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A few words about...™ We Were Soldiers -- in High Definition
Paramount's release of Randall Wallace's 2002 We Were Soldiers reinforces two points.
The first is that professional soldiers will do whatever is necessary in the call of duty, even if the entity making the call may be wrong.
The second, on a strictly studio level, absolutely proves that Paramount is a prime time player in the high definition arena, creating a HD release that could not be more perfect.
Both visually and sonically, We Were Soldiers replicates the large screen theatrical experience in the home theater environment.
One very easy way to establish the propriety of the look of a video release is in the comparison of HiCon elements compared to background. Consider any of the perfect, clean sub-titles in this film as offset against the properly grained production footage background, and you'll easily see that visually, everything is proper and under control.
Mr. Wallace's film places Mel Gibson as the Vietnam era commander of the legendary Seventh Cavalry of several hundred men, finding itself situated, once again, for possible massacre at the hands of several thousand well prepared, and well hidden North Vietnamese troops, waiting in prey in their mountains, in their tunnels, on their turf. Gibson plays the role brilliantly and believably, with support from Greg Kinnear, Chris Klein, Barry Pepper, and the indomitable Sam Elliott. The film takes full advantage in pulling all the right emotional strings, as it cuts between the battlefield and the home front, where Madeleine Stowe and Kerri Russell find themselves delegated to communicate bad news, as the government shows itself incapable.
If one were to compare We Were Soldiers to any recent films, they would be Saving Private Ryan and Black Hawk Down (available in at least 47 different DVD versions). Unlike the more homogenized flag-waving fare created by the studio system during the '40s, We Were Soldiers places the viewer in the thick of action, and pulls no punches, as it shows war not as any glorified pageant of the past, but in terms of the horrors of the battlefield and the gallantry of both professional as well as rookie American soldiers.
As Vietnam was very much my era, I'm constantly astounded that our veterans of that conflict are not more appreciated and lauded for their actions. We Were Soldiers, at least in part, helps that situation in communicating the roles of our troops as being no less patriotic, no less gallant, and certainly in no less danger than previous wars. These extraordinary veterans need to be honored, admired and remembered on equal basis with their brethren.
Both as a film, and as a HD DVD Event, Paramount's We Were Soldiers is a pure quality, yet another home video release as part of the studio's second wave of HDs that looks like film.
Very Highly Recommended, this release is absolutely RAH Approved.
RAH
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