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List Price: $12.98 | | Label: Paramount
Salesrank: 1537
Released: August 20, 2002 |
| Our Price: $6.06 |
| Used Price: $1.98 |
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MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
In 1965, 400 American troops faced an ambush by 2,000 enemy troops in the Ia Drang Valley (also known as the Valley of Death), in one of the most gruesome fights of the Vietnam War. WE WERE SOLDIERS is a detailed recreation of this true story: of the strategies, obstacles, and human cost faced by the troops that participated. The story focuses on the lieutenant colonel that led the attack, Hal Moore (Mel Gibson), and a civilian reporter who accompanied them, Joseph Galloway (Barry Pepper), as well as a number of other soldiers who were involved. This is an unusual Vietnam film in that it also shows the North Vietnamese perspective on the battle; their leader Lieutenant General Nguyen Huu An (Don Duong) is depicted as a brave soldier and smart commander. And in addition to the many gory battlefield sequences--which seem to have been influenced by SAVING PRIVATE RYAN--we also see how the carnage of war affects those left behind, the soldiers' wives and children. Ultimately this is a moving anti-war film, which, by sticking close to the true stories of real soldiers, very effectively brings home the overwhelming horror of war.
Description of We Were Soldiers (Widescreen Edition):
Based on the book by Lt. Col. Harold Moore (ret.) and journalist Joseph Galloway, We Were Soldiers offers a dignified reminder that the Vietnam War yielded its own crop of American heroes. Departing from Hollywood's typically cynical treatment of the war, writer-director Randall Wallace focuses on the first engagement of American soldiers with the North Vietnamese enemy in November 1965. Moore (played with colorful nuance by Mel Gibson) and nearly 400 inexperienced troopers from the U.S. Air Cavalry were surrounded by 2,000 North Vietnamese Army soldiers, and the film re-creates this brutal firefight with graphic authenticity, while telling the parallel story of grieving army wives back home. While UPI reporter Galloway (Barry Pepper) risks his life to chronicle the battle, Wallace offers a balanced (though somewhat fictionalized) perspective while eliciting laudable performances from an excellent cast. Like the best World War II dramas of the 1940s, We Were Soldiers pays tribute to brave men while avoiding the pitfalls of propaganda. --Jeff Shannon
We Were Soldiers (Widescreen Edition) Reviews:
Vietnam... 
2009-11-05 - I wasn't there, nor do I pretend to know how it really happened, but after reading the book by Galloway and the Colonel, I am glad there was a movie made about our brave soldiers in Vietnam. I am tired of seeing movie after movie bashing our soldiers in Vietnam. This movie also gives the prespective of the Vietnamese soldiers and leadership...
Good movie and recommended to anyone
awesome movie
2009-10-07 - we were soldiers is my all time favorite movie.
Mel Gibson plays a true caring yet strong Leader who has learned that He will not ask any of his soldiers to do something he would not do'
my favorite quote of the movie is when he says
" I will be the first to land on the island and the last to leave, and no one, dead or alive, will be left behind"
My personal review
2009-08-20 - One the top 5 best movies about Vietnam war ever made.
Realistic, fantastic images and fantastic actors and actrisses.
Hate the war, love the warrior
2009-08-07 - This movie has recieved many reviews over the years. All that I can add to the opinions is that the decision by Maya Lin to have the names in chronological order has never been so clearly validated as when looking at Panel 3 and seeing the names of the 7th Cavalry soldiers killed at the Ia Drang listed as they had died, together.
Everything I expected!
2009-08-05 - I received the DVD in a very timely manner, and it was, as posted, brand new and in excellent condition. I've enjoyed the movie over and over again. Thank You for living up to the standard you always have!
