We were soldiers

[Chan 1]

Is it any good?

[ralphwiggum 6]

It opened today...relax.....wait for ppl's review over the weekend...but I smell typical Braveheart/the Patriot - ish Mel Gibson hero movie...

[Assault (CAN) 1]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">I smell typical Braveheart/the Patriot - ish Mel Gibson hero movie...<span id='postcolor'>

I agree totally. 'The Patriot' was a horrible, horrible movie. Three hours of f*cking flag waving and showing the British as 'evil'. Too bad they never showed how some loyalists were murdered by the patriots. It was too one sided IMO.

It looks the same for 'We Were Soldiers', nothing but a bunch of flag waving, sentimental, hero crap.

Though I might be wrong.....

Tyler

[ralphwiggum 6]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (Assault (CAN) @ Mar. 02 2002,08:55)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">I agree totally. 'The Patriot' was a horrible, horrible movie. Three hours of f*cking flag waving and showing the British as 'evil'. Too bad they never showed how some loyalists were murdered by the patriots.  It was too one sided IMO.

It looks the same for 'We Were Soldiers', nothing but a bunch of flag waving, sentimental, hero crap.

Though I might be wrong.....

Tyler<span id='postcolor'>

well, every movie has to look for it's main audience.

my resentment is that Mel Gibson is casting himself with somesort of same image.

[Wobble 1]

one more comment.. and you will all die here.. today

seriousley.. braveheart was a good MOVIE.. not a documentary.. a MOVIE..  nobody seems to raise a fuss back when the USSR movies where the whole movie is about a pissed off russian youth goes to new york and kills as many "capitalist dogs" as possable..I.E. murdering them on the subway with a machine gun,, yea... and he was the Hero of the movie BTW..

and from what ive seen of "we were soldiers" all its about is a single leader who did any and everything for his guys.. it really avoids the whole vietnam good/vietnam bad debate.. and focuses on this one group of folks.

[john_mcclane 0]

Seems kind of silly to comment on a movie when you haven't seen it.

I saw it Friday night. IMO, it's an EXTREMELY well made and realistic Vietnam movie. Excellent acting from all involved. It's also based on a true story.

Mel Gibson's character (Lt. Col. Hal Moore) isn't a gung-ho one man army.

It isn't a hyped up film that says "join the military and be a hero!". It's gritty and terrifying. I think it does a very good job of showing the true horrors of war.

[WisdoM 1]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (John_McClane @ Mar. 02 2002,07:12)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Seems kind of silly to comment on a movie when you haven't seen it.

I saw it Friday night. IMO, it's an EXTREMELY well made and realistic Vietnam movie. Excellent acting from all involved. It's also based on a true story.

Mel Gibson's character (Lt. Col. Hal Moore) isn't a gung-ho one man army.

It isn't a hyped up film that says "join the military and be a hero!". It's gritty and terrifying. I think it does a very good job of showing the true horrors of war.<span id='postcolor'>

The majority of tehse forum goers think that we as Americans think that movies arte true life for some odd reason? I mean movies are meant for entertainment..I think we should all criticise Shakespeare now, because he's stories were all fake. Some people will just never learn that Hollywood in America is potrayed differently here than it is everywhere else in teh world..we her ein teh states find Hollywood as PURE entertainment and nothing more..they coassionally turn out a good documentary...but it seems all teh foreigners here like to take every movie pumped out of Hollywood as truth...or atleast they like to think that we Amercians take it as truth. but oh well..whatever floats their boat.

[christophercles 0]

While i havnt seen it yet (im in australia, we probably wont see it in cinemas for about 3 months), ive gathered that the movie is based on real life events and people, and its about how the guys where fighting for eachother, not america, so i doubt there would be alot of flag waving.

[Stealt Eagle 1]

Mel Gibson almost always been in good movies, look at all the Lethal Weapon movies or as said before Braveheart. Some of the Patriot was okay but the rest was just pure SHIT, can't mix a love story and a war story into each other IT SUCKS ASS

[Fenna 0]

Plus the Patriot either made the british look like evil savages or really posh.

[ran 0]

but the british ARE evil sauvage , have you seen what they eat ??

