We Were Soldiers (2002)

Director: Randall Wallace

Cast: Mel Gibson as Lt. Col. Hal Moore, Madeleine Stowe as Julie Moore, Greg Kinnear as Maj. Bruce 'Snake' Crandall, Sam Elliott as Sgt. Maj. Basil Plumley, Chris Klein as 2nd Lt. Jack Geoghegan, Keri Russell as Barbara Geoghegan, Barry Pepper as Joe Galloway, Duong Don as Lt. Col. Nguyen Huu An, Ryan Hurst as Sgt. Ernie Savage, Robert Bagnell as 1st Lt. Charlie Hastings, Marc Blucas as 2nd Lt. Henry Herrick, Josh Daugherty as Sp4 Robert Ouellette, Jsu Garcia as Capt. Tony Nadal, Jon Hamm as Capt. Matt Dillon, Clark Gregg as Capt. Tom Metsker

This film is so different from the traditionally cynical (and rightly so)
Vietnam War movies. While it goes without question that this film depicts
the bloody and gruesome horrors of the tragedy of the first major conflict
of the war, it does so while juxtaposing the story with that of stories of
the home front and the enemy. The enemy in this film is not the
animalistic, silent enemy we are used to. We hear this enemy speak, we
see
his love for his family and his devotion to his cause. While being
bombarded with images of death and destruction on the battlefield, we are
brought back home to see the wives as they face the death themselves.


While of course not a flawless movie, it was without a doubt moving, and I
highly recommend it.