Skip to main content

'Soldiers' a good, but not great, tale of Vietnam War

**** of 5


"We Were Soldiers" deals with tragic situations, both on the war front and back at home.

The movie is about the Ia Drang Valley campaign during the Vietnam War.

The movie is based on the book "We Were Soldiers Once…and Young" written by Lt. Gen. Hal Moore.

Moore was a lieutenant colonel when he led the 7th Calvary into Ia Drang, also known as “The Valley of Death,” in 1965.

Mel Gibson, star of other war movies such as Gallipoli and Braveheart, plays Moore.

The screenplay was written and produced by Randal Wallace who also wrote the screenplay for Braveheart.

The movie begins 11 years earlier, when a French battalion is attacked in the same valley.

It then zooms to 1965, before the 7th Calvary is sent into combat. History majors may recall that the 7th Calvary was Custer’s regiment.

The story is told from the perspective of a war reporter who decides that, to tell the real story, he needs to be in the field as the battle ranges.

First we are shown the family life of the soldiers. These scenes accomplish the desired effect of making you feel sympathy for the wives of the dead.

The battle scenes show, as all war movies do, the horrors of war. A field of dead soldiers brings to mind scenes of No Man’s Land in the First World War.

One thing that was different was the portrayal of the opposing army.

Most movies of this sort demonize the enemy, making them look like heartless monsters.

It shows that they are, in fact, humans like us with families to mourn them.

This movie shows the war on two fronts, the front line and the home front.

For the latter, we see Moore’s wife deliver the grim telegrams announcing the dead.

She does this so her fellow army wives will be with a friend when the news comes.

This is one of many examples of sentimentality in the movie. This sentimentality tries to cover up the uncomplicated plot.

The plot makes it a good war movie, but not a great one. It attempts somewhat successfully to explain what combat was like in Vietnam.

Certain interesting historical points are made. It shows the introduction of the M-16, the use of helicopters to quickly insert and extract troops and military training tactics.

Another interesting thing that has always amazed me is the party that is given to celebrate going into war.

If you like war movies or you are a military buff, you should definitely see this movie.