Movie Review: We Were Soldiers
- BARBARA NICOLOSI
"We Were Soldiers" goes much farther than "Braveheart" in telling the story of a man of faith who lived a martyrs life in the name of duty and honor. In terms of cultural impact, this character is very cool, very smart, with integrity to burn, and very Catholic. We havent seen the best we can be like this up on the screen since "A Man for All Seasons".
 |
On
Sunday, November 14, 1965 at 10:48 a.m., Lt. Col. Hal Moore and 400 young American
troopers touched down at Landing Zone X-Ray in the Ia Drang (pronounced: Eye Drang)
Valley, a place in Vietnam known as "The Valley of Death." In a matter of hours,
they were surrounded by 2,000 North Vietnamese soldiers. The ensuing battle was
one of the most savage in U.S. history, and the first major encounter of the war
that most of us prefer to forget. It was the one after all, that we lost, and
at a very high cost.
We have seen, and mostly dreaded, Vietnam films
before. From maudlin left-leaning whines like Coming Home, The Deer
Hunter and Born on the Fourth of July, to the macabre savagery of Apocalypse
Now, Platoon and Full Metal Jacket, every one of these films
falls down in so far as it tries to make a political statement. All of these films
left us feeling alternately uncomfortable, alienated from God, goodness and each
other, and sadly cynical.
This is Meaghen Gonzalez, Editor of CERC. I hope you appreciated this piece. We curate these articles especially for believers like you.
Please show your appreciation by making a $3 donation. CERC is entirely reader supported.
Acknowledgement
Barbara Nicolosi. "Movie Review: We Were Soldiers." Liguorian (November 2001).
This article reprinted with permission from Liguorian, One Liguori Drive, Liguori, MO 63057.
Liguorian is a general interest Catholic magazine written and edited for Catholics of all ages. Its purpose is to help readers better understand the gospel and Church teaching and to show how these teachings apply to life and the problems confronting them as members of families, the Church, and society.
The Author
Barbara Nicolosi is the Executive Director of The Story Institute at Azusa Pacific University and an adjunct professor of screenwriting at Azusa Pacific University and at Pepperdine University. She blogs at The Church of the Masses.
Copyright © 2001 Liguorian