We Were Soldiers (Widescreen Edition)

The Ia Drang battle was the polar oppisite of this depiction. First, no one knew there was NVA in the area; U.S. forces stumbled upon them and radioed for back-up. Moore was not present when the combat began. Even if you put aside this for dramatic purposes, the fact remains that no military operation in that period would be carried out in that fashion. You have no helicopter gunships flying air support; soldiers keep getting shuttled in without any of them making an attempt to set up a perimeter (in fact, a perimeter is never established); you have a Lieutenant Colonel on the front lines instead of establishing a command post and directing his troops (once again, no command center is created in the field during the entire film, and instead of leading, good old Mel is offering support to the wounded; the NVA bunker magically acquires electricity from some magical source without any possible way to logistically and realistically obtain it; you see frontline soldiers with there rifle safetey's on, thus creating suspense when they click them off and start a fire fight (give me a break); death letters are delivered by Yellow Taxi (on a military base *rolls eyes*) by a cab driver through Western Union telegrams, instantaneously from the field of battle, without any positive identification (in reality, casualty notices are delivered by a military officer and a chaplain as many as two weeks after the death); this also gives rise to tension later when a Yellow Taxi pulls up outside Moore's house, and the wife thinks it could be a KIA notice (despite the fact she would know beforehand that her husband was returning and meet him on the airstrip) only to see Moore himself (delivered in a taxi, even though he's a Colonel); On the battlefield, every plane in use during Vietnam delivers airsupport from an aircraft carrier , despite the fact that the battle occurs in the central highlands; heroic charges appear throughout the movie (and they even did this wrong; instead of arraying themselves in a line, they cluster together); the appearence of Aspen and Cottonwood tree's in South Vietnam; and the indisputable fact the U.S lost the battle at the Ia Drang. . .

This barely touches the surface. Even beyond the laughable innacurracies, the acting is horrible and cliched (there is not one original concept in this movie). This is a disgrace to those who fought and suffered during the Vietnam war; a laughable mockery of their sacrifice. . .


Good translation of the book to film   August 21, 2002
This movie was a good translation of the book to film, although a little dramatic license was taken. A lot of other reviews encourage Rambo and Missing in Action. If you're as mindless as the reviewer's, and wish to wallow in ignorance instead of trying to visualize the reality of the Vietnam war, then by all means these films are for you. This was based on a true story, not fluff fiction, and it captured the chaotic reality of combat, and more importantly the dawn of modern helicopter warfare.


Truckload of simplistic cliches   August 19, 2002
 9 out of 67 found this review helpful

Utterly unrealistic glorification of war. I happen to know a few real soldiers who fought on the other side. The war was much more brutal and savage and americans were much less civilised and gallant.


Very Good Film But The Genre Is Tired   August 19, 2002
 1 out of 1 found this review helpful

I expected this to be a great movie and I must say I was slightly let down. I was expecting a Vietnam version of Braveheart in a way which I suppose was a tough standard to beat. The bad thing though was that I had seen this after two other war movies, 'Behind Enemy Lines' and 'Black Hawk Down'. 'Black Hawk Down' was in my opinion a better film and 'Behind Enemy Lines' was very different in that it went more for a summer popcorn type of war movie. Mel Gibson is, as always, terrific here and Sam Elliot does a great job as well. This is a different film than 'Black Hawk Down' was in that it showed the enemy's viewpoint as well as the view on the homefront. I thought that this worked to the film's advantage.
I must however say that this is a better war movie than the recent John Woo film 'Windtalkers' which was, after four war films, nothing new. Explosions get a little less exciting and the story falters after the chain of recent war films but nevertheless this is a film that I would recommend if the subject matter is of interest.


They Were Soldiers   August 19, 2002
 4 out of 4 found this review helpful

This movie is a must to watch from an informational point of view. If you need to find information on tactics, uniforms, weapons,etc-this is the one. This the one,if you want to understand what this war was about. About real soldiers,who actually had to fight in Vietnam:18-19 years old kids,who were drafted and without any choice were thrown into a foreign country to play a strange game of survival : the one , who kills first, will win another chance to play this game again...and again.All we wanted was simple- just to go home ... alive. I was lucky to see my home, but many of my friends didn't.