| We Were Soldiers | | Cast : | Mel Gibson | | Director : | Randall Wallace | | Studio : | Paramount Home Video | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen, Dolby | | Released Date : | March 01, 2002 | | DVD Released Date : | August 19, 2003 | | Language : | English (Dubbed), French (Dubbed), English (Original Language), French (Original Language), English (Subtitled) | | Audience Rating : | R (Restricted) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | August 01, 2005 | | Summary | A Better Book than Movie | Content
 | What's interesting about this movie is that it's one of the few Vietnam movies that shows the war from the other side. I had read the book before seeing the movie, and while I liked many parts of the movie, I don't think it matches up to the book. Mel is good as he always is, but it's hard for me to equate him with the character in the book. I love Sam Elliott but I can't help but feel he's a little out of place here. Not at all a bad movie, but I certainly wouldn't put it on a list of top ten Vietnam movies. In short, I'd recommend reading the book if you haven't and seeing an overlooked but very good depiction of the early years in Vietnam, Burt Lancaster's 1978 "Go Tell the Spartans." |
| Rating | | | Date | August 01, 2005 | | Summary | Military Wife | Content
| I am a current military wife, my husband is on his second tour in Iraq and I have to say this is one of the only war movies out there that correctly portrays what we wives go through. I Love the authenticity of the women and men in this movie. I may have not been alive during this war but from what I have heard from my elders who have experienced it...this is the real thing. I can watch this movie millions of times and still feel the same way i did the first time. Thank you to all of those vets who have made this nation the way it is today. And thank you to all of the women who stood behind them and kept it real back home. |
| Rating | | | Date | July 24, 2005 | | Summary | This one shines | Content
| I am late to review this, just having become aware of Amazon.com.
Previous reviewers have mostly at this time, said it all.
But Mel Gibson has done it again with another great movie. This one covers what previous movies on Viet Nam have not. |
| Rating | | | Date | June 24, 2005 | | Summary | More than just a "war movie." | Content
| This is a difficult review to write. There is power and insight in this movie that goes deeper than any given moment in any given war. I will leave the discussion of the details to those that lived through them (Thank you for your service and your sacrifice!).
What is impressive about this movie is the statement it clearly makes about war and the human capital that is expended in war. It is not so much an "anti-war" movie, as at least one reviewer mentioned, it is rather an honest examination of the respect and value (or lack of it) that we have for the positive qualities of a warrior in our culture. Not the gung-ho, testosterone-poisoned caricacture of bloodshed for its own sake, but the essential quality of sucking it up when asked (or required by circumstances) to make a personal sacrifice to further the greater good--of service to one's family, comrades, country or ideals in both peaceful and horrific contexts. As such, "We Were Soldiers" can most accurately be described as an "anti-waste" movie. What the movie ultimately portrays is the essential quality of true warriors (both male and female--how many men do you know that would have the courage to deliver those telegrams to people you know?) and what a precious resource that quality is--whether in peacetime doing good in the community or during war when it is expended in battle. This movie squarely asks the question of whether we as a nation are willing to sacrifice our warriors (in whatever capacity) for less than the most important of reasons? Given recent history, it appears that we are. And that is the tragedy that is depicted here and what tears at you when you leave.
No need to wait until the end of this movie to start crying as suggested by another reviewer. I was in tears after the first ten minutes.....
See this movie. The odds are you will walk away with more insight than you came in with. Even more perhaps, than you wanted or can continue to remain comfortable with. |
| Rating | | | Date | June 16, 2005 | | Summary | Excellent, you must see it to believe it | Content
| The title should be : How to survive when you are 400 inexperienced U.S. soldiers surrounded by 2000 North Vietnamese Army soldiers? The answer is simple : stay together, fight to death and hope that you will received air support and ammunitions because you are stuck in a very bad place. This movie shows the difficulties of a war for the soldeirs when you are merely in a hand to hand fight. After this movie, I am sure that you will not wish to go to war in a place like that. Excellent movie |
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