We Were Soldiers (2002)

The story of the first major battle of the American phase of the Vietnam War and the soldiers on both sides that fought it.

Director:

Randall Wallace

Writers:

Harold G. Moore (book), Joseph L. Galloway (book),

Stars:

Mel Gibson, Madeleine Stowe, Greg Kinnear

1 win & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Mel Gibson	...	Lt. Col. Hal Moore
Madeleine Stowe	...	Julie Moore
Greg Kinnear	...	Maj. Bruce 'Snake' Crandall
Sam Elliott	...	Sgt. Maj. Basil Plumley
Chris Klein	...	2nd Lt. Jack Geoghegan
Keri Russell	...	Barbara Geoghegan
Barry Pepper	...	Joe Galloway
Duong Don	...	Lt. Col. Nguyen Huu An
Ryan Hurst	...	Sgt. Ernie Savage
Robert Bagnell	...	1st Lt. Charlie Hastings
Marc Blucas	...	2nd Lt. Henry Herrick
Josh Daugherty	...	Sp4 Robert Ouellette
Jsu Garcia	...	Capt. Tony Nadal
Jon Hamm	...	Capt. Matt Dillon
Clark Gregg	...	Capt. Tom Metsker

Storyline

In a place soon to be known as The Valley of Death, in a football field-sized clearing called landing zone X-Ray, Lt. Colonel Hal Moore and 400 young troopers from the elite newly formed American 7th "Air" Cavalry, were surrounded by 2,000 North Vietnamese soldiers dug into the tunnel warren mountainside. The ensuing battle was one of the most savage in U.S. history and is portrayed here as the signal encounter between the American and North Vietnamese armies. We Were Soldiers Once... And Young is a tribute to the nobility of those men under fire, their common acts of uncommon valor, and their loyalty to and love for one another.

---

Plot Keywords:

soldier | battle | vietnamese | 2000s | air cavalry | 

---

Taglines:

We were... young, brave, husbands, wives, sons, mothers, daughters, soldiers.

---

Genres:

Action | Drama | History | War

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for sustained sequences of graphic war violence, and for language

Details

Country:

USA Germany

Language:

English Vietnamese French

Release Date:

1 March 2002 (USA)

Also Known As:

We Were Soldiers Once... and Young

Filming Locations:

Castle Green Apartments - 99 S. Raymond, Pasadena, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$75,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$319,086 (Brazil) (9 August 2002)

Gross:

$495,567 (Brazil) (16 August 2002)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Icon Entertainment International, Motion Picture Production GmbH & Co. Erste KG, Wheelhouse Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

138 min 126 min (cut) 124 min (TV)

Sound Mix:

DTS-ES Dolby Digital EX SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The barracks that the soldiers file out of before loading the buses belong to A co 1/507 Parachute Infantry Regiment (Airborne School) and really are just across the street from the scene where they load the buses.

---

Goofs

When helicopters are landing or taking off, the sound effects are that of turbine engine RPM being increased or decreased as during engine start-up and shutdown on the ground. RPM is relatively constant during takeoff and landing. (This seems to be a common mistake in many films using helicopter sound effects.)

---

Quotes

[first lines]
Joe Galloway: [Narrating; voice-over] These are the true events of November, 1965, the Ia Drang Valley of Vietnam, a place our country does not remember, in a war it does not understand. This story's a testament to the young Americans who died in the valley of death, and a tribute to the young men of the People's Army of Vietnam who died by our hand in that place. To tell this story, I must start at the beginning. But where does it begin? Maybe in June of 1954 when French Group Mobile 100 moved ...

---

Crazy Credits

A list of the names of the actual men who died during the battle as well as the city and state where they are from is featured before the ending credits.

---

Connections

Featured in Hollywood Vietnam (2005)

---

Soundtracks

"Sgt. MacKenzie"
By Joseph Rizza Kilna
Performed by Joseph Rizza Kilna (as Joseph Kilna MacKenzie)
Produced by Joseph Rizza Kilna (as Joseph Kilna MacKenzie) & Seoras Wallace

User Reviews

Powerful and moving, not a film for everyone however

I was privileged to see a preview of Mel Gibson's new film "We Were Soldiers" based upon the book written by his real life character, Lt. Col. Harold Moore, along with Joe Galloway. I attended a showing along with numerous other Viet Nam vets and it would seem that there were as many opinions about the movie as there were viewers. Like the war itself, each person in attendance probably had some personal experiences that the movie brought back from that deep, and sometimes distant, place we have put them.

The movie was almost overwhelmingly graphical, but afterwards I realized this was instrumental in the telling of the story. For the movie is truly about the leadership that Col. Moore brought to his men of the 1st of the 7th, and his determination that they would not suffer the fate of the French in Viet Nam, nor his own unit's most infamous battle, that of Custer's Stand at Little Big Horn.

It was his determination and commitment that his men be as highly trained, as strongly molded as a unit, and most importantly as well lead as possible that stands out. This determination is obviously rooted in his deeply abiding belief that military leaders shall never forget that when they lead men into war, many of those men will never come back alive, but that those who lead shall never abandon them, even in their shared darkest hours.

And while the movie highly succeeds in conveying the horror and tragedy that war is....has been...and always shall be, it was more difficult for me to realize that our War Department and Army could have been so callous as to have delegated the responsibility of notifying next-of-kin of the death of their loved ones to the local Yellow Cab company. Then I realized that in late 1965 it was all so new and no one knew that this war was going to grow and consume so many young American lives over the next nine years.

The two most significant scenes in the movie for me were firstly, the scene when the course of the battle teeters on the brink of either disaster or success and the most important communication that Col. Moore's superiors have to convey is that General Westmoreland would like for him to leave the battlefield and fly to Saigon so the general can have a briefing. This more than anything pointed out how tragically we were doomed to failure in Viet Nam due to the political will, not the military will, being in control. The second most significant scene was in the airport where one soldier is pushing his buddy through the concourse and the voice over says..."They did not fight for God.....country.....right. They fought for each other", a fact that every Viet Nam vet would attest to.

This a movie worth seeing. It is another testament, with a worthy cinematographic effort, to the futility and absurdity of war, and how that among madness can be greatness. It is a movie that will unlikely leave the viewer devoid of emotion. What those emotions may be are as likely to be as highly personal, as the strength of their feeling.