Trivia / Courage Under Fire

• Completely Different Title: In Sweden, the film was called "I sanningens namn", meaning "In the Name of the Truth".
• Creator's Oddball: The film was made at the peak of Meg Ryan's Typecasting as a female lead in rom-coms. Here she plays a distinguished military pilot, seeing front-line action. This was particularly jarring back when the film was released, going beyond simply Playing Against Type.
• Dyeing for Your Art: Matt Damon lost 40 pounds for his role, causing his health to become so frail he had to be put under medical supervision for months afterwards.
• Method Acting: According to Bronson Pinchot, Denzel Washington was verbally abusive to him and others on the set, for the sake of "staying in character."
• Playing Against Type: Meg Ryan as a helicopter pilot and war hero.
• Spared by the Cut: Walden gets her crew mates to drag an unconscious Rady to safety when the rescue helicopter arrives, and as such he is available to be interviewed during the Medal of Honor inquiry. In the original script they abandoned him and leave him to die with Walden.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Harrison Ford and Tom Hanks were considered for Nathan Serling.
  • The Original script had some differences from the final cut.
    • Rady was left behind and died along with Walden rather than being rescued while unconscious.
    • Altameyer isn't dying of cancer, and he was the Ranger sent along with Walden's crew instead of Monfriez (with the scene where Serling interviews him being almost identical to the one where he interviews Monfriez in the film, except Altameyer speaks glowingly of Walden, saying she died a hero and should have the Medal Of Honor).
    • Ilario lies that Walden died a coward rather than telling a version of the story that's truthful up until how she died.
    • There is a subplot covering how the pilot of the helicopter Walden was shot down trying to rescue was very close with her, with it being questioned about whether her desire to save him could have made her act recklessly.
    • Monfriez is no longer in the service, and works at a gunshop. When Serling first visits him, he has been tipped off by phone calls from Altameyer and Ilario but still lies about what happened. The climax of the script has him attempting to murder both Serling and Ilario to hide the truth, only to meet his own demise.

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