We Were Soldiers (2002)

3 out of 4

Starring: Mel Gibson, Madeleine Stowe, Chris Klein, Sam Elliott, Greg Kinnear, Keri Russell, Barry Pepper, Don Duong

Director: Randall Wallace

Time: 138 mins

We Were Soldiers is the latest in a string of war-themed movies that have arrived in cinemas since the September 11 attacks. While Behind Enemy Lines was more of a modern action thriller, and Hart's War more of a drama, We Were Soldiers joins the likes of Black Hawk Down and Saving Private Ryan in portraying the ultra-gruesome reality of intense combat. By including a more detailed look at the men fighting the battles, as well as the women behind them, We Were Soldiers is a more involving picture than the cold, emotionless Black Hawk Down, and the better for it.

The story focuses on one of the most brutal battles in the Vietnam War. In 1965, in the Ia Drang valley, about 400 helicopter-dropped US soldiers, led by Lieutenant Colonel Hal Moore (Mel Gibson) and Sergeant Major Plumley (Sam Elliot), are brought face-to-face with some 2000 Vietnamese hiding in the hills and caves surrounding them. While their wives (including Madeleine Stowe and Keri Russell) wait anxiously for them back home, Moore and soldiers like 2nd Lieutenant Geoghegan (Chris Klein), copter pilot Major Crandall (Greg Kinnear) and field reporter Joe Galloway (Barry Pepper), find themselves in a battle for their very lives.

We Were Soldiers has a fairly simple structure, with a 40 minute opening sequence that introduces the audience to the main players like Moore, Geoghegan and their wives. Then it's on to Vietnam, and the battle rages for the next hour and a half, punctuated by quieter scenes of reflection among the soldiers, and moments of camaraderie amongst the war wives. It's this emotional underpinning that makes us feel for those who are killed, and those who suffer because of this killing. The battle scenes are as brutal and bloody as any in Saving Private Ryan, though perhaps the shock from such gore has worn off due to overexposure from gruesome war films over the past couple of years. Still, it's hard not to be drawn in by the courage, the dignity, and the heroism a lot of these men and women displayed.

Director Wallace, who scripted Gibson's epic Braveheart and last year's abysmal Pearl Harbor (as well as We Were Soldiers), shows an adroit hand with his handling of the battle scenes. Though not as innovative as the techniques used by Steven Spielberg in Private Ryan, there are still plenty of bullets flying around and fiery explosions that blast across the screen. Impressive also are the less kinetic moments, such as the devastating impact back in America when some of the wives receive the dreaded condolence letters. All in all, a fine directorial effort.

The acting is also universally fine. Mel Gibson displays plenty of emotional range, as he goes from family man to leader to one suffering from the loss of many of his men. Sam Elliot is a delight as the stern, no-nonsense sergeant who whips the soldiers into shape. American Pie star Chris Klein and former Oscar nominee Greg Kinnear (As Good As It Gets) have little to do, but frequent war man Barry Pepper (memorable as the sniper in Private Ryan) is very good as the reporter who decides to enter the battlefield and ends up joining in the battles. What he witnesses leaves him speechless at the end, which is not a state one often sees reporters in. Kudos, too, to Madeleine Stowe and Keri Russell, in what could have been thankless roles as the women behind the soldiers.

We Were Soldiers is the best of the recent war films. Though depicting a pivotal chapter in one of America's darker conflicts, the humour, comradeship, and heroism amongst the soldiers and their wives leaves one with a sense of optimism. War may be a dirty business, but sometimes humanity isn't. We Were Soldiers provides proof.

(c) Joe Wong (17 March 2002)