I can't believe I sat through this rubbish!

Rating: 2/10 (16 March 2002)

The Total Film review gave this film their 'Film of the Month' tag, if's that's then I'll stay away from the cinema for a month.
I like my war films, I like my Vietnam war films, I like Mel Gibson films, then how could this film be so bad? Over-sentimental and laboured are the two words I'd use to describe this film. There's no doubt that what the 7th Cavalry did in the Ia Drang Valley was amazing and that this film was (maybe) historically acurate (you never know after the abomination of Braveheart)but as a piece of cinema they deserved better than this. Madeline Stowe's performance seemed wooden at best (shame they don't give an Oscar for 'best use of collogen in a film') Chris Klein proved to be a one-trick pony, even I wanted to shoot him early in film. His slow, thoughtful, meaningful, serious, diction just infuriated me. The only actor who came out well was Sam Eliot as the grizzled vet. He had the only four good lines in the film, and these lines only just outnumbered the amount of long boring prayers given to God throughout this film Be advised, if you want an engaging, well acted, accurate and heart rendering war story, stay home and watch an episode of Band of Brothers.