We Were Soldiers (2002)

Released 20020301.
Watched once before in theaters.
Watched 20131227 (Netflix, Instant) (Streaming until 20140101)
We Were Soldiers (2002) Randall Wallace. 138 min [bot book We Were Soldiers Once... And Young (1992) by Lt. Gen. Harold G. Moore and Joseph L. Galloway]

Lt. Col. Hal Moore (Mel Gibson)

Relevant Links:
We Were Soldiers (IMDb.com)
We Were Soldiers (Wikipedia.org)
We Were Soldiers (RottenTomatoes.com)

20131227: [20140106]
Prior to watching this movie again today, all I could remember was Mel Gibson standing in the middle of gunfire with no sign of worrying about his personal safety, perhaps experience had taught him not to worry. Unfortunately, this memory of him standing bravely on the battlefield was diminished on this viewing and the movie as a whole seemed less epic.

Moore and Sgt. Maj. Basil Plumley (Sam Elliot)

With that being said, the movie had a good amount of action and this was well done. The film also has less emotional depth compared to a war film such as Letters from Iwo Jima (2006), but I suppose not every movie has to be dramatic.

On a slightly different note, the film's ending seemed to depict both sides of the war in equal light, but the rest of the movie seemed to suggest otherwise. At this point, I would ask how closely does the film follow the book and what was the book's main narrative goal?

Army wives. In yellow is Julie Moore (Madeleine Stowe)
and to her left is Barbara Geoghegan (Keri Russell).

Overall, We Were Soldiers is a good movie, but lacks what I enjoy when I watch a war movie. I have read, however, that this movie comes closer to what the war was like than other movies depicting the Vietnam war. Unfortunately, I wouldn't know and can only judge a war movie by how cool it looks, not by how realistic it is.

Instant Comments:
Haha: Snakeshit.
"We'll be landing under fire gentlemen... Men will die."

Maj. Bruce "Snakeshit" Crandall (Greg Kinnear)

"I don't want to be Catholic, I want to be Methodist, like Mommy."
"If any of you son of a bitches call me Grandpa... I'll kill you."
That woman was quite the opposite of racist. She didn't even come to the interpretation that "whites only" meant for people, she just assumed it was for her clothing.
"Oh, and about our enemies, ignore their heathen prayers and help us send those bastards straight to hell."

In reply to "Cecile, I don't hear you praying, honey," Moore's
daughter Cecile (Sloane Momsen) says "I don't want to be Catholic,
I want to be Methodist, like Mommy."

The constant whirring goes well with the helicopters.
Man, war strategy is crazy.
Shit. Gives up his spot on the copter and dies.
Omg, searing flesh.
"You guys got room for one more?"

2nd Lt. Jack Geoghegan (Chris Klein)

"You've got the balls to face me, but not enough balls to face the enemy!?! If I ever see you again I'll kill you."
"I need help finding an address." "Jackass! Do you know what you just did? Do you know what you just did to me?"
Great story. "What the hell do you think the odds of them having the same shoe size?" Haha.

Amazing intuition and strategist.
Oh my goodness, the bravery. "Grenade!" [covers it and takes the hit] Though it would be rational. Under the assumption your chances of dying are high, then your sacrifice to extend the survival of your companions is highly beneficial. What isn't rational, but also brave, is to retrieve a fallen companion at the risk of your own life.
Oh man, those burn wounds.

"Sir, Custer was a pussy. You ain't."
Man, that air support must have felt like an angel coming down from the sky.
All this superficial press coming in after the battle.
[English subtitles corresponding to Vietnamese audio] "Such a tragedy. They will think this was their victory. So this will become an American war. And the end will be the same. Except for the numbers who will die before we get there."

Joe Calloway (Barry Pepper)

"We who have seen war will never stop seeing it. In the silence of the night we will always hear the screams. So this is our story, for we were soldiers once... and young."