A powerfully moving epic, shrouded in honor

Rating: 7/10 (6 March 2002)

The first few minutes of We Were Soldiers plays out like any war movie should. As did Saving Private Ryan (1998), Soldiers shows the atrocity in war early on yet unlike many other films, the key to bringing Soldiers to life is the fact that the atrocities of war do not fade and we as an audience are plunged into an era of horror as well as honor.
While Gibson's performance is not his best, it is the stunning cinematography and dialogue that makes the film a worthwhile one. Barry Pepper and Chris Klein have stirring performances and powerful dialogue. Although writer/director Randall Wallace does throw in quite a few cliches throughout the picture, it still comes across as a moving picture.

War is hell. Yet We Were Soldiers shows that in entrenched in hellish situations, honorable deeds arise.