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WE WERE SOLDIERS This adaptation of Joe Galloway and General Hal Moore's book We Were Soldiers Once... and Young focuses on a key skirmish of the Vietnam War: the 1965 battle in the Ia Drang Valley, when 400 Americans found themselves surrounded by 2,000 enemy soldiers. Like Black Hawk Down, this also centers on the inspiring mettle demonstrated by US soldiers under fire, and it's the superior film, since it does a far better job of placing a human face on the spectacle of war. Rather than diluting the power of the piece, the expository scenes and domestic interludes provide it with an intimacy and emotional scope that easily allow it to overcome some rough narrative patches, while a no-nonsense cast (led by Mel Gibson) offers the necessary conviction. The combat scenes are extremely intense, and while some of the dialogue may clank, the sentiments don't: This is that rare Hollywood movie that isn't afraid to present its leading characters as devout Christians honestly seeking to reconcile their predicament with a spiritual soothing, and it's that even rarer movie that allows us to spend a little time with the enemy in an effort to show that the devastation of war hits on all fronts and in all facets. 1/2