I bought a special edition DVD of We Were Soldiers, and I thought it was Mel Gibson's better performances and an excellent Vietnam movie. I didn't think it was simple-minded at all. The part showing the soldiers rounding up to leave their base camp and families to be flown across the Pacific to begin their tour was thought-provoking, not to mention the very beginning showing the start of the VN war against the French and the various reminders of the tenacity of the enemy.
We were Soldiers was a good movie but for Mel Gibson who I can't stand. It was also a true story.