Mel Gibson, once a frequent presence on screen, has had a long and varied career spanning nearly 50 years. While he’s widely recognized for hits like the “Lethal Weapon” and “Mad Max” series and the iconic “Braveheart”, he’s also dabbled in the war movie genre.
He’s been part of a few war-themed films, such as starring in “The Patriot” during the American Revolutionary War and directing the World War II movie “Hacksaw Ridge”. “Braveheart” too can be seen in the light of a war movie. His work in this genre extends to the Vietnam War with a movie that, despite receiving rather lukewarm reviews from critics initially, has now caught the attention of an expert for its portrayal of a crucial battle.
“We Were Soldiers”, directed by Randall Wallace, focuses on the 1965 Battle of Ia Drang. In it, Gibson plays Lt. Col. Hal Moore, leading his unit to capture a strategically vital position. The film, which also features Sam Elliott, Madeleine Stowe, Greg Kinnear, and Keri Russell, holds a 63% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes.
However, former Green Beret David Harris analyzed specific scenes from the movie and gave it a near-perfect grade for accuracy. In a video for Insider, Harris examined the film’s depiction of a “Broken Arrow” situation – when American soldiers are overrun and call in air support close to their own position. He concluded that the film accurately represented the broken arrow call-in and that the explosions seemed realistic. Here’s a snippet of his analysis:
“The Americans were so overrun they had to call ‘broken arrow’ for air support. When a soldier calls ‘broken arrow’, it means you’re being overrun, your position, and you need as much air support as possible.
They told the commander where to stack, how much he had, what he had – those are real messages. You stack planes to avoid them hitting each other and give them their own lanes based on weapons systems. And with mortars, there’s ‘danger close’. If being overrun, you might ask for a drop close by, and the commander’s initials are needed for that. I rate this as about a nine [out of 10]. The explosions seemed realistic as per my experience of real drops.”
But the movie’s accuracy assessment is a mixed bag. In another Insider video, military historian Bill Allison analyzed “We Were Soldiers” and gave it just a five, stating it “fails on a lot of levels”. He pointed out inaccuracies regarding tunnel usage and confusion between the People’s Army of Vietnam and the Viet Cong.
So, while “We Were Soldiers” shows some realism in on-the-ground combat and explosions, it lacks in historical details. It had a better 84% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes yet underperformed at the box office, grossing $114 million against a $75 million budget. Nevertheless, 22 years after its release, there are aspects of the Gibson film that are indeed worthy of recognition.
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