Honoring American heroes

We Were Soldiers is a stirring tribute to those who fought in the Vietnam War and a stunning depiction of the first major battle between the U.S. and North Vietnamese soldiers. On one hand, the film gives a blistering account of a new kind of war for U.S. soldiers and how underestimating and bad strategic decisions ended up getting a lot of good men killed. It’s also a moving testament to the will and dedication of American soldiers to their country, to their families and to each other.

The film falters a bit in moments when writer-director Randall Wallace goes for the sort of staged bravado that remind me of John Wayne at his worst. Because the film is so strong in its battle depictions and straight-from-the-heart performances, the phony moments stick out. This is a film that would be markedly better if it made a few minutes worth of cuts. But the mistakes made by Wallace are forgivable, because the majority of his film is simply outstanding.

After a build-up that depicts some training and family life, the 7th Calvary touches down in the Ia Drang Valley in November of ‘65. Led by Lt. Colonel Hal Moore (Mel Gibson), who cryptically recalls that General Custer also led the 7th Calvary, the men have been plunged into a situation by a government strikingly unprepared. What followed was a three-day battle in which 400 American soldiers were pounded by thousands of enemy forces, a prelude to a terrible war.

Like Black Hawk Down, the film is largely devoted to a seemingly endless battle in which American soldiers are essentially ambushed. In one of the more frightening war film moments I’ve ever seen, soldiers who sense the enemy is upon them in the pitch black of night call for an illumination bomb, and when the sky lights up it reveals that the enemy is just a few yards away, creeping up on them.

If you were to say that this film contains Mel Gibson’s career-best performance, I’d have a hard time arguing otherwise. As Moore, he is a truly heroic representation of the American soldier, a man who continues to plot and strategize when many men would have become engulfed by their own fear. The actual Colonel Moore co-wrote the manuscript the film is based on with reporter Joseph L. Galloway, played here by Barry Pepper.

The film cuts from the battle scenes to back home, where soldiers’ wives are receiving death telegrams via yellow taxis. Madeleine Stowe is superb as Moore’s wife, who takes on the responsibility of delivering the telegrams from the frustrated cab drivers.

Continuing to make a name for himself as a great actor, Greg Kinnear is a fierce presence as copter pilot “Snakeshit,” named for his ability to fly lower than his namesake. Chris Klein, star of many youth sex comedies, embodies the innocence of young soldiers forced to leave wives and children behind to serve their country. This is Klein’s best work since his debut in Election. Finally, there is Sam Elliot, funny and sometimes scary as Sgt. Major Basil Plumley, Moore’s right-hand man.

The over-baked moments include a sequence where Gibson introduces swooping helicopters to his troops on cue, with the copter pilots somehow psychically linked to the moment he says, “This is what you will be riding on!” Another moment that features a montage of Galloway heroically shooting pictures during the battle in “Death Valley” seems like an overstatement of the obvious courage it took to perform that job.

We Were Soldiers manages to be a film worthy of the men and women who gave their lives and lost their friends during the Vietnam War.

It’s a landmark film.