Soldiers' War. Review on We Were Soldiers Movie

Vietnam has been the favourite topic of the Hollywood. Some movies take it to the extent of the jingoism, portraying Vietnamese as the eternal villains; some have portrayed it at the geo-political/strategic level delving on the mis-management of Saigon/CIA. Director Randall Wallace gives us a different movie on Vietnam, a true story of the first ground battle from the soldier’s perspective.

The Historical Background

In 1965, during the campaign against the Vietcong; the Ia Drang Valley was identified as the major staging area of the Vietnamese troops. Americans decided to launch an air-mobile attack. This was to be the first major ground battle in the war between the North Vietnamese 66th Regiment and 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry of American troops. The site of the attack between Nov.14-17 was Ia Drang Valley (called “Valley of Death”).

The Movie and the characters

The movie is based on the real account written by Lt.Gen.Harold.G.Moore and Joseph.L.Galloway from “We Were Soldiers Once….and Young”. The book is said to be the best account of the command and control situation in a battle. There are two campaigns running parallelly on the ground. The one led by Hal Moore himself in Landing Zone X-Ray and the other in Landing Zone Albany. It is purely an account of the battle from the tactical point of view. No scheming generals, no scheming politicos. Just rat tat tat, ka boom……..

Mel Gibson is Lt.Col. Hal Moore in the movie. He faces the unhappy task of leading young men to the battle ground to confront an unfathomed enemy. The enemy is virtually unknown, the battle terrain is unknown. During the movie, you will find Mel studying the battles of Indochina to understand the terrain and tactics. The character he portrays successfully is that of an intuitive leader.

The leadership was what made the difference when the Americans were outnumbered 5 to 1 at X-Ray.

Madeleine Stowe plays his faithful wife, Julie. She has her role to play as the leader of the young wives of her husband’s regiment. Once the battle starts, she takes over the duty of communicating battle news to the families.

What the movie lacks is a villain. Yes, you heard it right, no villain in a war movie. The North Vietnamese Army (NVA) is portrayed as equally good soldiers who are also dragged to the fight. It portrays the NVAs as the highly motivated, good-at-tactics army. It reminds you of Tennyson’s The Charge of the Light Brigade :- Some one had blunder'd Theirs not to make reply, Theirs not to reason why, Theirs but to do and die. Into the valley of Death ...

This portrayal is gripping at the end when the corpse of the NVAs are taken away and their general is remorseful at the waste of life

There is the character of the reporter Galloway played by Barry Pepper who has landed at the zone to cover the war first-hand. He prefers to shoot with the camera, but ends up shooting with the gun. The scene where you see him carrying an injured soldier to the helicopter to the rescue haunts you. Then there is the cynical, gruff character of Sgt. Plumley. He gives you some light-hearted moments in the first half.

The scene shifts between the soldiers’ homes and the battlefield. The direction is superb – the first half reminds you of the older World War II movies (“The Longest Day”) and the second half is just fantastic in its visual portrayal of the battle. If you have liked “The Longest Day” or “The Band of Brothers”; this is a must see.

P.S.Watch this movie alone !!!!! And just think about the futility of war. Don't Make War, Make Love :-)