We Were Soldiers is a 2002 war film written and directed by Randall Wallace and starring Mel Gibson. Based on the book We Were Soldiers Once… and Young (1992) by Lieutenant General (Ret.) Hal Moore and reporter Joseph L. Galloway, it dramatizes the Battle of Ia Drang on November 14, 1965.

Plot
In 1954, the French Army's Group Mobile 100, on patrol during the First Indochina War, is ambushed by Viet Minh forces. Viet Minh commander Nguyen Huu An orders his soldiers to "kill all they send, and they will stop coming".

Eleven years later, the United States is fighting the Vietnam War. US Army Lieutenant Colonel Hal Moore is chosen to train and lead a battalion. After arriving in Vietnam, he learns that an American base has been attacked and is ordered to take his 400 men after the enemy and eliminate the North Vietnamese attackers; intelligence has no idea of the number of enemy troops. Moore leads a newly-created air cavalry unit into the Ia Drang Valley. After landing, the soldiers capture a North Vietnamese scout and learn from him that the location they were sent to is the base camp for a veteran North Vietnamese army division of 4,000 men.

Upon arrival in the area with a platoon of soldiers, 2nd Lt. Henry Herrick spots another enemy scout and runs after him, ordering his reluctant soldiers to follow. The scout lures them into an ambush, which results in several men being killed, including Herrick and his subordinates. The surviving platoon members are surrounded and cut off from the rest of the battalion. Sgt. Savage assumes command, calls in the artillery, and uses the cover of night to keep the Vietnamese from overrunning their defensive position.

Meanwhile, with helicopters constantly dropping off units, Moore manages to secure weak points before the North Vietnamese can take advantage of them. Despite being trapped and desperately outnumbered, the main US force manages to hold off the North Vietnamese with artillery, mortars, and helicopter airlifts of supplies and reinforcements. Eventually, Nguyen Huu An, the commander of the North Vietnamese division, orders a large-scale attack on the American position.

Back in the United States, Julia Moore has become the leader of the American wives who live on the base. When the Army begins using taxi drivers to deliver telegrams that notify the next of kin of the soldiers' deaths, Julia takes over that responsibility.

At the point of being overrun by the enemy, Moore orders 1st Lt. Charlie Hastings, his forward air controller, to call in "Broken Arrow", a call for all available combat aircraft to attack enemy positions, even those close to the US troops' position, because they are being overrun. The aircraft attacked with bombs, napalm, and machine guns, killing many PAVN and Viet Cong troops, but a friendly fire incident also results in American deaths. The North Vietnamese attack is repelled, and the surviving soldiers of Herrick's cut-off platoon, including Savage, are rescued.

Moore's troops regroup and secure the area. Nguyen Huu An plans a final assault on the Americans and sends most of his forces to carry out the attack, but Moore and his men overrun them and approach the enemy command center. Before the base camp guards can open fire, Major Bruce "Snake" Crandall and other helicopter gunships attack and destroy the remnant of the enemy force. With no more troops to call on, Huu An quickly orders the headquarters evacuated.

Having achieved his objective, Moore returns to the helicopter landing zone to be picked up. Only after everyone (including the dead and wounded) is removed from the battlefield does he fly out of the valley. Sometime later, Nguyen Huu An and his men arrive on the battlefield to collect their dead. He claims that the Americans will "think this was their victory. So this will become an American war".

At the end of the film, it is revealed that the landing zone immediately reverted to North Vietnamese hands after the American troops were airlifted out. Hal Moore continued the battle in a different landing zone, and after nearly a year, he returned home safely to Julia and his family. His superiors congratulate him for killing over 1,800 North Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong soldiers. An older Moore visits the Vietnam War memorial and looks at the names of the soldiers who fell at Ia Drang.

Cast

Adaptation from source material
In the source book, We Were Soldiers Once… And Young, Hal Moore complains, "Every damn Hollywood movie got [the Vietnam war] wrong." The director, Randall Wallace, said that he was inspired by that comment and became "determined to get it right this time."

