WE WERE SOLDIERS (Theatrical Release USA 2002)

Ben Meyers’ rating: 4.3|5.0 Starsìììì

We Were Soldiers—based on the Vietnam War’s Battle of la Drang—gives a hard, yet heart-tugging look at the difficulties of military leadership in desperate situations. The film manages to capture the wide scope range of the battlefield from both the United States and Vietnamese viewpoint as well as poignantly portrays the home front impact as United States’ families receive final death notices of loved ones. The film casts Sam Elliot as Sergeant Major Basil L. Plumey and Mel Gibson as Lieutenant Colonel Hal Moore.

Film Poster Courtesy of Wikipedia

Storyline

Lieutenant Colonel Hal Moore receives orders to take 400 men into Vietnam’s la Drang valley. He finds he’s been ordered into a Vietnamese Base Camp populated with 4,000 Vietnamese soldiers.

Additional Thanks

Great Work for Director Randall Wallace. Thanks to Executive Producer Jim Lemley and Arne Schmidt for making the film possible. Additional characters/cast include: Julie Moore (Madeleine Stowe), Major Bruce Crandall (Greg Kinnear), Second Lieutenant Jack Geoghegan (Chris Klein), Barbara Geoghegan (Keri Russell), Sergeant Ernie Savage (Ryan Hurst), Joe Galloway (Barry Pepper), and Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Huu An (Duong Don).

Buy a ticket? Yes? No? Maybe?

Yes. This is a well-written, well-acted account of the Battle of la Drang.

Video Critique Available Here:

Ben Meyers