[ralphwiggum 6]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (ran @ Mar. 03 2002,16:20)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">but the british ARE evil sauvage , have you seen what they eat ??<span id='postcolor'>

LOLOL!!!!!!!!!!

[Stealt Eagle 1]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (ran @ Mar. 03 2002,16:20)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">but the british ARE evil sauvage , have you seen what they eat ??<span id='postcolor'>

Says the guy who comes from a country where they eat frogs, and other disgusting and slimy things

[ran 0]

only some stupid persons eat frogs ...... not the majority of the people

[Stealt Eagle 1]

So what u're saying is that ur stupid.

No, sorry can't help it

[Guest]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (ran @ Mar. 03 2002,18:47)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">only some stupid persons eat frogs ...... not the majority of the people<span id='postcolor'>

So the rest eat snails then?

[ralphwiggum 6]

Alright!! all of you! quiet!

Here's the estimated American Box office estimate, citing 'We were soldiers' as No.1

CNN's news

'Soldiers' conquers weekend box office

'Hartnett's complaint' follows in second place

March 3, 2002 Posted: 30 PM EST (2000 GMT)

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BOX OFFICE TOP 10

Following are the top 10 movies at the North American box office for the March 1-3 weekend, according to studio estimates collected on Sunday by Reuters. Final data will be issued on Monday.

1. 'We Were Soldiers,' $20.2 million

2. '40 Days and 40 Nights,' $12.5 million3. 'John Q.,' $8.4 million

4. 'Dragonfly,' $6.8 million

5. 'Return to Never Land,' $6.5 million

6. 'Queen of the Damned,' $5.8 million7. 'Big Fat Liar,' $4.8 million

8. 'A Beautiful Mind,' $4.4 million

9. 'Crossroads,' $4.0 million

10. 'Lord of the Rings,' $3.1 million

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -- Two new films dealing with vastly different forms of sacrifice -- war and abstinence -- grabbed the top spots at the North American weekend box office, according to studio estimates issued Sunday.

The Mel Gibson Vietnam conflict saga "We Were Soldiers" (Paramount Pictures) opened at No. 1 with $20.2 million, which was at the lower end of the studio's expectations.

The sex comedy "40 Days and 40 Nights" (Miramax) bowed at No. 2 with $12.5 million, which a studio spokesman said was on target. In that one, Josh Hartnett plays a jilted lover who gives up sex for the titular period in order to get over his ex-girlfriend.

Last weekend's No. 1, the vampire thriller "Queen of the Damned," tumbled to No. 6 with $5.8 million, taking its 10-day total to $23.8 million

The top five was rounded out by the Denzel Washington hostage thriller "John Q." (New Line Cinema) at No. 3 with $8.4 million, followed by the Kevin Costner supernatural drama "Dragonfly" (Universal Pictures) with $6.8 million and the Peter Pan cartoon "Return to Never Land" (Walt Disney Pictures) with $6.5 million. Each fell one spot from last weekend.

When 'gross' is good

The top 12 films grossed $81 million, according to box office tracking firm Exhibitor Relations, down 4 percent from last weekend, but up 8 percent from the year-ago period when "The Mexican" was tops with $20.1 million.

If estimates hold when final data are issued Sunday, "We Were Soldiers" will beat "Mexican's" record for a film opening in the first weekend of March.

Wide new releases next weekend are scheduled to include "The Time Machine," based on the H.G. Wells sci-fi classic, and "All About the Benjamins," starring rapper Ice Cube, who co-produced and co-wrote the action-comedy.

Battle fatigue suspected at the cinema

Fresh from his own war film, "Black Hawk Down," Josh Hartnett drew a 60-percent female audience to the first weekend of his new "40 Days and 40 Nights."

"We Were Soldiers" stars Gibson as an officer who leads 400 men into the first major battle of the Vietnam War, at Ia Drang Valley in 1965. The $70 million film was based on the memoir "We Were Soldiers Once ... and Young," and was adapted, directed and produced by Randall Wallace, who wrote Gibson's "Braveheart."

