Many films were created on the subject of the Vietnam War, with a number considered among the most memorable films ever produced. The very nature of war, particularly (and tragically) those that are tragic, creates a captivating cinematic experience. One of those war-themed films, We Were Soldiers with Mel Gibson, has just been released on Netflix.
Although it isn’t on the list of top films like Apocalypse Now, Platoon, Deer Hunter, or Full Metal Jacket, it has its own strengths. The film may not have the same grit as those films. However, with regard to story and acting, there’s something that can be admired in the film. One of the themes is the brutality and the complete futility of the war. There’s even a comment in the Book.
In the film movie “We Were Soldiers, Mel Gibson is the character Colonel Hal Moore who is in charge of leading a group of military personnel to North Vietnam to protect an American base. Like most war movies and certainly everything war film, the plot goes horribly wrong right from the beginning. Viet Cong soldiers completely defeat Moore and his soldiers. With a ratio of almost 10:1. Deficit in terms of manpower and power, Moore and his crew are faced with the dangerous and nearly impossible task of defending their position from an assault of enemy attacks.
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The film becomes a kind of survival tale so frequently seen in war films that it features Moore and his Army (many of whom don’t make it) fighting to overcome massive obstacles to survive. The task of securing the position becomes irrelevant when they realize the challenges they’re facing and how many difficult choices must be taken. Mel Gibson, in this role, performs well and is quite convincing as the commander of the troops. This isn’t the most obvious job you’d imagine for an actor. However, his stoicism and “realistic” fight scenes in the film manage to capture the essential elements of a movie about the war in this way.
The war was among the first major conflicts of the Vietnam War and became known as the Battle of the la Drang Valley. From a narrative standpoint, Mel Gibson and his crew are at the beginning of the war, completely unaware of the violence that will be encountered confronting this adversary. It’s one of the elements that the film attempts to define and something that became clear as the war progressed. The American soldiers were not prepared for the kind of battle that would take place in Vietnam, and the first battle was the catalyst for the war to come.
We Were Soldiers was an adaptation of the Book We Were Soldiers Once…and Young by Moore, with Mel Gibson playing the part of the author. The novel was a best-seller in The New York Times. Alongside Mel Gibson in the cast were several other notable actors. Greg Kinnear plays Major Bruce Crandall. Sam Elliott is Major Plumley as well as Chris Klein plays a member of the police force too. Barry Pepper is on as Joe Galloway, a reporter who was a writer alongside Moore. It is also one of the first roles played by Jon Hamm. In addition, there’s the story happening simultaneously at home for the spouses of soldiers’ wives and how their lives were affected. We have Madeliene Stowe as Julia Moore, Hal’s wife.
It was released in 2002. We Were Soldiers was moderately well-received by critics receiving 63 percent on Rotten Tomatoes as well as 65 points according to Metacritic. Most critics praised the casting choices and the acting talent of the principal actors, Mel Gibson included. There was a feeling the film over-emphasized the patriotic spirit of that Vietnam War, which stood in stark contrast to the actual circumstances. While other war films blur the lines between heroes and villains (it’s war, and the truth is, it’s not always clear), This one makes distinctions between them in a manner that might not be entirely true to the brutal conflict.
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The HTML0 version of We Was Soldierscame at a moment when Mel Gibson was still near the peak of his acting abilities. He had already completed Braveheart and was working on the fourth film of the Lethal Weapon franchise. The Patriot had been released two years earlier, and Lethal Weapon would come out the next year. However, The movie We Were Soldiers was still a failure at the box office, with a mere $115 million from the budget of $75 million. A big-budget film, this is a bit of an utter failure.
Currently, Mel Gibson has several projects in the works, including the Continental, The Continentalbeing among the largest. The Continental will be a short series that serves as a prequel to The John Wick franchise. For now, look into We Were Soldiers on Netflix.
