have sex with prostitutes prior to going on a long range patrol, Meserve and the other members of the squad (bar Eriksson and Diaz) devise a plan to kidnap and rape a Vietnamese woman.
** [[spoiler:Frustrated after nobody wants to prosecute anybody for the crime and fearful after an attempt on his life, Eriksson bashes Clark's face in with a shovel and angrily tells the rest of the squad off.]]
* RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil: Subverted, very few people in the local American command hierarchy seem to care and all about the crime even when Eriksson reports it and it is at first swept under the rug. Erikson, after the attempt on his life is even prompted to tell Meserve "I told 'em, oh yeah, I told 'em, AND THEY DON'T CARE!"

** Although the rape is inexcusable, all of the soldiers are clearly shell shocked, which is especially shown in the court martial scene, where Clark accuses the judge of aiding the Viet Cong by throwing them in the stockade. His defence of his rape is pathetic, in that he tries to throw the blame on the job, but he is speaking hesitantly and in a broken tone. When the judge rips him with murder, he coldly justifies it with "kill or be killed".

* VillainHasAPoint: During the court martial, Clark accuses the Army of disregarding soldiers' lives, and not understanding the true horror of what they endured. While it certainly does not excuse rape and murder of an innocent woman, he does make that point clear, and the fact the judge ignores it does back it up. TruthInTelevision, as many veterans of Vietnam did indeed believe that the army didn't care about them.

* TokenGoodTeammate: Eriksson is the only soldier who refuses to rape Tran Thi Oanh

* TokenGoodTeammate:

* ObligatoryWarCrimeScene: The whole film revolves around the kidnap and repeated rape of an innocent Vietnamese girl by a squad of American soldiers.

* ShellShockedVeteran:
** Although the rape is inexcusable, all of the soldiers are clearly shell shocked, which is especially shown in the court martial scene, where Clark accuses the judge of aiding the Viet Cong by throwing them in the stockade. His defence of his rape is pathetic, in that he tries to throw the blame on the job, but he is speaking hesitantly and in a broken tone. When the judge rips him with murder, he coldly justifies it with "kill or be killed".
** After the events of the film, Eriksson is clearly traumatized by what he's seen, having a flashback when he sees an Asian girl that looks like Oanh when riding the subway back in America.

* VillainHasAPoint: During the court martial, Clark accuses the Army of disregarding soldiers' lives, and not understanding the true horror of what they endured. While it certainly does not excuse rape and murder of an innocent woman, he does make that point clear, and the fact the judge ignores it does back it up. TruthInTelevision, as many veterans of Vietnam did indeed believe that the army didn't care about them.

''Casualties of War'' is a 1989 [[UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar Vietnam War]] film directed by Creator/BrianDePalma and starring Creator/MichaelJFox, Creator/SeanPenn, Creator/JohnCReilly, Creator/JohnLeguizamo, Don Harvey and Thuy Thu Le (in her only role). It was based on the actual incident on Hill 192.

* HateSink: Clark is the most detestable of the squad. Even prior to the kidnapping plot he bullies Private Eriksson and advocates for genocide against the Vietnamese. During the kidnapping, rape, and murder of Oanh, Clark is the cruelest in the group, taking sadistic glee in the woman's suffering and being the most eager to do the deed. After Eriksson tries to report the crime, [[spoiler: Clark attempts to kill him with a grenade]].

* EvilCannotComprehendGood: When Eriksson refuses to participate in raping Oanh, he's confused and enraged, calling Eriksson a "faggot" and accusing him of caring more for the Viet Cong than for his fellow soldiers.