Sadly Underrated. Best Vietnam Film Since the War, Itself

Rating: 9/10 (12 June 2007)

As I write this, the weighted score for this movie is 6.9, and I find that unbelievable.
Every other Vietnam film I've seen (Full Metal Jacket, Good Morning Vietnam, Platoon, etc.) has painted the Vietnam war to be a messy, failed "police operation," the US government to be a bunch of overstretched bureaucrats, and of course, war itself to be hell. Yeah, we get it. Thanks. How about something that actually honors those that fought and gave their lives for the ideals of our great country? Besides this movie, no other film I've seen has done so. This is the story the world missed when we heard about Vietnam, and it's time the stories of our veterans were respected. We Were Soldiers is the story of the first US troops that landed in Vietnam and of their leader. The film is an amazingly close and personal account of our first encounter on Vietnam soil, and it's beautifully and methodically executed. It makes the viewer feel the strategic tension of the first hours of operation from a commander's viewpoint, and from the soldiers' viewpoints.
Looking over the demographic spread of voters, I'm glad to see 45+ years voting this so highly. I'm glad that the generation that remembers our country during the war, itself, considers this film so highly. The rest of us should too.