We Were Soldiers

Theatrical Release Date: 2002 03 01 (USA)

UPC: 097363400240

Studio: Paramount

MPAA Rating: R   Contains:[Graphic Violence, Adult Language, War Violence]

Summary: Screenwriter Randall Wallace, a specialist in sweeping historical epics, steps behind the camera for this fact-based Vietnam War drama that reunites him with his Braveheart (1995) star Mel Gibson. Gibson is Lt. Col. Hal Moore, commander of the First Battalion, Seventh Cavalry, the same regiment fatefully led by George Armstrong Custer. As part of the Pleiku Campaign of late 1965, Moore is assigned to an action at Landing Zone X-Ray in the Drang Valley, an area that would come to be known as the "The Valley of Death." Moore soon finds himself and his men contained to an area about the size of a football field, surrounded by more than 2,000 enemy troops and engaged in the first major battle of the war. Heroism becomes the order of the day as men like Moore, chopper pilot Bruce Crandall (Greg Kinnear), and Lt. Henry Herrick (Marc Blucas) refuse to yield, in spite of heavy losses of life. The film co-stars Madeleine Stowe, Chris Klein, Keri Russell, and Sam Elliott. We Were Soldiers is based on the book We Were Soldiers Once...and Young by Lt. Gen. Harold G. Moore (retired) and UPI reporter Joe Galloway (played in the film by Barry Pepper). ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

Category: War

Features: cc10 deleted scenes with commentary
Getting It Right behind-the-scenes of We Were Soldiers
Commentary by director/writer Randall Wallace
Widescreen version enhanced for 16:9 TVs
Dolby digital: English 5.1 surround Ex
English dolby surround
French Dolby surround
English subtitles

We Were Soldiers

Format: DVD

Release Date: 08/20/2002

Audio: DD5.1 Dolby Digital 5.1, DS Dolby Surround (4.0)

Runtime: 138 Minutes

Sides: 1

Number of Discs: 1

Language(s) English,French

Subtitles: English

Region: USA & territories, Canada

Chapters: Side #1 --
1. Where Does It Begin? [6:52]
2. Air Cavalry [6:05]
3. Family Prayers [6:26]
4. A Soldier and a Father [:15]
5. What is a War? [5:06]
6. We Are All Americans [7:53]
7. November 14, 1965 [8:43]
8. Cut Off at the Knoll [6:36]
9. Hot L.Z. [1:36]
10. Ammo and the Wounded [6:10]
11. Holding Out Against the Night [:10]
12. Taxis [5:53]
13. Words for the Dead [:07]
14. "We're Gonna Win This Fight" [5:05]
15. Broken Arrow [2:01]
16. A Nice Day [5:29]
17. Fix Bayonets [:27]
18. Aftermath [5:51]
19. Memorial [1:19]

Karl Williams

This unabashedly patriotic, flag-waving war film nevertheless manages to avoid jingoism and present a more-balanced-than-normal view of war by delving into the mind of the enemy and depicting the struggles of wives left behind at home. Screenwriter-turned-director Randall Wallace doesn't always manage to overcome the obviousness and tendency to oversimplify that are his long-running weaknesses, and the humans driving his story should remain a bit more front-and-center than they do once the shooting starts, but he's unarguably adept at mounting complicated, large-scale battle scenes and rendering the confusing action understandable. He also displays a sure hand with his cast, particularly Mel Gibson, who does a laudable job in a stoic, heartbroken role that forbids many of the actor's usual gimmicks and goofy mannerisms. If only there was more of him; once the battle begins, the picture zooms and whip-pans from one character to the next, making it arduous for an audience trying to pin its emotional identification to any one particular person or group. Nevertheless, conveying a tangible, even tactile sense of war's brutal, grim reality has been one of the hallmarks of war films in the late '90s and early 2000s, and in this regard, Wallace's epic is no exception, depicting with shocking persuasiveness the carnage of war (a scene where a young soldier is horribly burned to the point of melting is particularly tough to watch). While it ends up in a place that's somewhat emotionally flat by the time the battle is over, We Were Soldiers is a thorough, competent, and well-produced chronicle of the Vietnam conflict's first major combat. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Clark Gregg  Actor 
Ryan Hurst  Actor 
Greg Kinnear  Actor 
Robert Bagnell  Actor 
Marc Blucas  Actor 
Keri Russell  Actor 
Don Duong  Actor 
Jsu Garcia  Actor 
Dylan Walsh  Actor 
Desmond Harrington  Actor 
Denis Leary  Actor 
Barry Pepper  Actor 
Josh Daugherty  Actor 
Taylor Momsen  Actor 
Sam Elliott  Actor 
Blake Heron  Actor 
Jon Hamm  Actor 
Madeleine Stowe  Actor 
Chris Klein  Actor 
Erik MacArthur  Actor 
Stephen McEveety  Producer 
Arne Schmidt  Executive Producer 
Bruce Davey  Producer 
Nick Glennie-Smith  Composer (Music Score) 
Jim Lemley  Executive Producer 
Randall Wallace  Director 
Randall Wallace  Producer 
Randall Wallace  Screenwriter 
Mel Gibson  Actor 

Country: USA