Rating: 
Summary: Different enough to merit watching...
Review: Sometimes I scratch my head and wonder what the people in hollywood are thinking when they release film after film after film about war, death and destruction in such a short period of time (Black Hawk Down, Harrison's Flowers, Hart's War, Behind Enemy Lines). No matter how good or well-intentioned a film is made, it's hard to keep from thinking that it's just another war flick. It's hard to not think of it as cliche and redundant.Some say this film is similar to Blackhawk Down. In a way, it is. In other ways, it's unique. We Were Soldiers involves the family aspect of going to war. It recognizes the sacrifices that not only the soldiers themselves make when they go fight a war, but also the pain and suffering their wives and children undergo with the absense and loss of them. This film pays tribute to the soldiers (who were strongly outnumbered and out-experienced) who died fighting a 3 day war in Vietnam . We Were Soldiers describes the war from two points of view. From the American's and the Vietnamese. We see the story give the audience a glimpse of what a good strategy can do even when the odds are against you. We see a story of courage and leadership. Think of this film as an exciting documentary to an event in American history. LEAP rating (each out of 5):
L (Language) - 3 (some of the language seemed polished and too perfect, Chris Klein was pretty bad)
E (Erotica) - 0 (it's a war flick, what did you expect?)
A (Action) - 5 (people get shot, stabbed, burned and blown up)
P (Plot) - 2 (there's no surprise in what this film is about)
Rating: 
Summary: Wow
Review: I Think this movie was very well made. I am a younger viewer and have just gotten interested in war movies. This is one of the best I've seen. You really got to know what the characters were feeling and you got to see all sides. There was the point of view of the soilders, the enemy, the wives, and there is even a seen with the enimies wife. At times it was very intense and other times you felt really bad for the characters. The movie made a real impact. When we left the theater nobody was talking it was silent.
Rating: 
Summary: AWESOME!
Review: This is much more than just Mel Gibson heroics; this is vividly portrayed history--a picture of the heroism of many American soldiers and North Viets too. At conclusion of movie entire theatre is so moved that no one stands to leave untill the names of the 7th Cav. 1st Battallion dead are finished scrolling across screen. Very tense, very moving movie. Don't miss it!
Rating:
Summary: WE WERE SOLDIERS shines in enlightening honesty
Review: Many war-movies have graced the screen but none have managed to convey the universal losses like We Were Soldiers in heartfelt sincerity. The movie adapted from a memoir by Moore tells of the Landing Zone-X Operation spearheaded by First Battalion of the Seventh Cavalry in Ia Drang valley where Moore with his 400 men was ambushed by the overpowering 2000 Vietnam conscripts and regulars. It is not a hard-hitting documentary of American military operations gone haywired like Black Hawk Down and neither is it a movie that decries war with embittered cynicism like Born on the Fourth Of July or Platoon. It aims to salute the bravery and courage of the soldiers for their altruism in Vietnam War in an old-fashioned style like that Of Green Beret in 1968 but of a different theme. As such We Were Soldiers are bound to be sentimental where amidst the political backstage there are the wives at the Fort Benning, Georgia including Madeleine Stowe and Keri Russell offering solace to each other when their husbands are mired in the holocaust. Their roles are unfortunately stifled. It is where in the battlefield that the men are given enough screen time to impress. Moore performed by the dignified Mel Gibson is humanized by his sensitive portryal; Sam Elliot as the gruff sgt. major Plumley; Greg Kinnear as the over-confident pilot Crandall and Chris Klein as the ill-fated Geoghegan, Barry Pepper as the journalist who survived to tell the tale. Mel Gibson teamed with Randall Wallace who scripted Braveheart compensates his sentimentality with realisitic portrayal of bloodshed and is ghoulishly haunting when it films the piling corpses, sweltering bullets and imminent deaths mainly capturing the downfall of American soldiers in their tragic end. We WERE SOLDIERS luckily casted away the stereotype as committed by Saving Private Ryan to acknowledge the grief and devastation to both parties. It is at its best a respectful tribute and one war-movie that examines the afflictions of war to Vietnam and American in enlightening honesty.
