This takes me back to Saturdays in the early 2000s.
My parents both worked, so it was usually just me, my younger brother, and his babysitter at home on Saturdays.
I would watch cartoons with my brother in the mornings to keep myself occupied. Then, I would play with the neighborhood kids for a while. And when my brother would nap or play with his toys in the early afternoon, I would start flipping through movies on TV to find something to watch.
One particular Saturday, with nothing else to do, I started flipping through the movie channels. I came across the war drama Casualties of War.
As a little boy, I didn't have the attention span for serious movies and dramas. I much preferred cheesy action flicks with lots of explosions. But this movie caught my interest because one of the main actors was Michael J. Fox, whom I knew from Back to the Future.
Big mistake.
That movie scared the shit out of me.
At just 11 or 12 years old, I was definitely not the intended audience for this film. As the disturbing plot progressed, I became too uncomfortable to continue watching. As a kid just wanting some harmless Saturday entertainment, I wasn't prepared for what I saw.
It took a few more years to fully appreciate Casualties of War as a powerful film. I don't hesitate to suggest this film when people ask for war drama recommendations.
Note: In the early 2000s, certain R-rated movies, music videos, and TV shows underwent little to no censorship in India.