Rating: 
Summary: TOUCHING
Review: Based on the true story of the first major battle of the Vietnam War. On November 14, 1965, in the Ia Drang Valley of Vietnam, Lt. Colonel Harold Moore (Mel Gibson) and more than 400 troopers from the U.S. 7th Air Cavalry find themselves surrounded by 2000 enemy soldiers. The film tells a tale of men outnumbered and besieged, and their moving acts of loyalty toward one another.
Rating: 
Summary: We Were Soldiers
Review: Though this is not a great film in the same league of "Saving Private Ryan", it is a very fine film none the less. Having served in the Infantry, I could related with everything and everyone in this film. This film pays tribute to those who served and fought on both sides of this battle. It also pays tribute to the wives and family left behind in the states. Every day for them was one of fear and uncertaintly also. The acting is first rate with Sam Elliott standing out in, what I feel, is the role of his career as Sergeant Major Basil Plumley. The combat sequences are breathtaking in their portrayal of the death and carnage that took place at X-Ray. A highly recommended film for anyone who is a student of history, for this is a story of bravery and devotion to duty and country that is rarely attempted in film today. I will go and see this film again.
Rating:
Summary: hard core battle and action
Review: I saw this movie last night and the movie was spectacular. The second half is action all the way through and very very entertaining. It stars mel gibson as leader of forces during the vietnam war. If you like action check this movie out. Rated R for intense brutal and very graphic war violence and some language.
Rating:
Summary: A Diary and a Photograph
Review: Silence. Complete silence. As the film ended and the lights grew to a glow, the packed audience sat still and paid respectful homage as the fallen soldiers names appeared on the screen. Some around me could barely contain themselves as they shook and cried. Veterans and soldiers in military uniform humbly and quitly remained in their seats long after I left the room. It was amazing to see all of these strangers who had come together to see a movie, suddenly seem to be a part of something special and real. It reminded me of when I first saw Private Ryan a few years back, and saw the same reaction. People who had been arguing and behaving rudely before the movie, were now leaving proudly, holding the door open for the next person. It takes something special to do that. Like Blackhawk Down, We Were Soldier's comes at a time of heightened patriotism and valor. When life has a little more meaning, and when Americans dive deeper within themselves to find an extra emotion of strength to get through the day. What seperates We Were Soldiers from other great Vietnam films such as Platoon, was the effort to show both sides of the war. A Northern Vietnamese soldier, writing in his journal and staring at the photograph of his wife, as at the same time an American soldier is also dwelling on thought's of home. Before American's, The North Vietnamese army had fought the Chinese, and French... Leaving the theater, I told myself never to forget We Were Soldier's, nor the sacrifice our men, like my own uncle. ...
Rating: 
Summary: What happens when...people try to be meaningful.
Review: Mel Gibson and company are soldiers surrounded by overwhelming odds in the Ia Drang Valley during the Vietnam War. Graphically violent film features almost non-stop fighting after the first hour. Technically, the battle scenes are well-choregoraphed, but those sequences never achieve the "you are there" feeling, and the film completely lacks in genuine dramatic power and nail-biting intensity. The character development is second-rate, the symbolism is heavy-handed...This is what happens when...people try to meditate on the meaning of brotherhood. Good message, but poorly executed. This has nothing on Saving Private Ryan or Black Hawk Down.
Rating: 
Summary: Gruesome...........
Review: This is a 'good' war movie, but not great. Alot of people didn't like this because of the cliches and corny acting, I didn't mind that, but what bothered me was the grisly violence. Take a look at the slow-motion violence of Sam Peckinpah's "The Wild Bunch" and multiply that by about one hundred. It's not just the slow-motion stuff, this movie makes "Saving Private Ryan" look like something you would see on the Disney channel. I won't say what the types of violence were that made me wince, but it had something to do with napalm. There's definitely some Oscar worthy cinematography in the film. This movie really made me feel like I was in the war. If you are, or know someone that wants to go to war to win medals, be a hero, or something like that, then see this movie first. It did change my view of war, war isn't honarable or heroic, or glorious, it's just depressing and scary. This is probably one of the most scary movies I've seen, and it's a war movie. The acting is good but not great, Mel Gibson does a nice job as Col. Moore, and Sam Elliot (Sgt. Plumley) is in this for comic relief, maybe so the audience won't get too depressed. Other than that the acting is okay. I would've given this movie 4 or 5 stars, but it's just so violent. Not for children, or the weak hearted.
Rating:
Summary: What Americans Want
Review: I have just viewed the movie with my husband who will retire from the Army this year. "When We Were Soldiers" is by far the best picture made in this genre in our generation. When viewing the movie, you want to put down your popcorn, because it feels like you are eating in front of the Vietnam Wall. This picture is a memorial to all fighting men and their families left at home.
This movie does a wonderful job of showing all aspects of a war machine, showing all the support personel that it takes to carry on battle. It shows soldiers carrying out their mission with bravery and dedication without covering up the flaws of our country's policy making during that era.
Wonderful acting, technical advising, directing and of course writing.
The war gore was intense, but no more intense than movies like "Saving Private Ryan."
This movie is a must see for every American who is old enough to understand it. It will be a sure Academy Award Winner.
Congratulations to everyone associated with the picture and thank you!
Rating:
Summary: One of the greatest war films ever made.
Review: I have been seeing films for over 65 yrs. & have seen hundreds of war films, some bad, some good & some execellent, BUT very few superior ones. WE ARE SOLDIERS is a superior war film in every aspect, superbly written & acted, & with a feeling of actually being in the valley of horror & hell.
A MUST SEE FILM.
This is the film Speilburg should have created with his Saving Private Ryan. In SPR, I know I was watching a film, Today I experienced one.This belongs with the following as Superior war films (in no particular order) Apocolypse Now
Paths Of Glory
The Big Parade
Platoon
Battleground
there are others of course.
Rating:
Summary: THERE'S A REASON FOR THE R-RATING!
Review: This is a truly exciting and emotional film that is full of outstanding acting and thrilling battle sequences! But be warned right now: the brutality of the battle scenes were the reason this film recieved the much-deserved R-rating. Definitely not for little kids! A very outstanding Vietnam war movie that is not an anti-war film. God knows we don't need an anti-war film at this time! Grade: A+
Rating:
Summary: Breathless
Review: For those who have not experience war or battle, read carefully: Lt. Col. Hal Moore (Now USA Ret Lt. Gen) knew what leadership meant: Follow Me! What the revisionists at Berkely, Columbia and the media in general will never understand: Men fight for their brothers, nothing more. They execute their duty and live with the execution or failure of that duty all their lives. The movie gives us a tiny glimpse of what it was like to be a soldier in a war that everyone wants to forget. Shame on us for wanting to re-write Viet Nam, shame on Oliver Stone and his ... liberals, shame on us for not smashing the mouth of every single liberal in America. Shame on us for wanting to forget and ignor our brothers. Lest we forget those who have fallen and those who have survived!
Thomas J. Zaleski
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