We Were Soldiers
(2002)
Warner Home Video
133 minutes
M15+
Director: Randall Wallace.
Cast: Mel Gibson, Sam Elliott, Madeleine Stowe, Barry
Pepper, Greg Kinnear, Chris Klein, Josh Daugherty, Edwin Morrow,
Keri Russell, Marc Blucas, Jsu Garcia.
Format: Widescreen. Ratio 2.35:1, 16x9 enhanced. Single-sided,
dual-layer disc.
Language: English. Dolby Digital 5.1.
Subtitles: English, English - Hearing Impaired.
Extras: Deleted scenes, audio commentary, Getting
It Right featurette.
Comments: The 25-minute Getting it Right feature is
excellent. It goes in the making of the movie, has interviews
with the actors, the real-life participants and is exactly
what a making-of should be. The most interesting moment for
me was when the real-life wife of Lieutenant Geoghegan (killed
in action) was watching her role being filmed. The pain of
her loss - almost 40 years on - showed through as she wiped
away tears. The deleted scenes are well worth watching with
two outstanding bits that really should have been left in.
The first was when a hard-as-nails sergeant is bollocked by
a green officer and shows him what he is made of, the second
is a post-mission debriefing between Hal Moore, a politico,
and General Westmoreland when Moore lets it be known that
the Vietnamese were going to be exceptionally hard to beat.
The guys at the top, however, had no wish to listen.
