Five Green Berets stationed in Vietnam in 1968 grudgingly undertake the mission of a lifetime -- to secretly transport an 8,000-pound elephant through 200 miles of rough jungle terrain. High jinks prevail when Capt. Sam Cahill promises the Montagnard villagers of Dak Nhe that he'll replace their prized elephant in time for an important ritual. But for Capt. T.C. Doyle, the mission becomes a jumbo-sized headache!
At the opening of the movie, a village's sacred elephant is killed because a warlord wants to demonstrate his power.
The elephant that gets "dropped" from a plane by parachute is from another village, meant to replace the sacred elephant that was killed. The whole movie is about getting this elephant from one village to another. This second elephant lives.
I would not describe it as abuse, but
A) an elephant is very unhappy about being in an airplane, and
B) an elephant is harmed by gunfire (It makes a full recovery, but there is a little bit of scarring.)
The elephant that gets "dropped" from a plane by parachute is from another village, meant to replace the sacred elephant that was killed. The whole movie is about getting this elephant from one village to another. This second elephant lives.