Mel Gibson is no stranger to the major historical wars of the world.
We loved him as William Wallace in “Braveheart” as much as we hated him as Col.
Martin in “The Patriot.” His latest, “We Were Soldiers,” has him strapping on the combat boots again as Col. Moore, the leader in one of the first major battles of the Vietnam War.
Whether it is his past work, the current world situation or just Mel himself, we have learned to trust him to lead and trust him to win. Gibson’s Col. Moore is a hybrid of his past war-torn heroes. He has the stoic bravery of Wallace and the heart and charm of Martin, but the disdain for such warm-fuzzy warriors that ruined “The Patriot” has since vanished, perhaps in light of the country’s present-day position in world affairs. Thus, watching Gibson and “Soliders,” which is based on true events, is made into a somewhat cathartic film-going experience
Like the hordes of war movies that have attacked audiences in the last months (“Behind Enemy Lines,” “Black Hawk Down,” “Hart’s War” and the upcoming “Windtalkers”), “Soldiers” is an outlet for current questioning, frustration and even compassion. In its graphic and intense fighting footage (don’t let the commercials fool you — this is not a quiet, homefront pic) we begin to worry about the characters and the diegetic victory.
But in the not-so-back of our minds, there are our own brothers, cousins, friends and relatives who are serving their country as we slurp our Pepsi. We hope there is presently a Col. Moore who will be the “first one on the battlefield and the last one off” and who “will leave no one behind.” In this day and age we don’t mind so much the cheesy-ness of such lines and no longer smirk at, but rather taken comfort in, Gibson’s bright blue eyes peering out from his dirt-caked helmet and beard of mud.
“Soldiers” main concentration is the action of the encounter between the United States and Vietnamese troops. Sir Steven upped the cinematic war ante with 1998’s “Saving Private Ryan” and the body count and faux bloodshed have never looked back. This film follows suit with unending gun-fire, explosions and deaths that multiply exponentially as the film moves on. The clich?d war-movie scenes are there: noble actions, heroic saves, family stories — even token war-flick actor Barry Pepper has a small role.
But they are no less moving. Like “Black Hawk Down” the plot isn’t as important as the duties of these men.
A few scenes take us back to the American base in which the Colonel’s wife (Madelein Stowe, “The General’s Daughter”) leads the other wives in her own colonel-like way. Scenes like this, which in any other year may prove distracting (a great asset to “Saving Private Ryan” was its unwillingness to show home and only talk about it), have taken on new meaning.
When all is said and done, “Soldiers” is a fine film, but its context does more for it than the actual film itself. With so many war and battle pictures cropping up, most of which were filmed before Sept. 11 but may now see earlier releases, one wonders if they are doing any good. While some may get tripped up in the morals of war, and others the actual sense of being there, most are just telling us what happened and creating awareness, however altered by Hollywood it may be.
Pepper’s character, who is a photo-journalist and author, asks Col. Moore how he is supposed to tell the story of the battle. Moore replies, “I don’t know, but you need to tell it. People need to know what happened here.” That is what every good war movie should do, and “Soldiers” ultimately delivers on this promise.