“They finally got it right.“ That was Harold G. Moore’s comment in the short subject Getting it Right on the DVD version of We Were Soldiers. He ought to know, because he was the commanding officer of the 1st Battalion of the 7th US Cavalry Regiment (1/7 Cav), the first American unit to fight a major engagement against the North Vietnamese. It happened over three days and nights in November, 1965 in the Ia Drang Valley in the central highlands of Vietnam.

395 soldiers under the command of Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) Hal Moore were inserted into landing zone X-Ray, somewhere in the Ia Drang Valley. Unlike the horse cavalry of old, this cavalry was Air Cav, an untried and untested theory that LTC Moore had the privilege of putting into practice. Instead of horses, the Air Cav used newfangled UH1 “Huey” helicopters to carry the infantry to and from the fight.

To say the insertion went off without a hitch would be far from the truth. Moore and his first six helicopter loads landed and were almost immediately attacked. As the helicopters returned to base for another load the North Vietnamese regulars cut off a platoon that a scout had lured away from the main body. By the time the second wave landed the LZ was hot and a major engagement was in the making. A captured NVA told Moore that they had landed square in the middle of a division headquarters. For those who aren’t familiar with Army units, a division can be anywhere up to 10,000 men! So Moore was up against pretty steep odds with his paltry 395 troopers.

When the three days of near continuous mayhem was over, LTC Moore and his battalion were credited with 1,800 kills at a loss of somewhere around 80 dead. They listed the actual names of the American dead but they were so small on the Panavision format I can only estimate the number at 80.

The film did a good job of showing how unprepared the USA was to get involved in a serious war. The opening sequence showed the North Vietnamese destruction of a French unit in 1954 as a prelude to the US involvement which followed soon after.

Mel Gibson starred as LTC Hal Moore. From film clips taken right after the 1965 battle included on the DVD the viewer can see that LTC Moore is a man who cares deeply about the men under his command. Moore promised his men no matter if they lived or died “we will all go home together,” a sentiment echoed in the recent Black Hawk Down where “no man gets left behind.”

I was very impressed with the restraint Mel brought to this performance, playing the obviously religious Moore without smirking once. Moore is obviously a charismatic leader who his men would look up to and Mel did a great job of making this larger-than-life character understandable to the viewer.

The film started out with the establishment of the Air Cav unit back in the states and allowed the characters of the men, particularly the officers, to develop before they were thrust into the events that the main theme covers. It was also interesting to get a glimpse of the wives and families of the men. Moore himself had five children and most of the officers were married. Madeleine Stowe played Hal’s wife Julie and it was a shock when she found out that the army hired Yellow Cab to deliver the telegrams informing the families that their husbands/fathers/sons/brothers had been killed. Mrs. Moore had the cab company deliver the telegrams to her and she personally delivered the news and commiserated with each family. Very moving.

The rest of the supporting cast was good, with Sam Elliot sans mustache doing his best R. Lee Ermey impression as the hard-bitten Sergeant Major Plumley, the senior NCO of the battalion and Mel Gibson’s right hand man. Greg Kinnear plays a memorable helicopter pilot whose nickname is Snakesh**t because he flies so low. Barry Pepper from Saving Private Ryan plays a photojournalist who comes out to see what it’s like and ends up fighting for his life. Similar to the David Jansen character in The Green Berets which I also recommend.

As in recent war movies, the bar has been raised in terms of visual representation of violence. If you’ve seen Saving Private Ryan or Black Hawk Down, you’ll know what to expect. Where We Were Soldiers shines, along with Black Hawk Down is the way it shows the brotherhood and esprit de corps of the troops who find themselves in a very serious situation.

Direction by Randall Wallace was good, with lots of complex scenes with multiple elements coming together without a miss. The special effects were also very good but fairly unobtrusive and looked real to me.

The only false note in the production was the music. It had a sort of Gaelic sound to it almost like the score of Braveheart and I kept thinking “what was that guy thinking?” I found it frankly irritating and it took away from my enjoyment of an otherwise fine experience. We also have American folk songs that could have been integrated if they wanted to get away from the martial stuff that you always hear in war movies. I could have even understood an oriental-sounding score, but Gaelic?

The Paramount DVD is presented in 2.35: 1 widescreen mode, with a host of extras, including the short subject I mentioned which is well worth watching.

All in all, I would place We Were Soldiers at the top of the Vietnam heap, right next to my very favorite Siege of Firebase Gloria, and far above Apocalypse Now and Full Metal Jacket.

Thanks for reading and happy viewing!


Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening