The defence The Auteur Devotee
“Form is the argument.”
Every composed frame and deliberate cut is evidence that control can be thrilling in its own right.
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Courage Under Fire
Drama · Thriller · Mystery · 1996
A US Army officer, who made a "friendly fire" mistake that was covered up, has been reassigned to a desk job. He is tasked to investigate a female chopper commander's worthiness to be awarded the Medal of Honor. At first all seems in order. But then he begins to notice inconsistencies between the testimonies of the witnesses...
Movie details
Courage Under Fire
“A medal for honor. A search for justice. A battle for truth.”
1996 Drama · Thriller · Mystery 1h 56m
Critical arithmetic
The consensus, allegedly.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
IMDb
6.6 / 10
62.8K votes
Rotten Tomatoes
86 %
Tomatometer
Metacritic
77 / 100
Metascore
TMDB
6.6 / 10
Community rating
External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.
A US Army officer, who made a "friendly fire" mistake that was covered up, has been reassigned to a desk job. He is tasked to investigate a female chopper commander's worthiness to be awarded the Medal of Honor. At first all seems in order. But then he begins to notice inconsistencies between the testimonies of the witnesses...
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over Courage Under Fire?
For the defence
The Auteur Devotee
“You watch the director, not the movie.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Popcorn Loyalist
“Big screen, big feelings, no apologies.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
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Flyboys
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Pearl Harbor
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Passage to Marseille
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Where it lives
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Edward Zwick
Written by
Patrick Sheane Duncan
Denzel Washington
Lieutenant Colonel Nathaniel Serling
Meg Ryan
Captain Karen Emma Walden
Lou Diamond Phillips
Staff Sergeant John Monfriez
Michael Moriarty
Brigadier General Hershberg
Matt Damon
Ilario
Bronson Pinchot
Bruno
Seth Gilliam
Stephen Altameyer
Court is in session
Put Courage Under Fire on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist
“Technique in search of a pulse.”
Immaculate construction is still construction. The film may be too busy proving its craft to feel alive.