Could of been great.

Rating: Null/10 (21 March 2002)

We Were Soldiers tells the account of the first engagement between American and Vietnamese troops in 1965.
Rather than go into the hows and whys about the conflict, the film concentrates on the massacre of the men on both sides during the three day engagement. In fact, the reasons of the war itself are barely brought up bar a scene where Mel Gibson's daughter asks him what war is. 'Well' he replies 'it's when some people try to take the lives of other people and it's my job to stop them' is the only jot of reason offered here.
As a non American it is hard for me to comfortably speak my viewpoints on this. After all, I have never encountered war and hopefully never will. I know only too well from the countless Vietnam films made, that many people considered America's involvement as intrusive and unnecessary and the returning soldiers were treated thanklessly. This film does concentrate on that aspect and relays the accounts of the action from the viewpoint that the men did not fight for their country but for each other. A similar sentiment that was strongly portrayed in Ridley Scott's Black Hawk Down.
As a film, there are many good and bad points. It is certainly well made. The direction is faultless with some intense, dramatic and downright horrific scenes. The sound is also excellent making brilliant use of the surround sound in the theatre. What lets the film down however is a terrible script and even worse, acting from some of the cast, even Mel himself in certain scenes. As for Sam Elliot himself, well, he should not have been in this film in my opinion. He offered nothing and was in no way believable as a Sergeant. Ridiculous stuff. The use of Scottish music during some really poignant scenes was also very questionable.
Overall, this could have been a classic war film but perhaps after so many Vietnam films and ones that have been much better, this is really no more than an entertaining distraction for a couple of hours and offers no insight behind the first conflict in a long and terrible war.
7/10.