We Were Soldiers

This movie didnt look that good to me, but i saw it tonight and i must say that i was suprised. This was a good movie.

Full Metal Jacket conscentrated on how stupid of a war it was. Apocalypse now had a lot to do with what it was like and how hard it was to be a soldier in Vietnam. This movie took place at the beginning of the war.

This was not an America is all powerful type of war movie, the Vietnamese are depicted as people, and i must say that the General did really well.

Mel Gibson's role in this movie was the same as his role in Braveheat and The Patriot. I think that this is the only type of role he is great at.

This movie is realistic, emotional, and above all good (not great, but good). So I advise you to see it.

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i think it was an ok movie personly i think black hawk down was much much better

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i hope it's good, i might see it this weekend. i wouldn't expect saving private ryan or anything, but i would be glad if it were more realistic than most stuff out there now. i just saw behind enemy lines on video (i get an advanced copy) and it was pretty good, but not excellent. they didn't give hackman enough of a role (imo). oh, well.......

I thought it was incredibly realistic, except for how quickly wives got notices that their husbands had been killed.

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I liked this way more than Black Hawk Down. Mel Gibson is a bad ass when he doesn't know what women want. Anyone see that SNL skit with Jon Stewart, We Were Soldiers that Knew What Women Want? Unbelievably funny.

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Dear All,
Loved Mad Max. Liked Braveheart. Saw patriot. Why is it that I never care to see another Mel film. Yawn.
Of course, I don't much like war films that much anyway.
Love,
Jozie

The Patriot was solid, IMO. Even if you hated it, though, I'd recommend seeing We Were Soldiers. It's a good movie...it really is. And highly realistic, allegedly (I can't back that up, but from what I've heard it's spot-on). I had to fight back tears more than once.

Dear Commish --
Are you sure! Are you sure it's not a guy-thing? Because if you really recommend it . . . I'll maybe see it.
Only I hate watching people get killed. Makes it look so easy. Sometimes makes it look like fun-time. Hate that.
Love,
Jozie

I don't think it's a guy flick. Especially not when you factor in the major part the soldier's wives play in the plot. They're part of a few very significant scenes...scenes that show us that war kills a lot more than the fallen soldiers. Very emotional movie. Gruesome, I admit, but I never once felt like it was a guy flick. Very worth renting, at least.

Definately some hard to watch scenes. I watched it with my mother, and she turned away several times.

Sorry, I couldn't find a more recent thread that discussed this movie . . .

I finally saw this movie and wow, what a great movie this is. I can forgive Mel Gibson for many of his recent transgressions after watching him as Lt. Col Hal Moore. I can't recall a movie that was any better at realistically depicting the horror, frenzy, fear, courage, and confusion of a battle scene -- or what I imagine war to be like because, although I was in the service during the Vietnam War, I never left the states. I was close to tears several times.

The battle of the movie is the 1965 Battle of Ia Drang, the first time that North Vietnam regulars met the US forces in combat. The US 7th Air Cavalry forces were outnumbered 2000 to 400 but the US forces had artillery and air support which evened out the fight. I especially appreciated the attention given to the NVR troops -- they weren't depicted as soulless, faceless, evil enemies but rather as human enemy soldiers.

General Hal Moore and General Nguyen Huu An (commander of the NVR forces in the battle) met in the 90s on the same battlefield -- a touching finale many years later.

Some scenes/trailers:



&feature=related

References:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0277434/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hal_moore
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nguy%E1...H%E1%BB%AFu_An
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Ia_Drang

Ever seen Hamburger Hill?

My father says that its about as real as it gets. I once met a man who said he did the recon for the hill depicted in the film and couldn't believe how spookily accurate the film was.

Another great series is called China Beach. It did run for 4 seasons but hardly anyone knows about it because it didn't try to glamorize the war at all.

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We are both the source of the problem and the solution, yet we do not see ourselves in this light...

I love We Were Soldiers... and my dad, who did more than one tour in Nam, told me it was pretty spot on... I mentioned in one of the war threads on here the only problem I had with it at all was the fact there was no mention of Rick Rescorla in the film and he was in the book and on the front cover of the book... I did read some of the music used in the film was a tribute to him though...


PW... I absolutely love China Beach... I even used Dana Delaney's character as my avatar when someone picked Viet Nam films in the avatar game... I would love to have the DVD's but I don't think they have even been released yet have they?

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The hymn Mansions of the Lord was written by the director Randall Wallace for the movie. Set to the music of Nick Glennie-Smith.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mansions_of_the_Lord

Sadly, no, they haven't.

They are available online, but you know. You'd be forced to arrest me and toss me in the back of your car and stuff if I told everyone where to find them.

I think that was one of them and Sgt. MacKenzie was also used as a tribute...

Yes Ma'am!

You're not in my jurisdiction...

Some of my favorite dialog from the movie (found at IMDB):

Lt. Colonel Hal Moore: I wonder what was going through Custer's mind when he realized that he'd led his men into a slaughter?
Sergeant Major Basil Plumley: Sir, Custer was a pussy. You ain't.

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[Galloway is on the ground]
Sergeant Major Basil Plumley: You can't take any pictures from down there, sonny.
[Galloway gets up and is handed a rifle]
Joseph Galloway: I'm a non-combatant.
Sergeant Major Basil Plumley: Ain't no such thing today.

==============================

Lt. Colonel Hal Moore: [Hal Moore speaks to his men before going into battle] Look around you. In the 7th cavalry, we've got a captain from the Ukraine; another from Puerto Rico. We've got Japanese, Chinese, Blacks, Hispanics, Cherokee Indians. Jews and Gentiles. All Americans. Now here in the states, some of you in this unit may have experienced discrimination because of race or creed. But for you and me now, all that is gone. We're moving into the valley of the shadow of death, where you will watch the back of the man next to you, as he will watch yours. And you won't care what color he is, or by what name he calls God. They say we're leaving home. We're going to what home was always supposed to be. Now let us understand the situation. We are going into battle against a tough and determined enemy.
[pauses]
Lt. Colonel Hal Moore: I can't promise you that I will bring you all home alive. But this I swear, before you and before Almighty God, that when we go into battle, I will be the first to set foot on the field, and I will be the last to step off, and I will leave no one behind. Dead or alive, we will all come home together. So help me, God.

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Lt. Colonel Hal Moore: I'll never forgive myself.
Joseph Galloway: For what, sir?
Lt. Colonel Hal Moore: That my men... that my men died and I didn't.

Sergeant Major Basil Plumley (Sam Elliott) had some of the best lines in the film, IMO...

If any of you sons of bitches calls me grandpa, I'll kill you.