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Battle maps with spoilers
**** of ****
Rated: R
Length: 2:18
Writers:
Hal Moore (book "We Were Soldiers Once... and Young")
Randall Wallace (screenplay)
Director: Randall Wallace
Cast:
Mel Gibson: Lieutenant Colonel Hal Moore
Madeleine Stowe: Julie Moore
Sam Elliott: Sgt-Maj. Basil Plumley
Greg Kinnear: Maj. Bruce 'Snake Shit' Crandall
Chris Klein: Lt. Jack Geoghegan
Josh Daugherty: Ouelette
Barry Pepper: Joe Galloway
Keri Russell: Barbara Geoghegan
Edwin Morrow: Prvt. Willie Godboldt
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An American officer who is well studied is ordered to make the first air calvary attack in Vietnam 1965 against a likely enemy strong hold. This battle in which the green U.S. troops were badly out numbered was one of the most savage in U.S. history, and the first major fight between the soldiers of North Vietnam and the United States of America.
Review:
I knew the film was based on real people in a real battle, but as soon as I saw it was Landing Zone X-Ray, my heart just sunk. I had read about this battle in a book about the 10 most harrowing actions in U.S. military history. The sense of subdued near hopelessness is strongly conveyed as the begining of a massacre is understood. This is very well made as a film, and is effective at creating a sense of time and place both in the field and at home. The scenery and lay of the land are very accurate. This was more graphic than anything I've seen. Blood spatters on the camera lens and all. The drawn out battle, the aftermath of violence within the battle, and the sense of history by both of the leaders really set the intense mood. There is a lot to process in this three day event. Much of the battle was more than 10 years in the making. The depiction of the home events for the wives was good at conveying the ripple of human effect as the loss is felt further from the events.
Madeleine Stowe made her character someone with who the audience could empathize. Keri Russell actually did her role well, but it took a while to get her Felicity character out of my head. Mel Gibson's fake southern accent isn't great, but you have to let unimportant things like that slide. The odd thing was that the only people that kept asking what was going on were the women who were old enough to remember 1965. People were very quiet on the way out and only had minimal utilitarian conversations regarding what they were doing next. Very good, but disturbingly true. Go in knowing that this is intense.