We Were
Soldiers on DVD
Randall Wallace has crafted a true movie masterpiece with this
fact-based story about the United States army’s first major battle in
Vietnam.
And unlike most Hollywood movies about the Vietnam war, it
virtually ignores politics and/or ideology, concentrating instead on the
soldiers, of both sides of the conflict. What we’re left with is a view of
these extraordinary men that’s far different, and undoubtedly far more
accurate, than the normal portrayal of the US soldiers as being a bunch of
rebellious, dope smoking hippie wannabes.
These are family men, professionals who take what they do very
seriously and who understand the consequences of their jobs. They love life,
their families, and each other, and are ready and willing to perform their
dangerous assignments in the best way they possibly can.
Mel Gibson is terrific as Colonel Hal Moore, a true leader of men
who not only vows to his men that he’ll be the first into and the last out
of battle, but who actually backs up his words with deeds. The film opens with
him taking over the gig of putting together a new type of cavalry for a new
type of warfare. It is he, and others, who think up and begin to implement the
tactics showcased by Francis Ford Coppola in the famous helicopter assault from
his artistically beautiful 1979 masterpiece Apocalypse Now.
We Were Soldiers (and the title really says it all regarding the
film’s tone and focus) isn’t as beautiful a movie as Apocalypse, but
in many ways it’s a much better film. While Coppola gives us memorable
images of great and frightening beauty, with a musical score and soundtrack
that sends shivers up the spine, Wallace has taken a more documentary-like
approach and so the picture quality isn’t as lovely to behold as
Apocalypse Now’s, with a more gritty and grainy look, but it works to make
us feel as if we’re there in that interminable and horrifying battle in
the la Trang valley.
Despite the documentary look, there are shots of incredible yet
frightening beauty in We Were Soldiers as well, for instance the swirling of
the smoke and flames caused by wingtip and helicopter rotor vortices. And just
plain frightening shots, as the smoke and dust covers the battlefield and
it’s difficult to see who’s friend and who’s foe.
The excellent use of state-of-the-art Dolby Digital EX surround,
while a bit out of place with the 1965-ish visuals, also puts the viewer right
in the action. As with Saving Private
Ryan, the ordnance whistles around the room, and the low frequency effects
channel is used fantastically as the explosions thump in your chest.
It all combines to make you feel as if you were there.
But it’s as a movie, apparently as historical a document as
you can do with a dramatic effort, that We Were Soldiers really shines. Besides
Gibson, a totally believable supporting cast includes Sam Elliott as the
Colonel’s tough as nails sergeant major, Madeline Stowe as Gibson's wife
and Keri Russell as another army wife.
Speaking of army wives, We Were Soldiers gives a heartwarming, and
heartbreaking, look at these people, who were mostly ignored yet expected to be
Rocks of Gibraltar but who were all too human - but who found the strength
within them to cope when it mattered most.
Also on hand in the cast, and performing admirably, are Greg
Kinnear as helicopter pilot Major Bruce Crandall, Chris Klein as Lieutenant
Jack Geoghegan, and Barry Pepper as journalist Joe Galloway who, with the real
life Colonel Moore, wrote the book upon which this film is based.
We Were Soldiers is a must see movie, an emotional experience
that’ll leave you exhausted by the time the credits roll and it’s
finally safe to take a breath. Director Wallace deserves much credit for
creating this outstanding film that goes a long way toward correcting the
flawed stereotype soldiers liberal Hollywood more traditionally foists on the
moviegoing audience.
Paramount has done the DVD justice, too. Though the picture
quality of We Were Soldiers isn’t up to the finest of DVD standards, this
is due to the abovementioned documentary look; still, the anamorphic widescreen
picture (16x9 TV compatible) is sharp and colorful, but it isn’t as good a
home theater showcase as discs like “The Fifth Element.”
The audio, Dolby Digital EX surround, is outstanding. While there
isn’t a lot of surround use as the movie gets going (before the action
shifts to Vietnam), all five channels and the subwoofer will get a good workout
by the time the film is over.
Extras include a running commentary by writer/director Randall
Wallace, ten deleted scenes with (optional) Wallace’s commentary about why
they were deleted (and it sounds as if it broke his heart not to include them),
and a featurette, “Getting it Right,” which gives excellent behind
the scenes information on the crafting of this magnificent film.
We Were Soldiers, from Paramount Home Video
138 min. anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1), 16x9 TV compatible, Dolby Digital
5.1 surround EX
Starring Mel Gibson, Madeline Stowe, Greg Kinnear, Sam Elliott, Chris
Klein, Keri Russell, Barry Pepper
Produced by Bruce Davey, Stephen McEveety, Randall Wallace
Written for the screen and directed by Randall
Wallace
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