Discussion of war and sexual assault ahead.
Summary
- Casualties of War took 20 years to develop, but when it was finally released in 1989, it was considered one of Michael J. Fox’s best movies.
- The dark and controversial subject matter made it a challenging project to get green-lit by studios.
- Despite being critically acclaimed, Casualties of War was not a commercial success, possibly due to its disturbing and unflinching portrayal of horrifying actions committed during the Vietnam War.
Casualties of War is a Vietnam War movie based on a horrifyingly true story and starring Michael J. Fox, but the Brian De Palma project was a whole 20 years in the making. Casualties of War is based on a 1969 article from The New Yorker’s Daniel Lang that detailed a group of soldiers kidnapping, raping, and murdering an innocent Vietnamese woman in 1966. The film portrays the unforgivable actions committed, while also detailing how PFC Max Eriksson, Michael J. Fox’s character, endured peer pressure from Sergeant Tony Meserve, played by Sean Penn, to get justice for the victim.
Eriksson is the only character who stands his ground in Casualties of War, despite knowing how risky it would be to oppose leadership. Despite its heavy themes and serious tone, Casualties of War is considered one of Michael J. Fox’s best movies. Nevertheless, the project took an unusually long time to develop. Finally released in 1989, Brian De Palma had actually been trying to make Casualties of War happen for two decades.
Casualties Of War Was Stuck In Development Hell For 20 Years
Brian De Palma (via The Making of Casualties of War) became interested in making a movie about Lang’s story after first reading about it in 1969. By 1970, however, the movie was in production at Warner Bros. with Jack Clayton directing (via New York Times). Casualties of War spent the next decade in development hell, crossing over to Paramount, which – according to producer Art Linson in The Making of… – was reluctant to proceed due to the source material being incredibly dark, even for a war movie. Linson credits producer Dawn Steel for pushing Casualties of War through at Colombia and finally getting the movie made after 20 years of development.
When Lang’s original article was published in 1969, the Vietnam War was still ongoing, and an incredibly controversial topic. Nobody else in Hollywood was making movies about it, putting a cinematic adaptation of Casualties of War – which was even more harrowing than the average war movie and daringly portrayed US soldiers in a negative light – out of the question for the next decade or so. A string of successful movies about the Vietnam War in the 1980s, like Platoon, which was among the highest-grossing war movies ever made, combined with De Palma’s own 1987 hit The Untouchables helped Casualties of War get green-lit.
Even In 1989, Casualties Of War Was Still Controversial
Despite being considered one of the best Vietnam War movies ever made, Casualties of War was not a commercial success upon release. Working on a budget of $22.5 million, Casualties of War only made $18.7 million, making it a box office flop (via BoxOfficeMojo). Although Casualties of War has a positive critics’ score of 84% and an audience score of 75% on Rotten Tomatoes, the dark material didn’t necessarily attract large audiences. Even though the men involved were later held accountable, Casualties of War did not pull any punches, which can be extremely disturbing to watch.
Sources: The Making of Casualties of War, New York Times, BoxOfficeMojo, Rotten Tomatoes
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