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We Were SoldiersDirector: Randall Wallace
Laguages: English / Vietnamese / French
First majob battle of American forces in Vietnam seen from battlefield and the families back home.
Lieutenant Moore is put in charge of battalion of cavalry, which in 1960s meant that they are using the helicopters to transport them to a battlefield. Moore trains his men preparing them for the mission they are about to take up - the strike into Vietnam, where 10 years earlier French colonial forces where destroyed by North Vietnam army. Moore unit is deployed to Ia Drang Valley where they are surrounded by predominant Vietnamese forces. Soon after landing one of the platoons is cut off from the main forces, but due to difficult defensive position Moore cannot straight away help them. Vietnamese commander realizes that he can annihilate the whole American forces...
War movie about Vietnam war based on the book by Lieutenant Moore, who was leading the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, at the Battle of Ia Drang. Moore himself was complaining how the Hollywood producers always "got it wrong" when making movies about Vietnam War, so this time the director (Randall Wallace) decided to make it right and accurate. And according to veterans he did. Except some details, like that the final heroic push by Moore never actually took place... But I guess it isn’t important who did what (or didn’t). The battle itself was inconclusive - Americans landed in the valley and after 3 days of heavy fights have retreated (of course both sides claimed the victory), but it isn’t how it looks in this movie.
Overall it is rather good movie and presents the first major battle of American forces in Vietnam and also how families of the soldiers back home had to cope with the lost of loved ones. There are some weak points of the production, like mentioned lack of historical accuracy, strong religious overtones that don’t add anything to the film value or uninspired propaganda-like style of narration (similiar to John Wayne movies). But on the other hand we have realistic battle scenes made with decent effort. Comparing to other Vietnam war movies it is good, but overall it might have been better.
Our rating
6.0
Film value
7 / 10
Realism factor
4 / 5
Adventure factor
2 / 5
Historical accuracy
2 / 5
First Indochina War (1946-1954) Vietnam War (1955-1975) Battle of Ia Drang (14 Nov 1965)
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