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.

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Plot Keywords:

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

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Action | Drama | History | War

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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

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

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Goofs

When the soldiers are preparing to board the buses at Ft Benning, in front of the airborne towers you can see a strobe MP light over Lt Col Moore's right shoulder.

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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 ...

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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.

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Connections

Featured in We Were Soldiers: Getting It Right (2002)

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Soundtracks

"Mansions of the Lord"
By Nick Glennie-Smith and Randall Wallace
Performed by the United States Military Academy Cadet Glee Club
Also performed by Metro Voices
Produced by Nick Glennie-Smith

User Reviews

Entertainment, or factual account?

It's quite sad to read some of the reviews of this film. "full of clichés" "typical weak war film" etc. I would like for the writers of such comments to look at the film they "coughed up their reddies" for, and ask what they were really after? Do they know what the film was about? The director's aim was to create an honest depiction of a real life event. To tell the story of a battle and war in a way that would make people who weren't there understand what it may have been like. To bring home the stark realisation of how scary the battlefield would be, and explore the wider picture of how families, and even the enemy were affected by events too. Many of the words used by the dying men are documented as being the actual words. In the editors commentary, he explains "these were the true dying words 'tell my wife I love her'. In that situation, it is the reality of what is on people's minds. I'm sorry they couldn't have come up with something more melo-dramatic for the theatre audience." The line that really bought it home for me though was that soldiers who had fought in that battle thanked the director. They said he had managed to show the realities of an event in their lives that they had, to that point, never managed to fully explain to their families. If the people who were there say this is a realistic account of events and emotions, then that's the best accolade a film can have. I was scared and moved by it and would recommend it highly. PS. to the plot critics out there... would you rather they sexed up a true story? Surely that would be a grave tragedy.