20 War Movies EVERY Film Fan Should Have Seen

15. Casualties of War

The Bridge on the River Kwai
Columbia Pictures

Another cinematic image of American soldiers using the cover of war as an excuse to commit some heinous crimes, 1989's true life war drama Casualties of War is significantly more serious and damning than the heroin smuggling antics of Buffalo Soldiers.

In this austere, bracingly brutal piece of filmmaking, a naive but morally righteous young soldier fights to report his colleagues and superiors alike for their vicious gang rape and subsequent brutal murder of an innocent civilian during the US invasion of Vietnam.

A rare American film which depicts the US military as an institutionally malignant scourge, this powerful and painful film is necessary viewing for any war film fan.

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