The film's final version got many of the facts of the book presented onto film but is not entirely a historically accurate portrayal of the battle or entirely faithful to the book. For instance, the film depicts a heroic charge under the command of Lt. Col. Hal Moore at the end of the battle that destroys the Vietnamese reserve, ending the battle in an American victory (a fact that the director noted in his commentary). In fact, there was no heroic final charge in the book, and the North Vietnamese forces were not destroyed, although the Moore did report 834 enemy bodies and 1215 estimated KIA (one-third of the enemy force). The US forces were reduced by 72 out of 395, with 18% fatal casualties. The Vietnamese commander, Lt. Col. Nguyen Huu An, did not see the conclusion at LZ X-Ray as the end of combat, and the battle continued the next day with combat action at LZ Albany, where the 2/7th, with A Company 1/5th, found themselves in a fight for their lives against Lt. Col. Nguyen Huu An's reserve.

Despite the differences from the book and departures from historical accuracy, Moore stated in a documentary, included in the video versions, that the film was the first one "to get [the war] right."

Reception

Critical response
 

Roger Ebert, writing for the Chicago Sun-Times, gave We Were Soldiers 3.5 stars out of 4, and praised its truthful and realistic battle scenes and how it follows the characters: "Black Hawk Down was criticized because the characters seemed hard to tell apart. We Were Soldiers doesn't have that problem; in the Hollywood tradition it identifies a few key players, casts them with stars, and follows their stories." Lisa Schwarzbaum, from Entertainment Weekly, gave the film a B and noted its fair treatment of both sides: "The writer-director bestows honor – generously, apolitically – not only on the dead and still living American veterans who fought in Ia Drang, but also on their families, on their Vietnamese adversaries, and on the families of their adversaries too. Rarely has a foe been portrayed with such measured respect for a separate reality, which should come as a relief to critics (I'm one) of the enemy's facelessness in Black Hawk Down; vignettes of gallantry among Vietnamese soldiers and such humanizing visual details as a Vietnamese sweetheart's photograph left behind, in no way interfere with the primary, rousing saga of a fine American leader who kept his promise to his men to 'leave no one behind dead or alive.'"

David Sterritt, from the Christian Science Monitor, criticized the film for giving a more positive image of the Vietnam War that, in his opinion, did not concur with reality: "The films about Vietnam that most Americans remember are positively soaked in physical and emotional torment – from Platoon, with its grunt's-eye view of combat, to Apocalypse Now, with its exploration of war's dehumanizing insanity. Today, the pendulum has swung back again. If filmmakers with politically twisted knives once sliced away guts-and-glory clichés, their current equivalents hack away all meaningful concern with moral and political questions. We Were Soldiers is shameless in this regard, filling the screen with square-jawed officers who weep at the carnage and fresh-faced GIs who use their last breaths to intone things like, 'I'm glad I died for my country.'"

Todd McCarthy, from Variety, wrote the film "presents the fighting realistically, violently and relatively coherently given the chaotic circumstances..." McCarthy further wrote, "Mel Gibson has the closest thing to a John Wayne part that anyone's played since the Duke himself rode into the sunset, and he plays it damn well." He summarized, "Gibson's performance anchors the film with commanding star power to burn. This officer truly loves his men, and the credibility with which the actor can express Moore's leadership qualities, as well as his sensitive side, is genuinely impressive."

Involved combatant's response
Hal Moore, who had long been critical of many Vietnam War films for their negative portrayals of American servicemen, publicly expressed approval of the film and is featured in segments of the DVD.

Retired Colonel Rick Rescorla, who played an important role in the book (and was pictured on the book's cover), was disappointedafter reading the scriptto learn that he and his unit had been left out of the film.  In one key incident, the finding of a vintage French bugle on a dying Vietnamese soldier, the English-born Rescorla is replaced by a nameless Welsh platoon leader.

Box office
We Were Soldiers grossed $78.1 million in the United States and Canada, and $37.3 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $115.4 million, against a budget of $75 million.

Further reading

See also
 1st Cavalry Division

References

External links

 
 
 
 

2002 films
2000s action war films 
American action war films 
Battle of Ia Drang
Films scored by Nick Glennie-Smith
Films based on non-fiction books
Films directed by Randall Wallace
Films produced by Bruce Davey
Films set in 1954
Films set in the 1960s
Films set in 1965
Films set in the United States
Films shot in Georgia (U.S. state)
2000s French-language films
Paramount Pictures films
Icon Productions films
Vietnam War films
Vietnamese-language films
War films based on actual events
Films about the United States Army
Films set in Vietnam
Impact of the September 11 attacks on cinema
Film controversies in Vietnam
2000s English-language films
2000s American films
위 워 솔저스(We Were Soldiers)는 2002년 개봉한 전쟁 영화이다. 베트남 전쟁 초반 전투 이아 드랑 계곡 전투를 그린다. 이 전투를 기반으로 한 소설 We Were Soldiers Once… And Young을 원작으로 하고 있는데, 이 소설의 원작자 헐 무어는 실제로 이 전투에 참여했다. 다른 저자 조셉 L. 갤러웨이는 UPI의 언론인이었다. 베트남 전쟁 초기의 전투를 소재로 한 전장에서 싸우는 병사들과 그 병사의 귀가를 기다리는 연인이나 가족 등 인간의 심리를 미국 측뿐만 아니라 베트남 측의 시점에서도 묘사하고 있다.

줄거리 

생사를 넘나드는 72시간의 전투! 죽어서라도 우리는 함께 돌아갈 것이다
미국은 베트남과의 전면전을 개시하기에 앞서, 베트남의 지형을 극복하는 방안으로 공수부대를 파견하여 헬기 공습 시험전을 펼친다. 그리고 이 시험 전투의 책임을 하버드 석사 출신의 전략가 헐 무어 중령(멜 깁슨 분)에게 맡긴다. 그러나 임무 수행지인 이아 드랑 계곡에 대한 사전 검토에 들어간 그는 이곳이 10여년 전, 프랑스 군인들이 몰살당했던 지역으로 일명 죽음의 협곡이라 불리는 사실을 알게 된다.

언제나 그랬듯 자기 생애 마지막 전투가 될 지도 모를 출전에 대비해 아내에게 유언장을 남기고 베트남으로 떠나는 무어 중령.
1965년 11월14일 일요일 오전 10시 48분. 제7기병대 1 대대장을 맡은 무어 중령은 395명의 전투 경험 전무의 어린 부하들을 이끌고 이아 드랑 계곡의 X-RAY 지역에 헬기 고공침투를 시작한다. 그러나 이 지역을 점령한 월맹군이 모두 정예요원으로 아군보다 5배나 많다는 사실은 선발대가 모두 희생당한 뒤 알게 된다.

1965년 11월 15일 월요일 오전 2시 30분. 오직 헬기를 통해서만 외부와 접촉이 가능한 험준한 협곡, 고통 속에 신음하는 부상자들마저 총알이 빗발치는 전장에서 하나 둘 그 목숨을 잃어간다. 외부와 완전히 차단된 깊은 밤, 적진에 버려진 군인들에게 두려움이 엄습해오고, 죽음의 그림자가 짙게 깔린 이곳에서 모두 동지들에 대한 걱정으로 날이 밝을 때까지 잠을 이룰 수 없다.

한편, 전쟁 리포터로 전지에 들어온 조 갤러웨이(배리 페퍼 분)의 카메라에는 젊은 영혼들이 고통 속에 신음하는 모습들이 담겨지고, 그는 더 이상 카메라가 아닌 총을 들고, 민간인이 아닌 군인으로 전장을 뛰어다니게 된다.

1965년 11월 16일 오후 4시 05분. 막강한 화력으로 무장한 월맹군은 공포에 빠진 미군들을 포위해 들어가자 본부에선 작전의 실패를 인정하고 본대로 귀환하라는 명령이 떨어진다. 그러나 부하들을 남겨두고 홀로 전장을 등질 수 없는 무어 중령은 최후의 수단으로 ‘브로큰 애로우’를 외친다. 곧바로 공군의 어마어마한 지상 폭격이 감행되고, 월맹군의 추격로는 봉쇄되지만, 무어 중령의 소대도 폭격의 화염에 희생된다. 아군이 아군을 죽이는 처참한 상황, 그러나 전세는 조금씩 미군편에 유리해지기 시작했다. 

