Just Another War Movie

Rating: 3/10 (16 March 2002)

Lots of movies have been made concerning the Vietnam War, most of them in recent memory were excellent (Apocalypse Now, Platoon, Good Morning Vietnam). All had their own little unique perspectives on the events during the war. "We Were Soldiers" however, is just another war movie, and not a very good one. The plot is slow very slow and predictable, the acting is so-so, and character development is terrible. As a member of the viewing audience, you feel no connection to the characters, therefore it's hard to conjure up any kind of emotions during the scenes which try to pry any emotions out of you. Even the extra actors portraying Viet Cong soldiers didn't do a good job of playing dead. I am serious...I could swear one of them was trying to hold back laughter while trying to play dead.
But the hardest thing which I could not overcome while watching the movie, is the scenery. Even though I have never been to Vietnam, some of the better movies made about the war made me feel as though I have been there. They all followed a basic formula for the scenery, some, even shot on location in Vietnam. Now I have no idea where the war scenes were shot for "We Were Soldiers", but I could swear that they were shot in the mountains outside of Los Angeles, CA. Since when were there oak trees in Vietnam? The war scenes looked like a bunch of guys from Los Angeles who drove to the Angeles Crest forest, got out of their BMW's, did a reenactment of a battle that occurred in Vietnam, then went home.
Overall, this movie is just plain boring and uninspirational. It tries to use the premise of remembering those who died in a bloody battle in order to make a movie and a few extra bucks. Well, I donated my $8.50 to watch this movie and I wish I had it back. I wouldn't even recommend this movie as a rental. In a year, this movie will wind up in the discount VHS bin at Wal-Mart.