A very good piece of film history

Rating: Null/10 (3 March 2002)

We Were Soldiers covers the events of LZ X-Ray in the Vietnam `conflict.' The entire issue of Vietnam is a totally different topic to be fully discussed at a later time and date, in a different setting and context. Since it is the basis for the plot of the movie, I will briefly mention that people died for absolutely no reason. The United States was afraid of communism, and felt that the only way to deal with it was to wipe out anyone who believed in it, or followed it. We sent American soldiers over to Vietnam to destroy this fear that we had. Many innocent lives of young men were lost, with nothing positive to come out of it.
Mel Gibson plays Hal Moore, and is essentially the backbone of this movie. Randall Wallace adapts this screenplay from the book entitled `We Were Soldiers Once . . .And Young,' written by the real life Lt. Gen. Harold G. Moore. Wallace directs Soldiers as his sophomore effort. The Man In The Iron Mask being his previous effort. We are treated to several great supporting performances from various well-known actors. Barry Pepper (as Joe Galloway), Keri Russell (as Barbara Geoghegan), Greg Kinnear (as Maj. Bruce 'Snakes**t' Crandall), Chris Klien (as Lt. Jack Geoghegan), and Madeline Stowe (as Julie Moore) all lend to a wonderful supporting cast that helps boost the superior performance of Mel Gibson.
I look at We Were Soldiers as the Saving Private Ryan of Vietnam. Ryan covered some of the events of World War II with a rather intriguing story, and excellent action sequences that have yet to be beaten by anything to date. Soldiers is the closest thing to date. I also view The Thin Red Line as the "artsy-fartsy" film covering the Second World War. Most of the movie contains inner monologues, which is quite boring, and the action sequences are fair at best. In the Vietnam area, Platoon and Apocalypse Now are the artsy films in my mind. Not so much Platoon but more Apocalypse Now. The action sequences in both are stunning, but do not occur that often. The movies rely on the characters rather than special effects to carry the movie.
Soldiers devotes the first hour to setting up the characters that will be going into battle. Their training along with some of their struggles with each other are shown to give us an inside look into how they think and behave. I appreciate this attempt since a certain bond is formed with the audience and some of the characters. I also enjoyed the fact that the movie focused on the family man going into battle rather than the single male. In Platoon Charlie Sheen is a single man going into battle. It focuses on his struggles to make due with what he has, or lacks for that matter. Soldiers gives us insight into the reverse side of the spectrum, and tells us how hard it was for a father to go into battle leaving their families behind. It was very difficult for Hal Moore, and Jack Geoghegan to leave their families and venture into the unknown land of Vietnam with the terrible expectation that they probably would not make it back alive. These struggles are addressed and explained but, as is shown, there really is no way to appropriately deal with this hardship.
The battle scenes cover the three-day conflict of LZ X-Ray. These scenes are something that can finally be compared to those of Ryan. Everything is well choreographed, and slow motion is not over used, like in every rap video today, and all John Woo movies. Things seem to happen as realistic as possible, or at least as I can observe. It is nice to see something that attempts to lean more toward the realistic side, rather than the fantasy side.
With We Were Soldiers an attempt was made to make something as positive as possible on such a negative subject. Vietnam is a very touchy topic with many people, and they feel that we never should have been there in the first place. Soldiers succeeds in giving us a very entertaining story, with superb, top-notch battle sequences, and actors and actresses that actually believe in the project they are doing. The ability to combine all of this into one neat package is a feat not accomplished too often. This is a movie that will satisfy all, and will be one of the best movies of 2002.
Grade: A