1965년 11월 17일 오전 1시 00분. 무어 중령은 월맹군 작전을 간파하고, 이를 교란 시키는데 성공하면서, 최후의 반격을 준비하고, 마지막 작전 지시를 내린다. 그리고 자신의 목숨조차 장담하지 못하는 처참한 전쟁의 포화 속에서 무어 중령은 다시 한번 다짐한다. 이들이 살았건, 죽었건 내 뒤에는 아무도 홀로 남겨두지 않을 것이다.

캐스팅 
 멜 깁슨 - 헐 무어 중령 역
 매들린 스토 - 줄리아 무어 역
 배리 페퍼 - 종군기자 조 갤러웨이 역
 그렉 키니어 - 브루스 스네이크 크렌달
 샘 엘리어트 - 바실 프럼리 상사 역
 크리스 클라인 - 잭 조지건 소위 역
 케리 러셀 - 바바라 조지곤
 돈 두옹 - 누엔 후 안
 라이언 허스트 - 어니 세비지 병장 역
 로버트 배그넬 - 찰리 하스팅스 역
 마크 맥크랙큰 - 애드 투 톨 프리먼 역
 조쉬 도거티 - 로버트 오엘렛트 역
 주 가르시아 - 토니 내델 역
 클락 그레그 - 톰 멧스커 역
 데스몬드 헤링턴 - 빌 벡 역
 블레이크 헤론 - 겔렌 번검 역
 에릭 맥아더 - 러셀 아담스 역
 딜란 월쉬 - 로버트 에드워즈 역
 마크 블루카스 - 헨리 헨릭 역
 에드윈 모로우 - 윌리 곳보트 역
 존 햄 - 맷 딜론 역
 브라이언 티 - 지미 내카야마 역
 슬로안 맘슨 - 세실 무어 역
 벨라미 영 - 캐서린 멧스커 역
 심비 칼리
 짐 그림쇼
 포리 스미스
 빈센트 앤겔
 마이클 톰린슨
 케이스 자라바즈카
 팀 아벨
 패트릭 세인트 에스프릿
 마이크 화이트
 다니엘 로벅
 댄 빈
 테일러 맘슨
 데번 워크하이저
 루크 벤워드
 빌린저 C. 트란
 비엔 홍
 조셉 휴
 앤드류 월리스
 니콜라스 호스킹
 쉐파드 코스터
 케이트 롬바디
 제이슨 포웰
 프랭크 코스텐코 주니어

SBS 성우진 (2003년 6월 22일) 
 양지운 - 할 무어(멜 깁슨)
 이향숙 - 줄리 무어(매들린 스토)
 김기현 - 바실 프럼리(샘 엘리어트)
 윤병화 - 크랜달(그렉 키니어)
 홍승섭 - 잭 조지건(크리스 클라인)
 김정주 - 바바라 조지건(케리 러셀)
 최원형 - 갤러웨이(배리 페퍼)
 김익태 - 토니 (주 가르시아)
 김영훈 - 어니(라이언 허스트)
 김관진 - 헨리(마크 블루카스)
 전인배 - 프리먼(마크 맥크랙큰)
 문영래
 이재정
 신상숙
 장주영
 이장우
 최석필

외부 링크 
 
 
 
 
 

영어 영화 작품
베트남어 영화 작품
프랑스어 영화 작품
2002년 영화
전쟁 서사 영화
미국의 액션 영화
미국의 전쟁 드라마 영화
독일의 액션 영화
독일의 전쟁 영화
독일의 드라마 영화
1960년대를 배경으로 한 영화
베트남 전쟁 영화
실화에 바탕한 영화
소설을 바탕으로 한 영화
파라마운트 픽처스 영화
조지아주에서 촬영한 영화
1954년을 배경으로 한 영화
1965년을 배경으로 한 영화
미국의 전쟁 영화
미국 육군을 소재로 한 영화