The story of the first major battle of the American phase of the Vietnam War, and the soldiers on both sides that fought it, while their wives wait nervously and anxiously at home for the go... Read allThe story of the first major battle of the American phase of the Vietnam War, and the soldiers on both sides that fought it, while their wives wait nervously and anxiously at home for the good news or the bad news.The story of the first major battle of the American phase of the Vietnam War, and the soldiers on both sides that fought it, while their wives wait nervously and anxiously at home for the good news or the bad news.
- Awards
- 3 wins & 5 nominations
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaSam Elliott became so close to the real Basil L. Plumley and his family that during Plumley's funeral with military honors Elliott sat in the front row beside Plumley's daughter as she received the folded flag.
- GoofsContrary to what's shown in the movie, Lieutenant Henry Herrick and 2nd Platoon did not recklessly charge after a lone NVA soldier, but were in fact ordered to advance out to the flank by Captain John Herren and did so in a disciplined manner. However, he encountered a group of retreating PAVN soldiers and followed them, losing contact with the rest of the company and leaving the flank exposed. At one point, when coming to the clearing shown in the film, Herrick stopped and radioed back on whether or not he should continue through it or go around it, which was when he and his men were attacked by the NVA.
It was also Herrick's platoon that inflicted the first casualties on the NVA in said attack, not the other way around as shown in the movie.
- Quotes
Lt. Colonel Hal Moore: [Hal Moore speaks to his men before going into battle] Look around you. In the 7th cavalry, we've got a captain from the Ukraine; another from Puerto Rico. We've got Japanese, Chinese, Blacks, Hispanics, Cherokee Indians. Jews and Gentiles. All Americans. Now here in the states, some of you in this unit may have experienced discrimination because of race or creed. But for you and me now, all that is gone. We're moving into the valley of the shadow of death, where you will watch the back of the man next to you, as he will watch yours. And you won't care what color he is, or by what name he calls God. They say we're leaving home. We're going to what home was always supposed to be. Now let us understand the situation. We are going into battle against a tough and determined enemy.
[pauses]
Lt. Colonel Hal Moore: I can't promise you that I will bring you all home alive. But this I swear, before you and before Almighty God, that when we go into battle, I will be the first to set foot on the field, and I will be the last to step off, and I will leave no one behind. Dead or alive, we will all come home together. So help me, God.
- Alternate versionsTrailers include a scene where Julie Moore explains that the last thing most dying soldiers say is "Tell my wife I love her". This is not included in the theatrical release.
- SoundtracksHold On I'm Coming
Written by Isaac Hayes and David Porter
Performed by Tommy Blaize
Produced by Nick Glennie-Smith
To those looking for an anti-war message, it is there. When Moore goes to Division headquarters and gets his mission, he asks about projected enemy in his area of operations. The staff officer standing next to the general says "a manageable number." To this Moore responds with words to the effect of "which means you have no idea." It turns out that Moore's battalion gets dropped on top of a vastly larger enemy force (if I remember correctly, they get dropped right next to an NVA brigade). Ordinarily, it order to assure success in attack, you want to have three times the numbers of your enemy. In this case, the ratio was 4:1 going the other way. Then the battle is about how artillery and air support makes up the difference in numbers.
The obvious criticism here is that the command was fumbling around in the dark. At the end of the movie, the names of the 70+ men who died are prominently displayed on the screen. A military mind is not treasonous and will not disrespect its superiors, but it will let facts speak for themselves.
The next comment is only tangentially related to this movie. However, many voices here have taken the opportunity to vent their views on Vietnam, so I feel compelled to put things in a broader historical context.
There was a war that did not take place between 1945 and the fall of the Berlin wall. It would have been called WWIII. The Soviet Union and the US stood eye-to-eye for 40+ years, but did not blink. It was an ideological conflict with an evil that meant death to 50+ million people in communist countries in this century. It was conflict with a system that vastly constrained freedom. Fortunately for the world, the US finally prevailed. The struggle fought between communism and the west was fought in a variety of ways: in public relations, in sports, in propaganda, and in a series of proxy wars. In Korea, Greece, Vietnam, Afghanistan and a variety of smaller stages, East contested with West. To the people caught up in these local conflicts, these wars were absolute tragedies. However, in the grand scheme of things, these conflicts pale to insignificance when compared to the 500,000,000 who would have died in WWIII.
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Official site
- Languages
- Also known as
- Fuímos heroes
- Filming locations
- Fort Hunter Liggett, California, USA(Central Highlands, South Vietnam)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $75,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $78,122,718
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $20,212,543
- Mar 3, 2002
- Gross worldwide
- $115,374,915
- Runtime2 hours 18 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1