Review of Courage Under Fire (1996) by Jani H — 31 Mar 2009
"Now let's kill 'em all.".
Edward Zwick, director of top movies like "Glory" and "The Last Samurai", is probably a distant relative to Steven Spielberg. Most of his movies suffer from an overdose of melodrama, and "Courage Under Fire" is a perfect example of that.
I'm not a big fan of these movies that market themselves as war movies but end up being some desk officers chase for the truth. They tend to be quite slowpaced and all of a sudden pumped with aggressive discussions between two sides.
The opening scene must be one of the most stupid war scenes I've ever witnessed. I'll admit, I'm not a specialist of armoured vehicle battle, but I know something about tactics and planning. I hate illogical scenes that try to be something tense and electrifying.
Denzel Washington does a decent portrayal, as always, but Meg Ryan was totally wrongly cast. I've learned to like her in romcoms etc but as an officer very much unconvincing.. Some actors are just typecasted to some specific roles, that's all.
I noticed that I started to enjoy the film much more during the last quarter, or so, as the story finally started to get more compelling. But "Courage Under Fire" doesn't step up enough to be something above average.
This review of Courage Under Fire (1996) was written by Jani H on 31 Mar 2009.
Courage Under Fire has generally received positive reviews.
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