We Were Soldiers (2002)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Randall Wallace

Writers (WGA):

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

Release Date:

1 March 2002 (USA)

Genre:

Action | History | War

Tagline:

Fathers, Brothers, Husbands & Sons.

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Soldier | Battle | Vietnam | Major | Vietnam War

Awards:

1 win & 5 nominations

Cast

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

Also Known As:

The Lost Patrol (USA) (original script title)
We Were Soldiers Once... and Young (USA) (working title)
Wir waren Helden (Germany)

MPAA:

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

Runtime:

138 min | Argentina:140 min | Germany:126 min (cut) | Spain:143 min | Turkey:124 min (TV version)

Country:

USA | Germany

Language:

English | Vietnamese | French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS-ES | Dolby Digital EX | SDDS

Certification:

Australia:M (TV rating) | Iceland:16 | Portugal:M/12 | Argentina:16 | Australia:MA | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A (Alberta) | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) (appeal) | Canada:18A (British Columbia) | Canada:18 (Nova Scotia) (original rating) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:PA (Manitoba) | Finland:K-15 | France:-12 | Germany:18 | Hong Kong:IIB | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R16 | Norway:15 | Peru:14 | Philippines:PG-13 | Singapore:PG | South Korea:15 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

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

Company:

Icon Entertainment International

Trivia:

A good amount of the musical score is based around the song "Sgt. McKensie", which plays during the closing credits of the film.

Goofs:

Factual errors: At the beginning of the film, the officers of French Groupement Mobile 100 are wearing white képis. White képis were, and are, only worn by caporals (corporals) and below. Legionnaires above Caporal, including officers, wear dark blue képis.

Quotes:

[first lines]
French Captain: Anything?
French Lieutenant: No, Captain.
French Captain: Fucking heat. Fucking grass. Fucking country.
[Vietnamese bullet hits him in the head]

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in "Saturday Night Live: Jon Stewart/India.Arie (#27.14)" (2002)

Soundtrack:

Sgt. MacKenzie

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.