Three years before Rob Reiner's A Few Good Men (1992), Brian De Palma released Casualties of War, the harrowing film of a squad of American soldiers in the jungles of Vietnam who were ordered by their sergeant (Sean Penn) to kidnap and rape a young woman for their amusement.
One squad member (Michael J. Fox) doesn't participate in the assault and tries to help the woman escape, but she is killed by the other members of the squad. Her body is left in the brush.
When the men return to base, company officers aren't interested in pursuing an investigation into the incident or prosecuting the soldiers. The soldier reporting the crime is shunned and threatened by his squad mates, and nearly killed. After an Army chaplain hears of the woman's death, he presses for action. The sergeant and the others are court-martialed and imprisoned.
The film, which is based on true events, is typical de Palma -- chilling and disturbing and brutal -- and it raises many vital questions about codes of conduct, loyalty and solidarity and justice, all of which are especially relevant these days.
Yes, war IS hell, and some men who are put into a cauldron of desperation and madness can turn into devils.
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