Following "Behind Enemy Lines," "Black Hawk Down" and "Hart's War," "We Were Soldiers" could have suffered from moviegoers becoming fed up with war films, said Wayne Lewellen, president of distribution at Paramount. The Viacom Inc. -owned studio had targeted an opening of $20 million to $25 million, but he was still very pleased with the number.

Male viewers made up about 56 percent of the audience, but the film skewed older -- almost three-quarters of viewers were over 25. The studio's officials said they hope enthusiastic word-of-mouth will broaden the base in coming weekends.

"40 Days and 40 Nights" skewed female -- 60 percent -- and played most strongly to viewers between 17 and 25, said Miramax Films marketing executive David Kaminow.

The Walt Disney Co.-owned studio hopes to benefit from the paucity of romantic pictures, and will also use some of the better reviews to remind older people that the film was made by the producers of upscale hits "Notting Hill" and "Bridget Jones's Diary" -- Britain's Working Title Films.

Banking blood

"Queen of the Damned," starring the late R&B singer Aaliyah as a 6,000-year-old Egyptian vampire bent on ruling the Earth, dropped like a dead bat, losing 61 percent of its audience from last weekend.

The film was budgeted at a modest $30 million, and is expected to end up in the mid-$30 million area -- a profitable entry once ancillary revenues such as video and TV rights -- start pouring in. It was released by Warner Bros. Pictures, a unit of AOL Time Warner, which is also the parent company of CNN.

Leading Academy Award nominee "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" (AOL's New Line) returned to the Top 10 after a two-week absence, jumping two spots to the final rung with $3.1 million. After 11 weekends, the adventure fantasy has grossed $287.4 million. Its 10-percent fall was the slightest in the Top 10. The film has 13 Oscar nominations.

Bottom lines

The 17-day total for "John Q" stands at $51.1 million.

"Dragonfly" has $19.4 million after 10 days.

"Return to Never Land" has $35.3 million after 17 days.

Rounding out the Top 10, "Big Fat Liar" and "A Beautiful Mind" each fell one place to Nos. 7 and 8, with $4.8 million and $4.4 million, respectively. Their totals rose to $38.8 million and $138.7 million. Both were released by Universal Pictures, a unit of Vivendi Universal SA.

The Britney Spears road movie "Crossroads" (Paramount) staggered down four places to No. 9 with $4.0 million, taking its 17-day total to $31.2 million -- about two-and-a-half times its production budget.

[Wreck-It 0]

The last (only?) realistic piece about war made by hollywood:

Hamburger hill.

War is about bordellos, rape and killing. On a smaller scale it's about who lives, and who dies. Forget about the actors, The problems with recent films is the "hero factor". It's ingrained in Hollywood's pea-brained and coked-up movie producers to follow "the proven formula". This is just another angle on the good/bad formula.

Watch the really old war movies about WWII, and you'll have a pretty good Idea of what "We were soldiers" is like.

The heroic misunderstood asshole that always win.

[Chan 1]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (Wreck-It @ Mar. 03 2002,23:21)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">The last (only?) realistic piece about war made by hollywood:

Hamburger hill.

War is about bordellos, rape and killing. On a smaller scale it's about who lives, and who dies. Forget about the actors, The problems with recent films is the "hero factor". It's ingrained in Hollywood's pea-brained and coked-up movie producers to follow "the proven formula". This is just another angle on the good/bad formula.

Watch the really old war movies about WWII, and you'll have a pretty good Idea of what "We were soldiers" is like.

The heroic misunderstood asshole that always win.<span id='postcolor'>

hmmmm. personally I find Saving Private Ryan and Band of Brothers really realistic...

[Die Alive 0]

I going to watch it this tuesday. I've read a book on the battle and I'm wanting to see how the movie does it justice.

-=Die Alive=-

[SGT KAMAI USMC 0]

We were soldiers once and young. is the name of the excellent book, that the movie is based on.

The movie was very good, and includes some small segments of french involvement in Vietnam.

However for me it hit too close to home. My wife and I took our 10 month old daughter to her moms, and then off to the movie we went.

I am a machine gunner in the Marine Corps, and we leave to go wherever they are going to send us in late April. We left the movie very depressed and identifying with the underlying theme of the movie, and that was the seperation of family during war times.

great film. 4 stars from me.