We Were Soldiers

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Summary: GOD BLESS AMERICA'S HEROES!
Review: The soldiers of Vietnam finally get the credit they deserve in this specatcular and moving portrayal that is free of Propoganda. I was thankful to have seen it in theaters twice during it's theatrical run. The DVD is a must-own! Buy it today! Movie/DVD Grade: A+

Rating:
Summary: One of the Greatest War Movies Ever
Review: We Were Soldiers is quite possibly one of the best war movies ever. The battle scenes are excellent, though the music isn't quite exhilarating but the action itself makes up for that. Mel Gibson is excellent (he should have been nominated for an Oscar in my opinion, but you know, those Hollywood types) and I loved seeing Sam Elliot in his element as a hard-bitten and tough Sergeant Major, straight out of a western. As I said, the battle scenes are well choreographed and are very realistic. And this movie isn't just for us men, there are many tender moments and it shows how the war effected the loved ones these men left back home. All in all a very powerful war movie and extremely realistic.

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Summary: Not Just Another Vietnam Movie
Review: I found the title of this movie to be very interesting. I haven't read the book, so I can't verify this, but the title to me points out the fact that the soldiers in this war were, in fact, soldiers: most did not have much policy-making authority, and did not choose to engage in what many felt was an ... unnecessary war. They were not involved in politics. Instead, they were there to do what they had been required to do. They were soldiers. It also brought to the fore how non-soldiers, through chance, became soldiers themselves.

The cinematography of this movie is beautiful, and it is full of gripping scenes. It helps viewers to get a feel for what it must have been like to be there. When the soldiers are pinned down, surrounded, and outnumbered, it is a very tense film to watch. In fact, the action scenes are uniformly good, and the acting is excellent also. We Were Soldiers also points out some historical truths about the war that most don't realize, such as the scene when the soldiers are being taught how helicopters will be used to transport them into and out of firefights. Most don't realize that this was the first engagement of its kind, and it's instructive to watch the soldiers react to the danger it presents.

... From a purely technical standpoint, it provides some relief from the unadulterated action of the movie, much as comedy scenes in Shakespeare's tragedies do. Second, it points out the effect that the war had on families of those called to serve, something that is not often mentioned in Vietnam movies.

Rating:
Summary: Definitely the best war movie I've ever seen.
Review: I grew up as a military bratt, served in the Air Force and also have worked with military families. This movie by far is one of the best war movies ever made. I especially like how they showed how the families of the soldiers were affected. Most war movies totally leave that part out even though it's very important. Also I liked how they showed the enemy's point of view through out the film. By showing the expertise of the enemy, it was more possible to respect our sides accomplishments during the battle. This movie shows many aspects of war... not just what happens on the battle field. It goes a lot deeper than that. Five stars hands down.

Rating:
Summary: Decent.
Review: The acting is great, the casting (minus Chris Klein) was decent, and the story was interesting. The whole movie is definetly worth watching. Sam Elliott's parts were small, but memorable.

There were only two downfalls. The first is the switching of scenes to the women at home, it distracted from the rest of the story. The second is a lot more of a problem. During the climactic battle scene, I have one question. How did they not hear the choppers? Bell helicopter's are very loud. I mean very loud. I'm talking being able it to it miles away, let alone right on top of them.

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Summary: A disapointment to the book
Review: I read the book for my ROTC class. I found the movie to be utterly disapointing. I hope that if you like the movie, you will like the book, as it explains the story of these soldiers in an accurate and dare I say honorable fashion.

After watching the movie I felt nothing. But after reading the book, I was moved by their story.

The acting was very medicore.
They should have never put those wives in the movie either.

Rating:
Summary: unsurpassable
Review: I don't recall seeing a war movie besides Saving Private Ryan that captures the true horror of war. But having never been to war myself makes that statement an opinion. Despite that, I was captivated by this movie's realism and its intensity. Mel Gibson gave an awesome performance as Lt. Hal Moore (the author of the book "We Were Soldiers Once...and Young") as did the rest of the supporting cast. The movie was great, and I would definitely recommend buying a copy, but read the book if you want the un-Hollywood version of what really happened.

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Summary: Bringing home the reality of ground combat in Vietnam
Review: "We Were Soldiers Once...and Young: Ia Drang : The Battle That Changed the War in Vietnam" was written by Harold Moore and Joseph Galloway. A bestseller when first published it is the story of the first significant engagement between American troops and the Viet Cong, which took place between October 23 and November 26, 1965. Moore was the commander of the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry, and Galloway was the only reporter present throughout the 34 days of the battle. The Battle of Ia Drang in the central highlands of Vietnam is considered the first time and place where helicopter-based, air-mobile operations were used in combat. However the technological advancements of war become secondary to the story of over 400 U.S. soldiers surrounded by 2000 of the enemy. Heroism under relentless fire becomes the true story of the book and the main virtue of this 2002 film from director Randall Wallace ("The Man in the Iron Mask").

