We Were Soldiers This is a movie based on real events that took place in November of 1965 at the gruesome beginning of the Vietnam war. The French army had already been dominated in gorilla battle, this shows the first American platoon entering the unstable zone. The movie does a good job of portraying Americas part in the war with Vietnam while also reminding us of the soldiers wives and families at home. The movie follows a respected Colonel and his platoon of soldiers as they touch down on enemy soil in helicopters and attempt to establish a base of operations. The Colonel played by Mel Gibson was experienced in battle, he fought in Korea, and was hand chosen to lead the first assault. The movie is unrealistic in that it portrays Mel Gibson as an almost untouchable soldier, straying away from the more political aspects of the story.
The main theme of the movie seems to be showing how unprepared our military was for the Vietnam terrain and forces. It also has an additional focus on the family aspect of things and how hard it was for the families who lost their husbands, fathers and brothers to the war effort. The battle scenes of this movie are especially graphic, and last throughout the movie taking up most of the script. It portrays how terrifying and desperate it would be to be alienated from the rest of your division as one platoon becomes shortly after entering enemy lines.
The Essay on Vietnam War
Before the U.S. went to Vietnam, twelve years before the war started, the French were there, it was their colony. The French controlled the country. Northern Vietnam wanted to make their nation Communist as China was probably their influence. The people of southern Vietnam wanted the opposite. It was a typical tropical climate in Vietnam. South Vietnam urgently asked for immediate and extensive ...
One interesting aspect of the movie is the addition of a journalist to the fighting. The characters father and grandfather we ” re both in previous wars, and he decided to serve his country as a photographer of the war apposed to a soldier. He does not like the battles and is timid with the fire arms, at one point he throws down his gun and picks up his stray camera, signifying his will to report the disaster not contribute to it. Overall the movie is interesting from a political and military standpoint but has to much focus on one main character and not enough depth in the other characters to make you care. For a war movie that’s relatively long, one would suspect more time to be spent developing the personality of the members of the platoon to increase feeling in the movie, but that’s not the case in this flick. Just like Braveheart and The Patriot Mel Gibson proves once again that he is the universal soldier of all ages..