Rating:
Summary: "Soldiers" Should Be Required Viewing
Review: "We Were Soldies" should be required viewing in every American history class that addresses the era since WWII and Korea. High school and college level students must view the film to be exposed to the reality and horror of Viet Nam, and, if nothing else, to view and hear Lt. Col. Moore's (Gibson's) last commentary on why these brave men fought so gallantly. This is the best movie I have seen about the Viet Nam War. I fought it from First Presbyterian Church, Killen, TX, adjacent to Fort Hood, TX, where I was Pastor, 1966-1972. The movie brought back the horror of burying more Nam war dead than I want to remember. Some of them were 7th Cavalry. This move superbly depicts the task those of us on the home front had in helping families deal with those damn telegrams and all the arrangments that had to be made, and the pain endured - finally overcome but never forgotten. Thank you, Mel Gibson, for making this movie!
Rating: 
Summary: simplistic but powerful war film
Review: World War II has been tagged by some with the rather oxymoronic appellation "the last good war." What this means is that the "heroes" and "villains" in this epic conflict were so clear-cut and obvious - and the goals so straightforward and crucial - that filmmakers approaching the subject haven't needed to bother much with exploring the moral complexities that lie at the root of all war, that most inhumane of human endeavors. Films set in World War II have almost invariably reflected a sense of moral certitude, with the Allied nations seen as the forces of Good locked in a life-and-death struggle with the forces of Evil represented by the Axis powers. This is not, of course, the way Americans came, for the most part, to view the Vietnam War. Faced with no clearly defined enemy or menace, many Americans came to question their country's involvement in what seemed from a distance to be a civil war between two alien nations and cultures. Thus, when it finally came time for filmmakers to address this issue, their films naturally reflected much of the moral ambiguity that defined the nation as a whole. Films like "The Deer Hunter," "Platoon," "Apocalypse Now" etc. not only questioned the moral rightness of our involvement and actions in that conflict, but actually made us question whether heroism - on the scale of the common soldier caught in the conflict - was even a valid possibility. The new film, "We Were Soldiers" attempts to rectify that skepticism, trying to counterbalance the films like those listed above, while at the same time serving as a long overdue and honorable tribute to the brave young men who fought and died doing their duty on that strange foreign soil. The film, thereby, endeavors to bring the WWII war film sensibility to one set in Vietnam. In order to focus our attention on the individual heroism of the men involved, the film first has had to drain the narrative of its entire sociopolitical context. Since this is the story of the first major battle between the Americans and the Viet Cong - in November 1965 - one would naturally expect to hear quite a bit of discourse - both among the military leaders and the rank-and-file combat soldiers - as to the why and wherefore of both the conflict and the Americans' reason for taking part in it. Yet, we get none of this. All the soldiers involved simply do their duty without question, an attitude which becomes, in effect, the film's operative definition of the word "heroism." This is what separates "We Were Soldiers" from those previous Vietnam War films. The characters in those other movies were also dying bravely, but they always seemed to be questioning the powers-that-be that got them into the situation in the first place. In "We Were Soldiers," no one ever questions. The need to follow orders is simply accepted as a given - and thus heroism becomes a matter of doing one's duty and of helping one's comrade regardless of any overarching justification for the slaughter. Without having to wade through all the moral murkiness of the conflict itself, we are thus freed up to admire the sheer courage and determination of the men. In fact, the film even makes a few good willed nods in the direction of equanimity by showing that even the Viet Cong fighters, who are attempting to kill all these fine young American men, also have girlfriends and families they love back home. Given this self-imposed myopia, "We Were Soldiers," nevertheless, does an admirable job honoring these men. Like most war movies, so much time is spent on the pyrotechnics of battle that little time is left to engage in any real character development. "We Were Soldiers" attempts to flesh out its characters in the opening stretch when we see several of the men with their wives and families before embarking on their mission. But once they hit the ground in Vietnam, all hell breaks