Puts a very human face on Vietnam...

Rating: 10/10 (4 March 2002)

I was surprised when I viewed We Were Soldiers. I went in expecting a flag-waving, purely American epic like Randall Wallace's previous film, Pearl Harbor. This was not the case. Wallace's screenplay and direction show the emotion and determination of both the American troops and the Vietnamese. These men on both sides believed in what they were fighting for. I also liked the character development in the first third of the film. By getting to know these characters in their personal lives we as the audience feel for them on the battlefield. This movie, unlike other recent war films such as Black Hawk Down, gives the audience characters that they actually care about. Although the action was not as horrific and fast-paced as other recent films in this genre, We Were Soldiers compensates by giving us a real story with real characters. This film is the best Vietnam war movie since Platoon, the best war movie since Saving Private Ryan, and the best movie so far in 2002.