Review: We Were Soldiers Is A War Movie For The Ages
- May 28, 2017
- 2 min read
With over 30 awards to his name Mel Gibson was once a celebrated actor. Personal life aside, I'm a long time fan. Be it comedy, action, romance or some combination of the three, there's very little he can't do. But there's one area, in both his directing and his acting, in which he excels. War.
The battle of Ia Drang, the first major Vietnamese-American conflict of what would become the Vietnam War, was one of the fiercest, most brutal conflicts of the war. At its centre was Lieutenant Harold Moore (Mel Gibson) a man whose sole promise was that he would be the first on the field, and the last to leave.
The initial deployment of the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry, a helicopter based assault unit, one that shared a regiment number with that of the infamous General Custer, makes for quite a cinematic experience. While the director strived for realism and accuracy and, for the most part, succeeded, it's Gibson's acting that brings the film above so many other war movies.
He's charismatic and determined, loyal to a fault and, above all else, dedicated to his men. Gibson manages to strike a near perfect balance between being a loving father and a hardened killer with scenes of him and his children contrasting starkly with the blood soaked jungle battlefield. Barry Pepper also does a great job as Joe Galloway, a war journalist and photographer who has arguably the single greatest moment in the film, a scene in which he photographs the battlefield as his real life pictures flash upon the screen, perfectly capturing the action, frozen forever in time.
While the action is great throughout, it's the characters that make We Were Soldiers a truly excellent film. It feels real, harsh, visceral and desperate, with each sequence of bloodshed punctuated by quieter moments, all pulled together by some excellent acting. We Were Soldiers is definitely worth the watch.
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