Overwrought and sanitized docudrama of nasty business

Rating: Null/10 (29 October 2002)

Imagine Braveheart in Vietnam and you've got it. Almost. Subtract the kilts and the intrigue, now take away the politics, remove any human interest, distort the events of the battle, add lots of gory blood squibs -- voila!
If you think explosions and suffering are better portrayed in slow motion, with violins in the background, with 1/10th as much panic and pain as was reported to be there, you'll like this one.
Noble, brave, unscratched Mel Gibson and Sam Elliot emerge from one of the bloodiest battles in Vietnam with nary a hair misplaced, while nearly everyone around them dies. Well, they got half of it right.
War bad, Mel's men good, and while that's commendable, this ham-handed and overwrought direction by Randall Wallace is but a shadow of the real battle.
No, I wasn't there, but friends were, and one great ABC newsman writes about what it was like for him....
But before we even get there, Mel delivers one of the most nauseating, politically-correct speeches ever exposed on film. Gag me with an All the Way With LBJ button.
You won't like war much after this one, but don't be surprised if you don't like war movies very much, either. Reeks of phoniness. As empty of ideas and heart as a fallen helmet.