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on May 27, 2017
Saw the movie when it came out-outstanding! Recently found the paperbook in an off the wall library and read it which prompted me to want to see the movie again and compare the book to the movie. DVD/Blu Ray not available locally thru any outlet-felt lucky to find it on line. Movie still outstanding and closely follows the book, which by the way was written by the Battalion Commander involved in the IA Drang battle, Hal Moore.
on August 1, 2017
This was the war of my generation. I saddens me so to think about those time. But all wars are relentless and horrid and everyone loses, even the victors. This film is about the soldiers an not about nationalism. God bless them all.
on August 27, 2017
I think the filming was well done. Our military was insane to commit the entire operation to an area with no real prior recon. i wasn't there so I wont comment on the accuracy of the film. The actors did a good job portraying what must have been a living hell for the (real) guys on the ground. The army planners didn't cover themselves with glory on this operation and many others during the Vietnam war. Our guys made the best of a situation where they had little control over the outcome. What else is new?
on July 6, 2017
Not a bad movie, fair character development and action scenes. Admittedly the computer animation of the combat air support was cheesy, however it doesn't detracted from the overall movie.
on October 28, 2012
Having previously read the book "We were Soldiers Once...And Young" twice, I missed the movie in theaters, but finally bought the DVD. The story is solid. The fictional liberties it takes move the story along very nicely and having the wives on the homefront as a major part of the story was inspired. In the end, the story is less about the violence of the action that about the brotherhood shown by the men and the sisterhood displayed by their wives. Highly impressive are the measures taken by the director to get the look, feel, and sound of combat just right. It is a strange phenomenon, but after I got to Vietnam in late 1966 as a young naval officer, when I look back on my rather limited experience in artillery exchanges was that I don't remember the sound, although it must have been tremendous (I spent twenty of my forty months there on the gunline, mostly in Quang Tri province (I Corps)). What has stayed with me is the visual aspect of combat. I wonder if not a few of these brave soldiers had the same experience. The is a "keeper movie" with one proviso - there is an overwhelming sense of sadness that takes hold near the end of the battle. It is a shame that the movie could not do justice to the aftermath when Westmorland, and others in American higher levels of authority, learned the wrong lessons and thought they could win the battle of attrition. Hal Moore made that clear in the book.
on March 16, 2017
LtCol Hal Moore was a great American, and while I did not serve in his regiment, I did serve in his Division, and his influence was felt and appreciated by all.
on March 15, 2017
An excellent presentation of a historically important battle. Interviews with veterans of the battle, and great performances by all the actors.
TOP 500 REVIEWERon March 12, 2015
"We Were Soldiers," a 2002 film starring Mel Gibson, Madeleine Stowe, Sam Eliot, and Barry Pepper, is the cinematic depiction of a Vietnam War memoir entitled "We Were Soldiers Once... and Young," by retired U.S. Army Lieutenant General Harold G. (Hal) Moore and former United Press International (UPI) photographer Joseph (Joe) Galloway. This film tells the story of the battle at Landing Zone X-Ray in the Ia Drang Valley of South Vietnam on November 14-17, 1965, in what Moore calls "the first major engagement between North Vietnamese regular forces and the U.S. Army." It is a chronicle of how a single battalion of U.S. Army air cavalrymen stood their ground and prevailed against an entire division of North Vietnamese regulars.
When Moore's 1st Battalion, 7th Air Cavalry, which is made up of only 395 soldiers, fly into the Ia Drang Valley - also known as the "Valley of Death" - they land at a small, pre-selected clearing called "Landing Zone (LZ) X-Ray." Unknown to Moore and his men, this clearing is the base camp of an entire division of North Vietnamese army regulars under the command of Lieutenant General Nguyen Huu An. An is itching for a fight with the Americans, and now the Americans have dropped right into his lap. How Moore's battalion manages not only to avoid extinction but to gain a victory over An's division is the stunning climactic event of this film.
At the height of the battle, a civilian arrives on a helicopter ferrying supplies to Moore's beleaguered troops. He is Joseph Galloway (played by Barry Pepper) a UPI photographer who wants to take pictures of this first battle between the North Vietnamese and American armies. At first, Moore and his command Sergeant Major are skeptical of the noncombatant Galloway's presence on the battlefield. As the battle intensifies and the American position is threatened with extinction, Galloway finds himself forced to put down his camera and pick up a weapon...
