The Battle of Ia Drang is one of the most infamous, lesser-known, yet painful entries into a confusing, yet life-changing chapter in American History.  It happened prior to the inception of the draft, and only gained notoriety after Lt Col Harold Moore’s 1992 book We Were Soldiers Once..and Young (co-written with journalist Joseph Galloway and upon which the movie is based) Moore led the 1^st Infantry Company, 7^th Battalion (the same as Custer, his character notes) into battle with visions of Custer’s last stand, and an earlier French massacre, and Galloway became the unwitting, but undaunted, documenter of facts.  This movie is Randal Wallace’s interpretation of the experiences of Moore, Galloway, and the other soldiers who were participants in one of the bloodiest battles in American history. And according to Moore, and to the eyes of this observer Wallace has delicately, but truthfully, recaptured not just the bullets, the bloodshed, and the military strategy, but has given a human side to warfare; an aspect of society that has unfortunately become a part of our existence.  The film does not overlook the “war is hell” and “leave no man behind” clichés that riddle most films on this subject matter, but it combines the human elements, and the inhumane ones, into one of the most powerful, honest, and emotional depictions of Vietnam that you may ever see.

Gibson portrays Moore, a stern, learned, deeply loyal Army Lieutenant Colonel who is put in command of a unit which is sent into Vietnam right after the escalation by President Johnson, but before the draft was reinstituted.  His group is comprised of several patriotic, yet naïve soldiers, who reflect and run the gamut of the men who served and gave their lives during the war.  We are introduced to them, their wives, who have bonded together in common cause, and shown their lives.  Wallace does this, but not for soap operatic dramatic purposes, but rather to show a human side to an inhumane slice of American history.  Sam Elliott (as his grizzled Sergeant Major), Chris Klein (his baby faced innocence never fitting better) as a gung-ho Lieutenant, Greg Kinnear (stretching his range even more as the cocky, but emotional helicopter pilot) and Barry Pepper (as the journalist who collaborated with Moore on the book) are just some of the people that we get to know, like, dislike, associate, and become a part of throughout the film.  The movie progresses through the 3-day conflict, showing both sides of the conflict, American and Vietnamese, because some tend to forget that there were other people, victims, and combatants.  Wallace shows the two conflicted, yet determined, emotional, and human leaders in a way also displaying that war is not always just an American tragedy, but a human one. 

Most previous efforts on the Vietnam War (Platoon, Born on The 4^th of July) made some kind of obvious political statement, either positive of negative, regarding our presence there. We Were Soldiers makes a statement without really trying, using shots, scenes and some dialogue to convey not only an emotion, but a commentary.  The scene of the soldiers gathering for departure, a panning shot of the faces of the soldiers during a nighttime vigil, and other scenes are a credit to the cinematographer and screenwriter, for establishing the characters and mood with words, the driving them home with visuals, without going over the top. The tone of the message, positive or negative, is left for the viewer to discern, and Wallace arms us with the information we need.  He shows, without grandstanding, that war is hell, and that winning a battle, is not always good, if there is a loss of any kind, innocence, lives, etc. Moore, and the survivors were forever scarred by their events, despite his best intentions, and this reflects the whole attitude of the Vietnam conflict.  Wallace avoids taking a stand, but the point and message driven home stronger than any cinematic effort before, and probably after this. 

Ultimately, We Were Soldiers is what I can imagine as the truest recreation of the complete realm of the Vietnam War experience.  There are few of us who would deny the horrors and atrocities that made up the individual events, if not the entire purpose of the war in Vietnam.  Amongst those who haven’t are the filmmakers in Hollywood who have honored, patronized, glorified, and sometimes gone a bit over the top in their attempted retelling of things.  There is no way that a piece of celluloid, and some words on a page can ever capture or recreate those events, as any veteran would attest.  But Randall Wallace has come closer than anyone, since Oliver Stone, to covering the gamut of emotions, reactions, and experiences that the brave men who served their went through.  With We Were Soldiers, Wallace has created a visual history book, that is powerful, painfully real, and a true testament to the forgotten wars, and warriors, that we as a nation should celebrate, cherish and thank at every opportunity.  The effort never seems over the top, or too patronizing, since it is told from several viewpoints and perspectives, and does not spare on both the good and bad points of war.  This is one that must be viewed, and you may not understand the whys, but you will respect the effort of the filmmakers, and the forgotten soldiers who this story rightfully regales. ($$$$ out of $$$$$)

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