A quite competent and watchable war drama

Rating: Null/10 (2 November 2003)

WE WERE SOLDIERS **1/2
Vietnam was a horrifying militaristic blunder. American governmental officials thought the operation would be an efficient and effective strategy, only to discover resistance of the strongest kind under the guise of the Vietnamese Communist founder Ho Chi Minh. After the first confrontations, America eventually joined the fray to eradicate the problems in Vietnam. They were wrong. In the movie, the Viet-Cong military leader opposed to Gibson's company said something along the lines of the Americans will think that they've won this war', something that held some gravity. Gibson plays a leader of a company that will land at la Drang and assess the problems. The opening sequences focus more on the emotional build-up to the war through the eyes of the companies' wives and girlfriends and the grief that they carry that their loved ones will be going to war.

The crux of the movie shows the horrific action involving the company landing in Vietnam and the Viet Cong that are protecting their mother land. The results were horrifying. Needless deaths with little or no plan, with hundreds slaughtered after being surrounded by the Viet Cong. The movie was sound, with it giving a good overall portrayal of the brutalities of war. However, after watching previous movies like Saving Private Ryan, The Thin Red Line and Platoon the brilliant action sequences with bullets flying to all parts and the brutal kill shots now look a little more ordinary.

One of the most emotional sequences of the movie involved Gibson's wife (played by Stowe). A taxi would regularly come and go in the vicinity were the wives lived, which turned out to be the fateful taxi that would give the worst possible information that a member of the company had died. The driver one day walks up to Stowe's house and looking rather grim, fidgets with an envelope. Stowe awaits the news beginning to cry. He announces that he's looking for Stowe because he wants to know where another woman lives. The impact was tremendous. She shouts at the forlorn man 'Did you know what you did to me then', before the man starts walking away apologetically. He stops and almost in a whimper suggests that he doesn't like doing the job, but he's just trying to do it the best he can. Stowe then takes on the responsibility by telling the man that all envelopes from that day forward would be delivered to her. Moments like that in the movie will probably bring a tear to the eye. Stowe's response, and the isolation of a man just trying to do a simple job in the worst circumstances.

But if the emotional study was excellent, the war combat scenes were a little unbelievable. Not in a sloppy way by no means, but for me something didn't click. That may be my problem and not yours. From the Patriot and Braveheart, I believed in Gibson's performance. But I didn't believe in him much here. As the movie progressed he got better and better, but the early damage whereby I thought he was going to break out into a What Women Want' comic sketch set the tone. Overall the film is worth a watch, but it didn't show me anything new. Maybe it's because the impact of the aforementioned war films was so great because they were the first to show what war is truly like, and that any films after these would have to show something different and diverse otherwise I just take it for granted.