77
Metascore
19 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100ReelViewsJames BerardinelliReelViewsJames BerardinelliAs profound and intelligent as it is moving, and that makes this memorable motion picture one of 1996's best.
- 90Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranLos Angeles TimesKenneth TuranIntelligent, involving and serious, it is as honestly emotional as Hollywood allows itself to get, a story of the search for wartime truth whose own concern for the genuine makes all the difference.
- 88Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertChicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertThe end of the film understandably lays on the emotion a little heavily, but until then Courage Under Fire has been a fascinating emotional and logistical puzzle--almost a courtroom movie, with the desert as the courtroom.
- 88Rolling StonePeter TraversRolling StonePeter TraversIn Washington's haunted eyes, in the stunning cinematography of Roger Deakins (Fargo) that plunges into the mad flare of combat, in the plot that deftly turns a whodunit into a meditation on character and in Zwick's persistent questioning of authority, Courage Under Fire honors its subject and its audience.
- 88San Francisco ChroniclePeter StackSan Francisco ChroniclePeter StackDenzel Washington is riveting.
- 80The New York TimesJanet MaslinThe New York TimesJanet MaslinDespite its underlying predictability, Courage Under Fire manages warmth, intelligence and a healthy share of surprises.
- 75USA TodaySusan WloszczynaUSA TodaySusan WloszczynaA film that wins on 'Courage' of its convictions. {12 July 1996, p. D1]
- While the account of Walden's heroics doesn't necessarily move from legend to fact, it does push the bounds of truth and raise interesting questions about the function of truth for the survivors of war.
- 60Film ThreatMichael DequinaFilm ThreatMichael DequinaPatrick Sheane Duncan's script deftly weaves together the stories of Serling and Walden, and Zwick remarkably sidesteps the trap of sticky sentiment--an idea further carried forth by Ryan's admirably against-type (and shamefully unsung) performance.
- 60NewsweekDavid AnsenNewsweekDavid AnsenThe film seems to want us to pin a medal to its own chest.