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"The Passion Of The
Soldiers" |
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Directed by Randall
Wallace - Written by
Randall Wallace
Starring Mel Gibson,
Madeleine Stowe, Barry
Pepper, Greg Kinnear,
Sam Elliott
Distributed by Paramount -
2002 - 138mins - Rated R |
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Fathers, Brothers, Husbands & Sons... |
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It all
began with "The Deer Hunter." A wave of anti-war Vietnam movies that
had the basic themes of betrayal and hate. No honor or love of country
to be found in any of them. In "Platoon," the soldiers split into two
factions and rage war on each other. In "Full Metal Jacket" the
soldiers have fun with dead bodies. It's all rather sick, but hey,
that's one side of a true story. People did hate the war and people
did act like that in reality.
What none of these films show us, though, is that when the war began,
most of the troops were regular army, and the ant-war sentiment had
yet to creep in. "We Were Soldiers" finally touches on these seemingly
forbidden themes. It is based on the first major battle of Vietnam.
Colonel Hal Moore led his troops into battle and achieved victory
against a considerably larger army. Moore himself collaborated on this
film. Moore has said that the characters in "Platoon" and "The Deer
Hunter" are nothing like what he knew his men to be like. He helped
make an honorable film, here.
"We Were Soldiers" is the best war film since "Saving Private Ryan."
While the two cannot be compared ("Saving Private Ryan" is a superior
film), they both leave out forced anti-war themes ("Platoon") and
preachy rambling ("The Thin Red Line"). It shows us soldiers who are
fighting because they want to, quite a change from you standard
Vietnam film. But like these other films, it has intense, realistic
action that will shock and thrill you.
Mel Gibson is outstanding as Hal Moore. Sam Elliot just as good as his
second-in-command. Barry Pepper is perfect as the reporter caught in
the crossfire. Actually, there is only one area were "We Were
Soldiers" falls flat on its face. The first part of the film shows us
the soldiers at home and some of their training. Now, I don't mind
developing the characters, but when it is this melodramatic and dull,
I can't stand it. It's corny and unintelligent, an insult to the
audience. A black character discovers segregation for the first time
on base. She acts as if she had never even heard of it! Another
character goes into labor the moment she says that she can't wait for
her baby to come. Even during the intense battle scenes, it cuts back
home to see how the wives are handling this. I don't understand why
this is necessary. It only interrupts the intensity for laughable
trite.
Over all, though, "We Were Soldiers" is one of my favorite war films.
It shows a new side of the subject, and it actually gives me
characters I care about, a feat for a war film. I love it. |
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© Written by Jacob Hall -
Email
Me! |
TC Candler's Comment
We Were Soldiers is a good piece of cinema, but
it's not the equal of 'The Thin Red Line', 'Full
Metal Jacket' or 'Patton'.
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The film is a little heavy handed in it's
attempt to make us cry. There are also a few too
many preachy moments. But overall, the movie
does have an emotional impact and provides us a
detailed look at one of the first conflicts of
the Vietnam war.
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Just because Saving Private Ryan did it, doesn't
mean that every war film from then until the end
of time has to show the finite detail of every
wound and every death throughout the film!!!
Frankly, the effect is wearing thin and I am
becoming immune to the special effects gore...
it's not as powerful as it was the first time.
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The acting is of uniform quality. No one gives a
memorable performance, but no one is a weak
link. Mel Gibson does a solid enough job in the
lead role, but I felt it was a simple part with
standard dialogue.
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The scenes back home with the wives and families
are the weakest part of the story. Those moments
are meant to develop emotional bonds with the
characters, but they are overtly sentimental in
ways that may induce some rolled eyes from the
audience.
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The film tries too hard to be sentimental and
important. The current inflated patriotism that
we all feel cannot elevate this film to
greatness, but it is still a solid piece of
drama that will move many of you to tears. For
me, there were a few too many cheesy lines and
it was a little too manipulative. I recommend
the movie, but with mild trepidation.
Richard Propes' Comment
I suppose
it shouldn't come as a huge surprise that a
diehard pacifist wouldn't necessarily be fond of
a film that us unabashedly pro-military. The
surprise may be that my lack of fondness for the
film has little to nothing to do with my own
pacifism but about the film itself. "We Were
Soldiers" starts off slowly and doesn't really
get going until the second half of the film.
Even at that point, the film never really takes
off and seems to constantly fall back on cliche'
film-making too much of the time. As TC states,
the film tries too hard to be sentimental and
important. I suppose that really sums it up.
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