loose and most of the men become lost in the chaos of this seemingly interminable battle. The film does a terrific job recreating the horror of the fighting, never flinching from the grim reality that is war. The carnage is appropriately gruesome and the filmmakers make sure that we see every last bit of the grotesquerie that the act of unbridled human butchery has to offer. The special effects team has done an extraordinary job bringing all this to life on the screen. Although a few of the early family scenes seem treacly at best, some of the film's most profoundly moving moments occur back home, when Julia Moore (Madeleine Stowe), the wife of the film's protagonist, Lt. Colonel Hal Moore (Mel Gibson), takes it upon herself to deliver the "death telegrams" to the other wives on the base. Gibson does an admirable job as the man in charge of the mission, displaying both a rugged strength and a compassionate love for his men that makes him a well-rounded character. One appreciates the fact that the writers, Joseph L. Galloway and Harold G. Moore himself (upon whose life and book this true story is based) don't require Moore to indulge in the kind of cheap theatrical heroics common to characters of this type. He is a man whose level-headedness and grace under fire help lead his men on to victory in an almost impossible situation. This is also a rare instance in which a character is allowed to have a religious dimension without being made into a fool in the process. Randall Wallace, as the film's director, seems equally at home in the battle sequences and in the quieter moments of subtle sadness that permeate the scenes at home. "We Were Soldiers," for all its simplicity of theme, manages to be a moving tribute to the young men who found the personal courage to put their lives on the line, with or without a cause that made any sense.
Rating:
Summary: Simply the best WAR Movie in years!
Review: Most other war movies are just a bunch of shoot 'em up action flicks for guys. But this one is so well done and has such great acting that if I could, I'd give it 6 stars! I thought Black Hawk Down was excellent, but "We Were Soldiers" just blows it away, not to put down BHD, it was great. I guess you can say WWS is greater. It gives you background on all the characters and has an awesome soundtrack. It is a flick in which you can take your friends to or even your girlfriend. It is action-packed, has great acting, but it is also very sad. Maybe more so for me, because I grew up in a military family, but I think anyone will shed a tear in the end. Great MOVIE, HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT, GO SEE IT TODAY!
Rating: 
Summary: OverRated
Review: The movie did not develop any characters beyond the normal sappy sterotypes of soldiers. The first half is a romanticized view of soldiers (and their families) lives. Once they go to war, the second half, the movie picks up steam. However, the war scenes were without a clear purpose and not really part of the story. Bottom line, it could have been shorter and much better if the characters had been developed before the war.
Rating:
Summary: The Best film about the'Nam
Review: This is the best film yet about the Vietnam war. The film sets the stage well while the unit is stateside. The training and prep to go to war might have been a movie in itself. The use of the helo's in battle was portrayed accurately. The ground tactics were right on! This portrayal of "elite" troops in battle was superbly done. The film is fairly close to the Moore/Galloway book. This is the first time that I remember an honest portrayal of both sides. The shifts in perspective from the Viet regulars to Moore was skillfully handled. As a film and a bit of history We Were Soldiers is worth your time and money. The film deserves academy award consideration.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing Movie
Review: Of all the war movies I have seen this has got to be the BEST!!! It is absolutly the most realistic and amazingly made movie I have ever seen. The cast is outstanding,everyone of them. Mel Gibson did an excellent job in his roll as did all the rest of the cast members. I am looking forward to seeing this movie over & over again. You laugh & cry with the carectors & feel like you are actually going through the lives with the people in the movie. I now have a MUCH greater appreciation for what our brave soldiers did in Vietnam, this movie really puts everything into perspective for those of us who never had to face the tragedy that occured during that time in history. My hats off to the writers, directors and actors & to all the men who fought & died in this horrific war. God bless all of them & thanks to the people who put so much into this movie to make it the extreme hit I know it will be.
Thank you,
Donna Johnson
Crossett, AR
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