War Movie with Emotion and Story

Rating: 6/10 (12 September 2012)

I can honestly say I was surprised by the movie We Were Soldiers. We Were Soldiers stars Mel Gibson as a military man leading a group of platoons in the Vietnam War. The movie focuses on the combat of Vietnam and delivers some really good action scenes, but also brings emotion and love to the table. Mel Gibson brings an average performance, compared to other roles he has played, but still gets the job done, but who stole the show in my opinion was the wives of the soldiers. They played a huge role and they were as close as the soldiers were and that shows a lot. They delivered each other's telegrams when they had to find out their husbands were dead. It is just loyalty and friendship the audience should appreciate.
The beginning on the movie shows the soldiers in training and with their families. This gave the audience time to know the soldiers and fall in love with their characters. One soldier had a newborn baby then left to fight. Character development was strong in the beginning while action and battle carried out till the end. The character that Mel Gibson played was certainly interesting with his devotion to the army and God. After seeing Passion of The Christ I did think it was weird seeing Mel Gibson praise the man he would later slaughter in one of his movies, but that's just a side note. Gibson's character is a leader and he motivates his squad giving a great speech before they deploy. He promises no man will be left behind and as I'm sure that promise cannot be kept it would still make me feel batter as a soldier. He talks about how soldiers are family and Gibson just naturally plays the role. The only problem I had with him was he showed little emotion and seemed like a statue, even during battle. It didn't seem human, how can a man just not react? He always kept his composer. I'm sure some people thought it was a god thing but I did not like it.
I also loved Gibson's second hand man, forgive me for not knowing characters names because there are so many of them and I only saw the movie once. Anyway, the old guy with the pistol, he was great. While he showed little emotion his seriousness brought a laugh here and there, intimidation, and a veteran presence. He was an old school guy who preferred the old school way. I liked how the movie had little Easter eggs, for example, he says he prefers the pistol to the new M16 and Gibson says something like, "how do you know the enemy will be that close." Then later in the movie he shoots people down with his pistol from close range.
There were definitely many problems with this movie, the main one being the length. This movie was two hours and twenty minutes. After about an hour and a half I thought the movie would be wrapping up but instead it introduced a new character and kept on going. The new character was the camera man and he took pictures of the carnage of Vietnam, His character was definitely important and needed, but he came in too late. He had such a presence and brought a different attitude and tone to the movie it just got under used.
Other problems were too much use of slow motion and too many jumps and surprises with deaths. A soldier would be walking and then he would be dead. That effect to start a battle isn't bad but it was overused. Final seconds of a soldier's life were cheesy with their last words and their reactions. "Tell my wife I love her" works but it didn't work where it was used.
I give the movie credit for sticking really well to the time period. Introducing the M16 rifle and the use of Napalm are small parts of the movie with an impact. People who love history and the military would appreciate that and the movie does a good job of knowing its facts and doing the research.
Overall, We Were Soldiers was not a bad movie, but it was not fantastic either. I have seen better war movies and I have seen worse. Acting was a little shaky but strong overall; the story dragged a little bit and was too long but still memorable. I would watch it again and buy it to see again. Watch it with a bunch of your guy friends to enjoy a manly movie that women can still enjoy and maybe even cry to. We Were Soldiers is a good time but does not get the WillyT Seal of Approval.