We Were Soldiers

Rating:
Summary: Abundance of gore
Review: Very emotional movie, likely to make any guy or girl tear up a bit. This movie is no award winner -- the storyline is filled with holes. The first hour or so extremely boring, almost cheesy. However, the war scenes is very intense. I find it somewhat absurd that the US lost about 60 people, while the Vietnamese lost 1800 .. and yet, the movie seemed like the US was getting slaughtered. You will literally see each one of those 60 people die and pour a river of blood. Overall, it is a worthy rental or a borderline "to-own" DVD.

Rating:
Summary: An action packed war movie
Review: Mel Gibson's 'We Were Soldiers' is a movie I thoroughly enjoyed. It's not one of those special movies that seem to stay with you, but for what it was, an action packed war drama with some interesting angles, it carried itself very well. The action scenes, and there are plenty of those, are convincingly done. The acting is solid throughout the movie and Australian actor Gibson puts in a typically good performance. I applaud the movie's portrayal of both sides of the conflict. It was refreshing to see the Viet Cong depicted as soldiers no less human than their US counterparts, and not vilified for being the enemy. The story of the wives back home running parallel to the main battle was a nice touch which provided welcome relief from the horror of the battlefield, but in it's own way was a stressful part of the movie. Overall I give the movie the thumbs up. I don't see myself watching it again in the near future, but 6 months down the track I think 'We Were Soldiers' will deserve another viewing. Recommended.

Rating:
Summary: A true account of an atrocity from which we may not recover.
Review: This realistic movie depicts the start of the Viet Nam war in human misery and bravery. As he did so well in THE PATRIOT, Mel Gibson performs marvelously as the American general (granted, he was no MacArthur, but who else was?) and gives an award-winning, heart-rending, authentic acting performance so sincere that his tears cause the moveiegoer to respond in kind.
He may be from down under, but he makes a pretty good Southern gentleman turned soldier. There were a few funny incidents as when the women's group talk about going to the laundry in that small Georgia town.
It breaks your heart when you see that yellow taxi's appearance; I almost had a heart attack when the general's wife looked out and saw it that last time.
Don't miss this powerful movie; it will leave you with fulfillment and the knowledge we were denied when this event actually took place. More power to the Viet Nam vets!

Rating:
Summary: Great War Movie
Review: We Were Soldiers does the best job of showing the horrors of war since Saving Private Ryan. WWS goes even further to show the brutality on the omefront (Yes,the military actually did notify familes by hiring cab drivers to deliver letters early in the war.) There are some tough scenes to sit through, particularly a napalm indicident, but it is definitely necessary to sit through this movie at least once. Mel Gibson turns in his finest performance since Braveheart. Such emotion...you can jus feel it, thanks to the raw realism of this well-crafted film.

The song "Sgt. Mackenzie" plays over two particularly harrowing scenes. It's an Irish war song, circa WW I, and I guarntee it will haunt you. WWS is worth seeing just to hear it.

Rating:
Summary: Great war movie!
Review: I usually don't like many war films and films about Vietnam don't usually thrill me much, but this movie was wonderful and gripping. Gibson turned in a great performance as the leader of a bunch of rag-tag troops holding down an vital enemy line. The other characters were developed to the point that I actually felt their pain and especially the pain of the grieving widows back home.
The action was fast paced and brutal with a startling reality to it. This movie may help me begin to like war films, it is a great movie and should not be missed.

Rating:
Summary: Four and a half stars! Excellent movie!
Review: I thought this was a very well done movie of the early days of U.S. troop involvement in Viet Nam. It portrayed Hal Moore exactly as he seems. One note though: be sure to watch the deleted scenes. The Return to Camp Holloway and the Briefing by McNamara and General Westmoreland were wonderful - and disagreeing with the Director, I felt that these scenes should have been part of the movie. The Return to Camp Holloway was just exceptionally moving. The debriefing just hit the nail on the head - although I understand the director's comment about not wanting to make it political. But Viet Nam was a very political war - just like the 2003 War in Iraq - soon to be - is.

I took away 1/2 star for the early bit of the French soldiers - the one with the bugle was just a bit too graphic

Rating:
Summary: Seeing the elephant in Vietnam
Review: In the Civil War when soldiers were asked by civilians what the combat was like they said that describing it was like describing an elephant to a blind man. With the movie, "We Were Soldiers," one has the sense that you have been give a glimpse of the elephant.
The movie is perfect in many ways. It is perfect in showing loyalty of soldiers to their homeland and the loyalty of brothers-in-arms. It is perfect in its horror in that it relays the terror, pace and numbness of combat. It is also perfect in its showing of the impact of combat on the soldiers of both sides and their families at home.
"We Were Soldiers" stands in the good company of other films that, in their age and in their way have tried to show us, in the comfort of our homes, the experience of war. I feel that it ranks with "BattleGround," "Private Ryan" and "All Quiet on the Western Front" as a great presentation of the experience of war on people.

Rating:
Summary: Good movie - based on real events
Review: This DVD has the usual guts, guns and glory adventure that will please most males. It also has the gut wrenching, scenes that show what happens at home after men die doing their job. This will bring the females in.

I liked this movie because 1) I had read the book and, 2) I am a Vietnam Veteran. I was a crewman on a helicopter like the one you will see inserting the troops, supplies, bullets, and removing the wounded and dead. I liked this movie because, while it was about the First Cav, it was also about how the war was fought by use of helicopters when I was there.

This story is about the first time the North Vietnamise Army stood and fought with the Americans. This is a story about how American forces - who were vastly outnumbered - were able to fight back again and again while doing what we do best. Utilizing the best equipment in the world to cause much pain and suffering on the choosen enemy.

This story is also about the first major use of helicopters in battle against a strong, well dug in enemy force. After the first group of troops were inserted, ground fire was intense. The brave sky soliders kept comming back, by day and night, until the enemy withdrew and would fight no more. When you see this movie, try to watch for and remember what the aircrew were doing and remember that each of us were there because we wanted to be. No one can force anyone to fly. You do it because you love to do it.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent, Truly realistic
Review: This movie is the of he best war films out, and the only true Vietnam War movie my family and I have seen. This movie stayed very close to historical facts, and made the open-field battle in the Ia Drang valley seem so real, my father was in Cambodia, right across the border when this happened, so he knows a thing or two how real it was, a must see if you think RAMBO, or in that case, ANY OTHER Vietnam War is the best on this war out there...

Rating:
Summary: An OK Movie
Review: They compare this movie a lot to Braveheart because it was written by the same guy and stars Mel Gibson. Well, in my opinion this movie was no where near close to Braveheart.

Mel Gibson's acting is decent but I dont' think he'll ever do better than Braveheart. The Patriot was better than this movie if you want another Mel Gibson war movie.

If you want another war movie from the 20th century, check out Saving Private Ryan or Band of Brothers. Also, Platoon kicks this movie's butt as far as Vietnam movies go.

Overall this movie was too drawn out. The action was great, was very random and long. The beginning seemed like it took forever. I got really sick of Mel Gibson talking about God and never leaving his soldiers. It just seemed cheesy and out of place.

There are better war movies out there, so try something else. If you want some pretty decent action and blood and guts and gore, check this one out. I suggest renting it though.