Review of We Were Soldiers (2002) by Filipeneto — 28 Jun 2018

This film shows us the first great battle that Americans suffered during the Vietnam War. Its difficult for me to assess how fair the film is in the picture of the battle, which I don't know very well, but I can say that I have not seen many problems with historical rigor.

The film emphasizes the deficient American preparation for that type of war and the way that specific location was underestimated. It's a war movie and it has, of course, a lot of action but, despite some appeals to patriotism, it's not fanatical about it as some other films are ("Black Hawk Down", for example).

This moderation was something I appreciated, as well as the focus on the human drama of the soldiers and how they had to solve that difficult situation. The result is a war film that does not stray from the feelings, embracing its humanity even though it may displease those who went to the theater expecting to see another "Rambo".

Mel Gibson is the main actor and fills his character with courage, heroism, faith and dignity. He is a good actor and is on a family record, not being the first war film in which he participates. The rest of the cast doesn't stand out much but fulfills our expectations and does what it has to do.

The film uses sound and special effects very well, realistically portraying the soldiers' action on the ground. The scenarios contribute to this realism and have been very well reproduced.