Courage Under Fire
Metascore
77 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 19 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 16 out of 19
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 19
  3. Negative: 0 out of 19
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  1. ReelViews
    Reviewed by: James Berardinelli
    100
    As profound and intelligent as it is moving, and that makes this memorable motion picture one of 1996's best.
  2. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Kenneth Turan
    90
    Intelligent, 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.
  3. Rolling Stone
    Reviewed by: Peter Travers
    88
    In 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.
  4. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Roger Ebert
    88
    The 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.
  5. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Peter Stack
    88
    Denzel Washington is riveting.
  6. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Owen Gleiberman
    83
    A large-scale military drama with a quiet, almost mournful center.
  7. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Staff (Not credited)
    80
    A sober, intelligent drama with surprising integrity.
  8. Empire
    Reviewed by: Ian Nathan
    80
    This is - gasp! - a Hollywood movie actually daring to bare its teeth at silly American flag-waving.
  9. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Elvis Mitchell
    80
    Despite its underlying predictability, Courage Under Fire manages warmth, intelligence and a healthy share of surprises.
  10. Variety
    Reviewed by: Staff (Not credited)
    80
    Edward Zwick's high-minded new outing offers plenty of old-fashioned movie virtues such as believable action, plausible psychology, fully played-out confrontations and honest emotions.
  11. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Rita Kempley
    80
    A downright entertaining combo of mystery, melodrama and action adventure.
  12. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: Jonathan Rosenbaum
    80
    This is a good, solid, intelligent drama about the ambiguities of what does and doesn't constitute courage under fire
  13. Christian Science Monitor
    Reviewed by: David Sterritt
    75
    Edward Zwick directed this reasonably thoughtful drama, helped by Denzel Washington and Meg Ryan in the main roles.
  14. USA Today
    Reviewed by: Susan Wloszczyna
    75
    A film that wins on 'Courage' of its convictions. {12 July 1996, p. D1]
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  15. The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
    Reviewed by: Liam Lacey
    75
    At the end of Courage Under Fire, you feel torn between admiration and annoyance with the filmmakers.
  16. Austin Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Alison Macor
    67
    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.
  17. Film Threat
    Reviewed by: Michael Dequina
    60
    Patrick 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.
  18. Newsweek
    Reviewed by: David Ansen
    60
    The film seems to want us to pin a medal to its own chest.
  19. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Desson Thomson
    60
    I sat through "Courage" with interest, but I wasn't particularly moved or riveted with suspense.

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