Rating- * * * * (4/5)
Looking back at my review for Ridley Scott’s 2001 release Black Hawk Down, I see that I clearly had problems with the amount of violence in the film. It seems to be quite a paradox to me since some of my favorite movies of all time, including most of the work of Tarantino and Scorsese, are filled with seemingly gratuitous violence. But as I expound my thoughts on the topic of violence, I see that it is not the violence that bothers me, but rather the justification for having the violence in the film. What I mean is, does the violence in a film serve as the substance of the entire film, or does the violence work to enhance certain plot points, characters or the style of the film? In Goodfellas, the violence is clearly used to convey the brutality of the characters and shock us out of believing that these are good, decent men with just a few problems. But in Black Hawk Down, the violence seems to be the plot of the film; we are not saddened when a character is violently killed because we can’t even distinguish him from the other soldiers. The subject of this review, We Were Soldiers, which is written and directed by Braveheart writer Randall Wallace, seems to fall somewhere in between these two categories. It follows the story of Lt. Col. Hal Moore (Mel Gibson) who led the Seventh Cavalry into battle in the la Drang Valley, known as the Valley of Death, in the first major battle of the Vietnam War. Gibson’s character is a thoughtful, educated leader while his counterpart, Sgt. Maj. Plumley (Sam Elliott) is more the stereotypical Army leader (like the drill sergeant in Forest Gump). The two men lead their battalion into battle with a fleet of new helicopters and plenty of firepower, but they vastly underestimate the manpower and intelligence advantages of the Viet Cong. The troops are overwhelmed by the Viet Cong and end up fighting a far more brutal and costly battle than they ever imagined. Unlike Black Hawk Down, the supporting cast in this film is much more easily recognizable because of two simple facts: there are less supporting roles and they are all filled by celebrities. Chris Klein plays a soldier caught in the heat of battle that must keep his head to save his fellow troops. Barry Pepper plays a photojournalist who is suddenly forced to join in the battle to save his own life. Then, most impressively, there’s Greg Kinnear as a brave helicopter pilot who risks his life to aid in the battle even though it’s technically not his job. These characters, although not tremendously well-developed, are very identifiably and believable and each of the actors’ work is up to par. There is a subplot involving the wives of the soldiers (Carrie ___ and Madeline Stowe) that is not very interesting nor well-acted and while it does point out the trials and tribulations of the wives back at home during Vietnam, these scenes all seem very out of place with the rest of the film and they only serve to remove us from the action. The film does a great job of presenting the hectic environment of the battleground and never confuses us with too much simultaneous action. Stylistically, the film is very well-shot and the directorial style keeps us focused on the characters not just the mindless action. In terms of action and war movies, you’re not likely to see much better than We Were Soldiers; it’s entertaining, emotional, well-written and very poignant as well. If you’re in the mood for some good war action with some good performances to boot, pick this one up.