Brian De Palma says on a interview given for the DVD extras of "Casualties of War (1989)" that the idea from this movie came from the same story that "Casualties of War (1989)" is based on. The story was published in "The New Yorker" Magazine in 1969, and later became a book. Allegedly Elia Kazan also read the story on The New Yorker and had the idea of a fictional script that showed the after wards of the true history showed in "Casualties of War (1989)," in which the character played by Sean Penn goes to jail after has been convicted by a martial court of war crimes (he and three outer guys kidnapped, raped and then murdered a Vietnamese girl in the Vietnam war). In the movie, "Sean Penn"'s character, in his trial, promises revenge to Michael J. Fox's character, who was the one that reported him.
The shooting was made in Elia Kazan's house.
Very much a family affair for Elia Kazan. It was inspired by his wife Barbara Loden's critically acclaimed film Wanda (1970), while his son, Chris Kazan, wrote the screenplay.
Often cited as the first fictional film to deal with the Vietnam War seriously.