Although I was initially hesitant to We Were Soldiers thanks to Randall Wallace and Mel Gibson at the helm, I was pleasantly surprised at We Were Soldiers, which is an honest to god thanks to the soldiers of Vietnam. Mel Gibson and Randall Wallace butchered impressive ancient warfare with horrendous writing and directing, and I don't even want to think about the horrible abomination known as Pearl Harbor. Luckily, Randal Wallace learned after all those misfires and created We Were Soldiers, which actually honors the soldiers of The Vietnam War, something no other war film has never really done. The closest thing? The Green Berets. Ugh. We Were Soldiers is graphic, yes, but as some of the other reviewers can attest, this is what it was really like. This film succeeds because of this, as it does for Vietnam veterans what Saving Private Ryan did for WW2 Veterans.
We Were Soldiers is much different than other war films such as Apocalypse Now and Full Metal Jacket. While the aforementioned movies do more for me personally, We Were Soldiers is much different from those other films as it gives an honest and straight up thanks to the soldiers of Vietnam. It strips away most of the the political and tension that went on during the Vietnam War and focuses squarely on the soldiers and the home front. No other war film before really did an open letter to the soldiers, and for that reason We Were Soldiers is much more superior to say, Platoon, which in comparison sucks pretty hard (as you can tell, I don't like Platoon that much). Even better, it doesn't make the opposing soldiers seem like inhumane monsters either, but it also takes something's viewpoint to determine that, and I'll leave it at that.
The film also reduces Mel Gibson to merely just acting (both Braveheart and Passion of the Christ seem they were made by a sadist, and one was silly and the other was a glorified snuff film), something that seemed to help The Patriot as well (though that had another problematic Director, Roland Emmerich). Although I initially was reluctant to watch this movie thanks to Mel Gibson (reasons above), he gives a stoic and reserved performance, very in contrast to his wildly silly Braveheart performance. I also do think after watching some Mel Gibson movies that South Park's charicture of Mel Gibson is juvenile and childish beyond belief, even though I can't argue with South Park's spot on observation of The Passion of the Christ (hated it as a Christian, hate it as an Agnostic).
We Were Soldiers is a dramatization of the Battle of la Drang, based on Hal Moore's account of the battle as written by him. For the most part, that's pretty much it. However, We Were Soldiers works because of that, as it gives a sense of what Vietnam war veterans went through. Another well made part is the home front, which shows what the people at home go through as well. While I'm not married, I can really sense what it's like when young couples are seperated, and even more what their wives would feel when they learn of the death of their own husbands. I also liked the feeling of what it is like to tell a young child what war is about, it's no easy feat to explain that to a child.
The battle scenes are extremely well made, and while they have a soundtrack, it adds to the carnage. They are set in winding fields that add extreme confusion, with high doses of napalm and muzzle attacks. They sound brutal and amazing, and Wallace's direction adds tension and a sense of instinct that other war films don't have. This film, like other war films of recent memory, are very violent, with people being burned, people's heads being ripped up by machine guns, and skin sliding off of a soldiers who was doused with napalm. I do have one problem, and that would be the final charge, as the cheesy voice over ruins that battle. Luckily. I really can't find fault in the battle scenes, which are first rate. I certainly think they did an excellent job at making Vietnam warfare seem very real.
I'll give the last word to the Vietnam veterans who have spoken well about this film. We Were Soldiers is quite underrated actually, and the critics who found it cheesy really need to have their tastes checked, in my opinion. It may not quite stake out new grounds, but it's still an open letter to the Vietnam war and leaves out all of the crappy politics. All that ____ really doesn't matter anyway, and no matter how it happened, people are killed either way. Why the hell does it matter. Ah, I'm ranting. Just check We Were Soldiers out. It likely won't soften up to the hardest cynics, but one who can understand the casualties of each side will surely enjoy it. If anything, the battle scenes are great. Either way, see it.Get more detail about We Were Soldiers.
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