good action, but manipulative

Rating: 4/10 (2 March 2002)

We were Soldiers scores very high for the war parts of this war movie. The commander is inspiring, the odds daunting, and the enemy is fierce. I'd give the battle scenes an 8 or 9, but combined with the home scenes I'd only rate this a 4 for the following reasons:
I felt the children were used as cloying props rather than being characters on their own.
The women couldn't have turned in more wooden performances if they tried
The men were reduced to cliches outside of the battle scenes
Overall I'd recommend this movie but it is less than the sum of its parts.