Writer/Director Randall Wallace portrays the events of November 15-17, 1965 with skill, accuracy, and realism. As the battle of LZ X-Ray unfolded on-screen, I felt like I was being fully immersed in the blood, dust, smoke, and stink of the fight.
The acting in "We Were Soldiers" is very good. Mel Gibson, Sam Eliot, Barry Pepper, and Madeleine Stowe all are all simply terrific. Stowe's performance as Mrs. Moore is particularly noteworthy, especially in the scenes where she voluntarily delivers official death notification telegrams to newly created war widows.
"We Were Soldiers" is a good but flawed movie. On occasion, it attempts manipulate viewers with appeals to raw emotionalism, and also occasionally lapses into banal dialogue. On balance, however, it's well written and acted; has high production values; and is very entertaining. Most importantly, it respects and honors all those who so courageously fought in the "Valley of Death." Recommended.
When Moore's 1st Battalion, 7th Air Cavalry, which is made up of only 395 soldiers, fly into the Ia Drang Valley - also known as the "Valley of Death" - they land at a small, pre-selected clearing called "Landing Zone (LZ) X-Ray." Unknown to Moore and his men, this clearing is the base camp of an entire division of North Vietnamese army regulars under the command of Lieutenant General Nguyen Huu An. An is itching for a fight with the Americans, and now the Americans have dropped right into his lap. How Moore's battalion manages not only to avoid extinction but to gain a victory over An's division is the stunning climactic event of this film.
At the height of the battle, a civilian arrives on a helicopter ferrying supplies to Moore's beleaguered troops. He is Joseph Galloway (played by Barry Pepper) a UPI photographer who wants to take pictures of this first battle between the North Vietnamese and American armies. At first, Moore and his command Sergeant Major are skeptical of the noncombatant Galloway's presence on the battlefield. As the battle intensifies and the American position is threatened with extinction, Galloway finds himself forced to put down his camera and pick up a weapon...
Writer/Director Randall Wallace portrays the events of November 15-17, 1965 with skill, accuracy, and realism. As the battle of LZ X-Ray unfolded on-screen, I felt like I was being fully immersed in the blood, dust, smoke, and stink of the fight.
The acting in "We Were Soldiers" is very good. Mel Gibson, Sam Eliot, Barry Pepper, and Madeleine Stowe all are all simply terrific. Stowe's performance as Mrs. Moore is particularly noteworthy, especially in the scenes where she voluntarily delivers official death notification telegrams to newly created war widows.
"We Were Soldiers" is a good but flawed movie. On occasion, it attempts manipulate viewers with appeals to raw emotionalism, and also occasionally lapses into banal dialogue. On balance, however, it's well written and acted; has high production values; and is very entertaining. Most importantly, it respects and honors all those who so courageously fought in the "Valley of Death." Recommended.
on July 5, 2013
When Mel Gibson isn't spewing out anti-Semitic slurs, he's been in some decent movies, and this is one of them. Focused on the first major encounter between U.S. troops and the North Vietnamese, in the Ia Drang valley, the movie gives more attention to the home fronts than is typical. Going beyond the standard Hollywood romantic scenes, it shows some of the toil that war takes on those left behind, and even has a brief acknowledgement that African American soldiers were fighting for their country in Asia while being denied civil rights at home.
The movie also puts some human face on the North Vietnamese, although they mostly get mowed down by the vastly superior American firepower. The NVA had a huge numerical advantage, though, putting the 7th Cavalry units in dire straits for two days (there was more action in the Ia Drang, where Americans fared very poorly, but that's not depicted in the film). The battle scenes are well done, and the recreation of the close artillery and air support is extremely good.
If you like war flicks and don't mind movies featuring Mel Gibson, this is worth seeing. More straightforward than classic Vietnam films--Deer Hunter, Apocalypse Now, Platoon--more jingoistic than the latter two, but a little more realistic view of the North Vietnamese then most others.
The movie also puts some human face on the North Vietnamese, although they mostly get mowed down by the vastly superior American firepower. The NVA had a huge numerical advantage, though, putting the 7th Cavalry units in dire straits for two days (there was more action in the Ia Drang, where Americans fared very poorly, but that's not depicted in the film). The battle scenes are well done, and the recreation of the close artillery and air support is extremely good.
If you like war flicks and don't mind movies featuring Mel Gibson, this is worth seeing. More straightforward than classic Vietnam films--Deer Hunter, Apocalypse Now, Platoon--more jingoistic than the latter two, but a little more realistic view of the North Vietnamese then most others.
