In 1965, 400 American troops faced an ambush by 2,000 enemy troops in the Ia Drang Valley (also known as the Valley of Death), in one of the most gruesome fights of the Vietnam War. WE WERE SOLDIERS is a detailed recreation of this true story: of the strategies, obstacles, and human cost faced by the troops that participated. The story focuses on the lieutenant colonel that led the attack, Hal Moore (Mel Gibson), and a civilian reporter who accompanied them, Joseph Galloway (Barry Pepper), as well as a number of other soldiers who were involved. This is an unusual Vietnam film in that it also shows the North Vietnamese perspective on the battle; their leader Lieutenant General Nguyen Huu An (Don Duong) is depicted as a brave soldier and smart commander. And in addition to the many gory battlefield sequences–which seem to have been influenced by SAVING PRIVATE RYAN–we also see how the carnage of war affects those left behind, the soldiers’ wives and children. Ultimately this is a moving anti-war film, which, by sticking close to the true stories of real soldiers, very effectively brings home the overwhelming horror of war.Based on the book by Lt. Col. Harold Moore (ret.) and journalist Joseph Galloway, We Were Soldiers offers a dignified reminder that the Vietnam War yielded its own crop of American heroes. Departing from Hollywood’s typically cynical treatment of the war, writer-director Randall Wallace focuses on the first engagement of American soldiers with the North Vietnamese enemy in November 1965. Moore (played with colorful nuance by Mel Gibson) and nearly 400 inexperienced troopers from the U.S. Air Cavalry were surrounded by 2,000 North Vietnamese Army soldiers, and the film re-creates this brutal firefight with graphic authenticity, while telling the parallel story of grieving army wives back home. While UPI reporter Galloway (Barry Pepper) risks his life to chronicle the battle, Wallace offers a balanced (though somewhat fictionalized) perspective while eliciting laudable performances from an excellent cast. Like the best World War II dramas of the 1940s, We Were Soldiers pays tribute to brave men while avoiding the pitfalls of propaganda. –Jeff Shannon
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March 4, 2010
#1
This absurdly patriotic film is sickening. Obviously the creators of this film haven’t read much of the bible (the whole part where you are to forgive your enemies and so forth). Mel Gibson’s character is constantly talking about God, however he doesn’t seem to realise that if you kill people for a living you aren’t a good Christian!
March 4, 2010
#2
Has mr. Gibson got totally grandeur? This film is so bad as it could possibally be! Mel should be nominated to the Razzie award!
It’s very unpleasant to see him with those other young, welltrained bodies, and you can even see the sucking spirit in his eyes!
March 4, 2010
#3
I would have never thought that I’d one day laugh hysterically at a war-genre movie. Then I saw “We Were Soldiers.” With all honesty, this could have passed for a comedy in my mind. “We Were Soldiers” is one of the most ridiculous war movies I’ve seen in recent years, with a story that is embarrasingly hysterical. Mel Gibson did his best to try and save the film, but it ended up sinking faster than the Titanic. The films weakest point was the story of Gibson’s wife, Julie Moore (Madeleine Stowe;) it’s where the film gets the most laughs, for me at least. “We Were Soldiers” is easily one of the worst films of 2002, and will most likely remain on my list of the Worst Films of the Year permenantly. What a horrible movie.
March 4, 2010
#4
Utterly unrealistic glorification of war. I happen to know a few real soldiers who fought on the other side. The war was much more brutal and savage and americans were much less civilised and gallant.
March 4, 2010
#5
This was by far the worst movie of the year(it’s up there with Goldmember) There was absolutely no heart to it. The carnage did not make up for it. I read the book before the movie and that [disappointed] too. Moore is a conceited man who just got as far as he did by blind luck. No amount of skill or experiance can help you avoid a bullet. In the book he sounds like he is a superheroe or something talking like he’s some kind of great leader of men. Give me a break! He also contradicts himself in the book twice. I’m was in the military also, and when it comes to surviving, luck around shootings counts for alot more than people think. Don’t waste your time with this book or movie, just go back to the RAMBO and BRADDOCK trilogys. There are more movies about Vietnam that are alot better than this one. As far as “getting it right”, of course galloway and moore are going to say that, it’s from their book. Wallace did an okay job and Gibson too, but don’t give them too much credit. “Murdoch, I’m coming to get you!” That’s a Vietnam flick!!