Movie-A-Day # 238 We Were Soldiers

Shane

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Easily the most underrated Vietnam War movie ever made. This one is about the first major battle involving the USA in Vietnam. It stars Mel Gibson who does a fabulous job of playing this part Sam Elliot plays an incredible role as well. This movie really gets the emotions going and has some of the best war scenes ever seen on the big screen IMO.

Review courtesy of Amazon:

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Based on the book by Lt. Col. Harold Moore (ret.) and journalist Joseph Galloway, We Were Soldiers offers a dignified reminder that the Vietnam War yielded its own crop of American heroes. Departing from Hollywood's typically cynical treatment of the war, writer-director Randall Wallace focuses on the first engagement of American soldiers with the North Vietnamese enemy in November 1965. Moore (played with colorful nuance by Mel Gibson) and nearly 400 inexperienced troopers from the U.S. Air Cavalry were surrounded by 2,000 North Vietnamese Army soldiers, and the film re-creates this brutal firefight with graphic authenticity, while telling the parallel story of grieving army wives back home. While UPI reporter Galloway (Barry Pepper) risks his life to chronicle the battle, Wallace offers a balanced (though somewhat fictionalized) perspective while eliciting laudable performances from an excellent cast. Like the best World War II dramas of the 1940s, We Were Soldiers pays tribute to brave men while avoiding the pitfalls of propaganda. --Jeff Shannon --This text refers to the Theatrical Release edition.
 

Chaplin

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While the execution is good, I thought this film was woefully cliched in that you could predict most of what was happening, and while the acting was uniformly very good, it was no great stretch to play these cardboard characters, based on a true story or not.
 
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Shane

Shane

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Chaplin said:
While the execution is good, I thought this film was woefully cliched in that you could predict most of what was happening, and while the acting was uniformly very good, it was no great stretch to play these cardboard characters, based on a true story or not.

Curious what you mean as to cardboard characters? The acting in this movie was superb.

Also what do you mean by predict? Are you saying you knew what each battle scene would bring?
 

Chaplin

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Shane H said:
Curious what you mean as to cardboard characters? The acting in this movie was superb.

Also what do you mean by predict? Are you saying you knew what each battle scene would bring?

Gruff sergeants, green recruits, the gung-ho yet sympathetic commanding officer, these characters all exist in most war movies.
 
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Shane

Shane

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Chaplin said:
Gruff sergeants, green recruits, the gung-ho yet sympathetic commanding officer, these characters all exist in most war movies.

True. Howeverthey arent all acted in the same manner or with the same passion.
 

Chaplin

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Shane H said:
True. Howeverthey arent all acted in the same manner or with the same passion.

Oh, I said I thought the acting was really good in this film, but Robert DeNiro was in Rocky and Bullwinkle, so not every movie can be carried by good acting. :)
 

joeshmo

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Shane H said:
Easily the most underrated Vietnam War movie ever made. This one is about the first major battle involving the USA in Vietnam. It stars Mel Gibson who does a fabulous job of playing this part Sam Elliot plays an incredible role as well. This movie really gets the emotions going and has some of the best war scenes ever seen on the big screen IMO.

Picked a really great movie Shane.

Agree with everything said. :thumbup:
 
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