A very underrated war film...

Rating: 8/10 (11 August 2014)

We Were Soldiers often goes unmentioned next to the "Vietnam giants" such as Platoon, Full Metal Jacket and Apocalypse Now. And yet, it's a terrifically balanced and powerful film. Here's why...
Mel Gibson is arguably the movie's heart and soul, portraying a stern yet very human US military officer who is charged with leading a new unit into the hell of Vietnam. The film's opening scenes present Gibson as just as much a family man as a soldier, which is credit to the screenplay in enabling us to relate to his character in an intimate way. The film's progress is rather leisurely at first, which adds to a sense of built up tension and suspense towards their fateful encounter with the Vietnamese. That said, once battle begins, the action is unrelenting and brutal. Some great filming grants the audience a real sense of being in the grass alongside the men, and the film's pyrotechnic effects are very commendable indeed. A nice touch is the perspective in Wallace's directing; he pays consistent attention to the women back home as well as the Vietnamese in sharing their experience of the conflict - this is a nice touch that broadens the film's scope and isn't present in other war films depicting Vietnam. The film's overriding sense seems to be that soldiers, despite being trained and expected to kill, are ultimately only human. This gives We Were Soldiers a lovely extra dimension to those that like to watch their cinema closely and appeals to more than just avid thrill seekers.
We were Soldiers is a very thoughtful and honest war film. It poignantly suggests the hell and chaos of war, but also manages to balance this with moments of stark beauty and tear rendering emotion. For reasons unknown, it's a very underrated war film, and one I urge you to take the time out to see.