We Were Soldiers | Mel Gibson, Madeleine Stowe

We Were Soldiers | Mel Gibson, Madeleine Stowe | We Were Soldiers

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We Were Soldiers

	We Were Soldiers Mel Gibson, Madeleine Stowe average customer review:based on 553 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Based on the book by Lt. Col. Harold Moore (ret.) and journalist Joseph Galloway, We Were Soldiers offers a dignified reminder that the Vietnam War yielded its own crop of American heroes. Departing from Hollywood's typically cynical treatment of the war, writer-director Randall Wallace focuses on the first engagement of American soldiers with the North Vietnamese enemy in November 1965. Moore (played with colorful nuance by Mel Gibson) and nearly 400 inexperienced troopers from the U.S. Air Cavalry were surrounded by 2,000 North Vietnamese Army soldiers, and the film re-creates this brutal firefight with graphic authenticity, while telling the parallel story of grieving army wives back home. While UPI reporter Galloway (Barry Pepper) risks his life to chronicle the battle, Wallace offers a balanced (though somewhat fictionalized) perspective while eliciting laudable performances from an excellent cast. Like the best World War II dramas of the 1940s, We Were Soldiers pays tribute to brave men while avoiding the pitfalls of propaganda. --Jeff Shannon

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A great movie

All i can say is i cried during most of this movie.We did not lose this war.Politics lost it.I know i was there,and it's the first and last time the N.V.A.regulars came out to meet us man to man.

We Were Soldiers

I though that the Movie as well as the Service was Great!!!!! This is why I buy through Amazon.com

Amazing movie and book

This movie is action packed and emotionally charged. This is a great film from start to finish and Mel Gibson was absolutely amazing. You get drawn into this film from the beginning and you start to understand what our Vietnam veterans went through over there. This film is specifically focusing on the first battle between the US military and the North Vietnamese soldiers. It was a brutal battle. If you liked the movie, I would highly recommend buying the book... and vice versa. Again, I absolutely love this book. It is one of my favorites. I think I've seen it over a dozen times. A must buy.

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Gibson & Elliott Deliver: Vietnam War in a Microcosm

One of the best Vietnam war movies made, "We Were Soldiers" features some of the most realistic combat scenes conveying the "fog of battle" and horror of combat. The story development may seem slow at first, but allows some appreciation of the characters involved and the context of the battle. The action is fast paced, showing the battle from both the North Vietnamese and American points of view, but is broken by the juxtaposition of poignant events on the home front and political machinations in the rear areas.

Mel Gibson is surprisingly exceptional as the gung-ho Colonel Hal Moore, Sam Elliot seems born to the role of the salty Sergeant Major Basil Plumley, and the entire supporting cast does a wonderful job. The cinematography and special effects go a long way towards recreating the confusing swirl of a battle with ill-defined lines.

The film is perhaps flawed only by its attempts to cover too many social and political issues in the one film; forgivable in the context of creating a story intended as a microcosm of the entire Vietnam War. This does however, lead to short scenes seemingly out of step with the rest of the film. Additionally, there are some unrealistic liberties (Killed in Action telegrams arriving home during the first night of battle), but it is simply artistic license required to make the story work. If you're willing to remember a film has limited time to tell its tale, these flashes into the social, political and personal issues go a long way in back-filling the context of the story and the conflicting emotions and views of the characters.

In the end, this is a movie of war and the people involved, and it is a very good one. It's a decent translation of the book to film, and the best portrayal of the 1st Air Cav's action at Ia Drang (the only battle of the Vietnam War in which sizable US Army and NV Army forces faced each other).

You'll like this movie if:
You liked "Saving Private Ryan" and "Black Hawk Down", or Mel Gibson in "The Patriot."

You'll dislike this movie if:
You're expecting a strict antiwar piece, a reprise of Mel Gibson in "Gallipoli" or the complicated subplots and storyline of "The Deer Hunter".

For a more detailed and realistic look at the battle, read Hal Moore's and Joe Galloway's book by the same title: We Were Soldiers Once...and Young: Ia Drang - the Battle That Changed the War in Vietnam

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A touching, excellent war movie

Again, another classic movie that will be around for a while. It's touching, real and gives personal insight into the lives of the people portrayed in this based- on true life movie. Excellent war movie and a must-see for people that like war movies.

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