Not as good as I expected

Rating: 5/10 (3 March 2002)

ICON productions has had a couple of great movies. Namely, BRAVEHEART and PAYBACK were both fantastic movies that I watch over and over again. But "WE WERE SOLDIERS" does not live up to the previous titles.

The movie was talked up to be extremely graphic with explicit images of war violence. And, in fact, it was pretty graphic. But after seeing SAVING PRIVATE RYAN and BLACK HAWK DOWN, this movie was mild by comparison. Also, I did not find myself caring about any of the characters as much as I did the characters in RYAN and BLACK HAWK.
The movie does not seem to flow very well. The first act of the movie is very long and teeters on the edge of boredom. It mostly follows the 400 soldiers that would be the first to encounter the North Vietnamese army as they prepare and train. The audience learns about the characters and the beautiful wives and adoring children they will inevitably leave behind. By the way, the woman that plays Chris Klein's wife is SUPER HOT! If I had a woman like that, there is no power on earth that would pry me away from her. Not the Viet Nam War or anything else. Anyway, that first act dragged on a little too long.
Also, the characters are presented as just a little too saint-like. Half way through I was thinking, "Is Mel Gibson a soldier or a preacher?" The movie practically beats you over the head with a cross as you watch. I kept expecting to see Mel Gibson walking on water.
By the way, combat helmets have chin straps for a reason. Why do the soldiers in this movie only wear their chin straps while they are in formation on a parade field, when not much is really happening? But then, when all hell breaks loose on the battle field, nobody puts their chin straps on. I thought that was distracting.
Now for my biggest problem with this movie. CAUTION! SPOILER ALERT!
OK, fair warning. The wives wait back at home to hear word of their husbands. The telegrams informing them of the dead are delivered by the ominous yellow cab. So, when the yellow cab shows up, the wives all freak out and the audience is nervous to find out who has now died. Each time that yellow cab shows up, somebody else has died. And we are worried about Mel Gibson's wife and family, of course. Then, at the end of the movie, the yellow cab makes one last stop...at Mel Gibson's house where his wife and kids are waiting. The door bell rings, and the wife looks out the window. There is that awful yellow cab. She can hardly open the door, and emotionally orders the children to bed. Then, bravely opens the door...and surprise! Its Mel Gibson! He survived! And felt that it was necessary to RING THE DOORBELL TO HIS OWN HOUSE! WHERE HIS FAMILY LIVED! Maybe it was just a little JOKE he was playing on his EMOTIONALLY DISTRAUGHT WIFE!!!??? A cruel little joke. I am sure his character was thinking, "Haha, it will be hilarious to trick my wife in to thinking I have been horribly killed in battle! Then, SURPRISE!" No, I don't think that was what his character had in mind. I think the director of the movie took a CHEAP SHOT at the AUDIENCE! And this was a low point for the movie, to be sure. No one in my family ever rings the doorbell when they are coming home, they just WALK IN because THAT IS WHERE WE ALL LIVE. I don't ring the doorbell to my own HOUSE!
I don't want to be disrespectful to this movie or to the cause of the Viet Nam War, or to the men who died there. My father fought hard in Viet Nam, and saw a lot of action. As I grew up, he spared no detail in telling me about the various horrors he witnessed. And because of this, I have a better understanding of what Viet Nam was about and therefore I have a higher standard by which I judge movies dealing with the subject. In my opinion, I have never seen a movie about Viet Nam that depicted the events accurately. No, not even PLATOON was accurate. When directors make movies about the Viet Nam war and they glorify or romanticize the events, then they do an injustice to heroes who fought there. WE WERE SOLDIERS tries to do justice to the events, but it falls short somewhere. However, it is not without a certain element of entertainment. And I really enjoyed Sam Niel's character. He was great as an old war dog, bitter and strong.

Unfortunately, I have to rate this movie fairly low for the reasons listed above.