Cheap We Were Soldiers (DVD) (Mel Gibson) (Randall Wallace) Price

Related Products

Customer Reviews of We Were Soldiers

Based on Lt. Gen. Harold B. Moore and Joseph Galloway's non-fiction book We Were Soldiers Once....and Young, Wallace's film version is a realistic and respectful account of the first major battle between U.S. and North Vietnamese forces in November of 1965.

Starring Mel Gibson as Lt. Col. Hal Moore, We Were Soldiers begins with the Vietnamese destruction of France's Mobile Group 100 in 1954, the same year that Diem Bien Phu fell and French involvement in Vietnam ended, paving the way for America's long and doomed intervention. This opening scene is graphically violent yet serves to drive home its point - to show the determination of the Vietnamese to drive off any outside force, even if it means being ruthless.

We Were Soldiers, unlike Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now or Oliver Stone's Platoon, portrays its soldiers realistically and without the anti-military post-Vietnam War bitterness that permeates those two films. (To be fair, both Coppola and Stone's movies are well made, and in the case of Apocalypse Now, that film is not really about Vietnam per se but rather a Vietnamized adaptation of Joseph Conrad's novel Heart of Darkness.) Some viewers might even accuse Wallace (who wrote and directed) of having a right-wing revisionist slant, but in the featurette on the making of the movie, he points out that he was inspired to do We Were Soldiers when he read Hal Moore's comment that Hollywood has never gotten it right when it comes to making movies about the Vietnam War.

We Were Soldiers not only has respect and admiration for the U.S. soldiers, but it also depicts the bravery and sacrifice of the Vietnamese People's Army. True, most of the focus is on the American troops and, unusually for a Vietnam combat movie, their families. But I personally have not seen the North Vietnamese portrayed with this much respect in a movie - even though I know Oliver Stone's Heaven and Earth is a movie that deals with the Vietnamese.

Mel Gibson portrays Lt. Col. Moore with his usual earnestness, wit and warmth. He allows us to see the human side to this very intellectual and dedicated soldier. He is not only a very pensive officer who reads French history books about Vietnam and has various college degrees, but also a loving husband and father. His scenes with Madeline Stowe, who plays his wife Julie, exude affection and true chemistry. Also, the scene when Moore explains the concept of war to his youngest daughter is touching and tender. Rounding out the cast are Sam Elliott, Barry Pepper, Keri Russell, Greg Kinnear, Chris Klein, and American Pie's Jason Biggs.

The depiction of the battle at Landing Zone X-ray ranks among the best, if sometimes grueling, war scenes. The movie captures the horrible yet mesmerizing spectacle of battle, taking audiences from the roller-coaster exhilaration of nap of the earth helicopter rides to a three-day life-or-death struggle between two determined bands of fighting men.

Paramount's Widescreen Collection DVD is, as can be expected, a basic offering in comparison to other studios' releases. Admittedly, the root menu is flashier than previous DVDs from Paramount, and it does have director's commentary, two different Dolby sound settings, and the aforementioned making-of featurette.

one of the better war movies
We Were Soldiers is based on the factual events that happened in 1965 at the battle of Ia Drang Valley. I've heard it said that this is one of the better war movies, and one of the best Viet Nam movies. I'd have to agree. Mel Gibson puts in a stunning performance (as usual) at Col Hal Moore, the leader of the 1st battallion, 7th calvary (Custer's unit). Greg Kinnear has a great performance. Barry Pepper does a wonderful job as Joe Galloway, the reporter who was there in the fight. And it is great to see Sam Elliot again, in a role that seems tailor made for him. And many other actors put in great performances. It may have helped that Hal Moore, Joe Galloway, and Bruce Crandall (Kinnear's character) were there to help guide the filmmakers. This movie also spends time focussing on the soldier's wives at home, where Madeleine Stowe and especially Keri Russell and Simbi Khali (not much screen time for Khali, but the few minutes she was on, she was phenomenal) do a great job. You don't too often see the effect at home, but you do here. We Were Soldiers also portrays the enemy as soldiers and honorable men, instead of the stereotypical '...' shown in most Viet Nam movies. And as much as I like movies like Platoon, Full Metal Jacket, and Casualties of War, it is nice to see the soldiers portrayed as soldiers doing their job rather than the psychos, drug addicts, and the likes shown in other movies. This is what Speilberg was hoping for when he made Saving Private Ryan. Randall Wallace (writer/director) teams up again with Gibson. These guys made Braveheart together, and We Were Soldiers is almost as good. The effects are good, and William Hoy does such a great job editing, I think he deserves an Oscar. Nick Glennie-Smith scored the movie, and his work doesn't detract, nor is it swallowed up by the action. This is just an overall great movie.

And the dvd is a good one also. There is a commentary track by Wallace, and while it isn't the most entertaining I've watched, he does a good job (I do wish Mel Gibson had been on the track with him). There are numerous deleted scenes and a 20 minute behind the scenes documentary, "Getting it Right." It's a good dvd.

New wave propaganda
It is highly disappointing to watch Mel Gibson giving his high credibility (Patriot; Braveheart) as humanistic actor in this cheap propaganda. There is nothing in the movie but (a) 45 minutes of wasting time before going to Vietnam and (b) 90 minutes of violent extremist Vietnamese wanting to humiliate the west (by liberating their country??) challenged by few American heroes.
Opposite to 1800 Vietnamese, there were almost 360 Americans, supported by artillery, helicopters and extensive use of Napalm bombs by jet fighters. What is heroic on this? Why making a movie about it? Are we back to the 50's to celebrate American heroism of WWII?
Am glad that I saw the film on cable and did not specifically pay for it; the film is very boring, repeated and vague.