A massacre

Rating: 1/10 (3 March 2002)

This movie fails in most areas and is an obvious ploy to cash-in on the patriotism fad. The makers should have spent more time editing the film to at least make it passable as a war/action movie, instead of rushing to release this piece of trash. Nevertheless, the writing was so poor that it never really had a chance to become a memorable work.
My biggest problem with this film is that none of the characters are worth caring about. The quick jumps from scene to scene and the cliche-ridden dialog preclude the viewer from ever getting a deeper look into the hearts and minds of the players. Mel Gibson's Hal Moore was portrayed as a mythic warrior who somehow had the omniscience to predict all of the NVA's moves, and yet his notes on the French massacre looked like they were written by a ten year old. Furthermore, his religious drivel was really overdone.
And just because a soldier is wearing a bracelet emblazoned with his newborn's name, that doesn't mean I'm going to care if he lives or dies in battle. It's sad when a wafer-thin flick like American Pie gives Chris Klein's character more depth than a supposedly "serious" film like We Were Soldiers.
Additionally, the soldiers' wives were given a fair amount of screen time but little to do other than receive telegrams and cry. Madeleine Stowe was decent as Moore's wife (but incidentally, her collagen-injected lips were a bit distracting). And one particularly offensive scene involved these women - the scene in which they were discussing the laundromat. I thought it was in poor taste to make a joke out of racial discrimination.
Another incredibly offensive thing about the movie was the half-hearted attempt to present the Vietnamese as human beings. As someone else wrote here, it was very patronizing. The NVA soldiers facelessly marched up and down hills and were subsequently mowed down by gunfire like Bruce Lee disposed of hordes of ninjas. And yet the director wants us to care when the wife of a fallen soldier looks at his photo. Which is it?
In terms of action, the battle scenes were average. The blood and gore was on par with recent war movies. But the Americans were painted as kids who were afraid to advance unless copious amounts of bombs were dropped on the Vietnamese first. Perhaps that's how it was, but if you're going to try to tap into nationalistic fervor by picking one battle that the US won and by exaggerating the deeds of a Lt. Colonel, you may as well go all the way and invent some compelling and dramatic events on the field of battle. I might have enjoyed this film on a superficial level if there were at least some in-depth tactical maneuvers involved. Greg Kinnear flying in to the save the day isn't good enough.
Ultimately, We Were Soldiers is a weak war movie. It has no heart, no drama, and little action. I strongly suggest that you skip this one, as it doesn't come close to comparing to great films like Apocalypse Now and to a lesser extent, Platoon.