"We Were Soldiers" assumes that the audience does not know about the book on which the film is based; it toys with the audience several times with setting up Moore (Mel Gibson) to be killed. Moore knows history and cannot help but wondering if he is also leading the 7th calvary into a massacre just like Custer in 1876; however, Sgt. Major Basil Plumley (Sam Elliott) pointedly reminds Moore of that fact the colonel ain't Custer. The backbone of the story is Moore's promise to his men that he would be the first one on and the last one off the battlefield and not even orders from his superiors, who do not want to have an American lieutenant colonel killed during a massacre, are going to get him to break his word. But ultimately the entire purpose of this film is to provide a realistic portrait of ground combat during Vietnam and drive home the fact that these soldiers were not fighting and dying for their country but for each other. This particular firefight lasts three days and nights, 56 straight hours of nonstop battle, and time and time again you become convinced that none of these soldiers are going to get out of there alive.

The battle is juxtaposed with scenes of Moore's wife, Julie (Madeline Stowe), who is forced to deliver the telegrams announcing the death of their husbands to their widows because the Army was using taxi cabs drivers. Like a similar scene in "A League of Their Own," such scenes violate our scene of propriety, ingrained in countless other war movies from "The Fighting Sullivans" to "Saving Private Ryan," that the military has a moral imperative in sending officers out to deliver such shattering news in person. However, we end up getting the idea that these telegrams were being sent while the bodies of these men were still lying in body bags on the battlefield.

Hal Moore, who retired as a Lt. General, gave "We Were Soldiers" his stamp of approval as the first Hollywood film to get what fighting was like in Vietnam, which is good enough for me. Watching this film while American troops are again fighting and dying in a war on the other side of the globe makes it even more potent. The performances are uniformly good, with Barry Pepper as the reporter Galloway, who distinguishes himself both with his camera and an automatic rifle during the battle, Greg Kinnear as head chopper pilot Major Bruce Crandall, and Keri Russell as Barbara Geoghegan, the wife of a young 2nd Lt. who sees her husband go off to war right after she had given birth to their first child. My only major complaint about this film is that the score by Nick Glennie-Smith often overwhelms the scenes of battle with music that provides a discordant apotheosis. I can totally appreciate the idea of not providing heroic music, but what we have here goes too far in sanctifying the action. The blood and the guts being displayed by heroic actions and brutal deaths on screen do that without needing the music; just watch the "Broken Arrow" chapter for proof.

Before the final credits the film shows the names of the soldiers who died at L-Z X-Ray ; even more poignant is the fact that there names are inscribed on Panel 3 East of the Vietnam War Memorial, because there were so many panels that follow (70 in all inscribed with 58,000 names). Ultimately, "We Were Soldiers" avoids taking a political stance on the war beyond what is brought to the experience by the audience (the most political scene with Moore debriefed by McNamra & Westmoreland is one of those deleted). Moore's battlefield counterpart, Lt. Col. Nguyen Huu An (Don Duong) is presented as a dedicated, competent leader (the scenes in his underground command post also provide us our clearest understanding of what is actually happening on the battlefield). When Moore looks at the diary of a Vietcong soldier who almost killed him, he finds a picture of a woman, who to my eye anyway looks like Moore's own wife. The symmetry makes it perfectly clear that the troops on the other side were soldiers too.

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Summary: Everybody should see this movie
Review: This is one of the most incredible movies I have ever seen. Since war in Iraq has broke out I've been watching a lot of war movies and this one by far is the most brutal, intense, realistic, horrifying of all of them. This movie really makes you appreciate the troops and all they sacrifice for their country. Lately the cable news channel have been treating war like a big video game and acting very childish. This movie puts everything into perspective and makes you understand what truly is important. So instead of watching FOX News and their stupid cat fights with MSNBC put this movie on.

Rating:
Summary: Good, but didn't go all the way to condemn this war.
Review: This is a good movie and the point of making it was to do a Vietnam War movie "right" this time, meaning to show the camaraderie among the soldiers in battle without regard to rank. While I can say this is a good movie and recommend that others see it, it stops one scene too short for me. In the DVD version, you can find it in the Special Features. Lt Colonel Moore is being de-breifed by Colonel Westmoreland. We used to call him Colonel "waste-more-land." In this deleted scene, Colonel Moore was being congratulated on his victory as a blueprint for American involvement in the war. "we are going to bomb these gooks back to their homes" is how it would have been accurately said with the racism of those times. Lt Colonel Moore's critical response was this WAS their home. This is in fact what was written into the book and not followed by the movie for fear of losing box office tickets. I would be very happy for Hal Moore to somehow meet and talk to his former Vietnamese adversary. The fact is there would be more opportunity for this from the book, not the movie. Similar occasions re-united former adversaries for World War II has resulted in the people with the most credibility speaking out to try to prevent future wars and needless loss of life. Wars are very nasty business, people die and people get handicapped for the rest of their lives. There is more than enough bravery on both sides here to honor in process of coming to a place of peace. That is what I call "getting it right."