Today’s movie is a war drama with
scenes that happen on February 25. Watch it tonight and enjoy.
COURAGE UNDER FIRE
Lieutenant Colonel Nathaniel Serling
commands a tank battalion at the start of the Gulf War. During the confusion of
a night battle his tank destroys a US tank that was firing at an Iraqi tank and
not at them, like his crew thought. On February 25, 1991 [15:57 to 16:16; 16:30
to 16:42; 16:46 to 16:49; 17:00 to 17:04; 17:11 to 17:15; 25:40 to 28:24; 32:34
to 36:33; 37:07 to 38:10; 39:18 to 39:49; 1:27:07 to 1:27:16 and 1:27:30 to
1:31:16] a Blackhawk helicopter is shot down in Iraq. The Army refuses to
censor Serling and covers up the friendly fire incident. Serling is assigned to
investigate the circumstances surrounding the Blackhawk shootdown. Serling
interviews the survivors of the Blackhawk’s crew, who tell them that after they
were shot down and surrounded by Iraqis, an Army medical Huey helicopter
appeared. The Huey strafed the Iraqis, destroyed an enemy tank and was then
shot down itself. During the rescue the next day, someone at the Huey used an
M-16 to give covering fire. Serling
then learns that the pilot of the Huey was a woman, Captain Karen Walden who is
being considered for a posthumous Medal of Honor, a project that has a high
level of political support. Serling begins his investigation while suffering
from PTSD and guilt himself. The Huey’s co-pilot, Warrant Officer Rady says
Walden ordered the crew to dump the choppers fuel bladder on the Iraqi tank and
use a flare gun to ignite it. However, he was injured when they were shot down
and knows nothing else. Specialist Ilario says that at night the Captain was
injured during an Iraqi attack. The next day during the rescue the Captain was
the last to leave and was killed. No one fired an M-16 during the rescue.
Serling’s boss pushes him to finish the report, but he is troubled by
inconsistencies in the stories. Staff Sergeant John Monfriez who was in the
Huey to provide covering fire thinks M-16 ammo ran out first thing in the
morning. He says Walden was a coward and that it was his idea to use the fuel
bladder on the tank. He even says Walden shot at him during the evacuation. Serling
asks Garner, a reporter who has been investigating the alleged friendly fire
incident involving Serling, to help him find a missing Huey crewman, Sergeant
Steven Altameyer. He is found in a hospital where he just mumbles about a fire
before passing out. Serling is pulled off the Walden investigation, but
nevertheless he goes back to question Monfriez, who gets so upset he pulls a
gun on Serling and then commits suicide. Serling then locates Ilario, who had
gone AWOL and finally gets the real story. During the night Monfriez, supported
by Altameyer and Ilario wanted to sneak off, even though Walden ordered them to
stay, as the Captain refused to leave the wounded Rady. Walden and Monfriez end
up pointing guns at each other. An Iraqi appears behind Monfriez and is shot by
Walden. He returns fire, thinking he was her target and shoots, wounding her.
During the rescue Walden stays behind giving covering fire with the M-16.
Monfriez tells the rescue chopper pilots Walden is dead. The wounded Altameyer
is ignored and Ilario is silent as the rescue choppers napalm the wrecks of the
two US helicopters. Gartner’s investigation reveals that while Serling’s tank
did cause friendly fire deaths, his actions immediately thereafter prevented
any more such incidents. He gets a
medal. Walden is awarded the Medal of Honor.
Serling visits the family of the man who was killed and leaves his medal
on Waldens tombstone. Recovered from his PTSD Serling returns to his family.
A good movie. This is a story of
the “fog of war’ and the search for truth. In searching for Walden’s truth,
Serling is able to accept his own.
Date given in film at 15:09 in
speech and on blackboard.
Producers - John Davis, Joseph M. Singer and David T. FriendlyDirector - Edward Zwick
Screenplay - Patrick Sheane Duncan
Runtime – 1 hour 57 minutes
Released - July 12, 1996
Starring –
Denzel Washington as Lieutenant Colonel Nathaniel Serling
Meg Ryan as Captain Karen Emma Walden
Lou Diamond Phillips as Staff Sergeant John Monfriez
Matt Damon as Specialist Ilario
Bronson Pinchot as Bruno, a White House aide
Seth Gilliam as Sergeant Steven Altameyer
Regina Taylor as Meredith Serling
Michael Moriarty as Brigadier General Hershberg
Zeljko Ivanek as Captain Ben Banacek
Scott Glenn as Tony Gartner
Tim Guinee as Warrant Officer One A. Rady
Tim Ransom as Captain Boylar
Sean Astin as
Sergeant Patella
Ned Vaughn as First Lieutenant Chelli
Sean Patrick Thomas as Sergeant Thompson
Manny Perez as Jenkins
Ken Jenkins as Joel Walden
Kathleen Widdoes as Geraldine Walden
Christina Stojanovich as Anne Marie Walden
Tom Schanley as Questioner
Copyright by Ivan Walters in 2015
No comments:
Post a Comment