Mel Gibson is no stranger to war flicks. After all, we’ve seen him battle the Turkish Army in World War I (Gallipoli) and evil Brits in both the Revolutionary War (The Patriot) and 13th century Scotland (Braveheart). But in his latest film, We Were Soldiers, Gibson dons his real-life hero’s helmet to do battle in the most daunting–and perhaps most personal–of wars, Vietnam.
On Soldiers, Gibson re-teamed with Braveheart screenwriter Randall Wallace, who wrote and directed this telling of the U.S.’s first major conflict with the unexpectedly formidable North Vietnamese Army in the battle at the Ia Drang Valley, otherwise known as “The Valley of Death.” Gibson plays then-Lieutenant Colonel (now General) Harold G. Moore, who led his young troops into one of the most savage battles in U.S. history.
Wallace adapted the true story from Were Soldiers Once… and Young, the book General Moore and civilian war correspondent Joe Galloway (played by Barry Pepper in the film) wrote to honor the soldiers they fought alongside. In bringing their tale to the big screen, the writer/director sought to keep that honorary tone intact, forging a completely uncynical and profoundly patriotic take on the Vietnam War picture. Wallace felt Gibson was the only actor who could portray the real-life–and still very much alive–General Moore, a tough-but-gentle, well-respected, career military man who, at 80, has seen both the best and the worst in mankind.
Convincing Moore that Gibson was the right man to play his on-screen counterpart was the easy part. “Randy Wallace mentioned Mel back in 1996, and of course, I was enthusiastic,” Moore says. “[When he finally] signed on I was delighted–he’s the best actor in the world and a man of high morals.”
But while Gibson’s played many a hero in his career, embodying the character of General Moore was a somewhat daunting proposition. “It’s easier [playing someone who’s still alive] because you can watch him, you can listen to his voice, you can see what’s making him tick, get his cadence, get his rhythm. But it’s also scarier because he’s alive. So there was trepidation,” the actor explains.
After meeting Moore in person, though, Gibson didn’t need much persuading to take on the challenge. “Once I met him, he wasn’t scary, he was just a regular guy. He’s admirable… I mean, the guy’s amazing. I have a great deal of respect for him. He gave me access to his life and his feelings and his thoughts–he was very dignified and very generous and gracious.”
Not that Gibson didn’t need a few tips here and there from the man himself. “I remember
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being at a Fort Benning target range and I’m practicing with this M16 shooting live rounds and [Moore] says, ‘C’mere, let me show you how to fire those,'” he says. “So he grabs it off me and gets in a real weird firing position with the elbow way up there and the arm tucked way down there and…it looked good. You know, it looked kind of weird, but it looked good. It looked scary. But there was another general there–and he’s giving me different instructions: ‘Nah, you don’t fire it like that, you fire it like this.’ These two generals start arguing–it was hilarious!”
Ultimately, though, the project was an emotional one for the actor, stirring his own memories of the Vietnam era when he was a teenager in Australia. “I remember reading about it, I remember seeing it on television, and then, of course, I knew a lot of guys,” Gibson says.
“I remember, I went out somewhere and was trying not get caught coming back into the house. There was a guy staying with us who was a Vietnam vet, an American soldier on leave in Australia. It had been years since he was in Vietnam, but he was in my brother’s bed and I was crawling in the back window and…he was back in the jungle for a minute. He was trying to tear my throat out, and I’m yelling, ‘Hey man, get off me!'” he says.
“You see that and then you talk to these guys, well, it totally puts a hook in your heart–there are a lot of things that won’t heal. And that’s apart from almost losing your life, apart from any infirmity. There are wounds on their hearts, particularly since they got the cold shoulder when they came back. I think that’s what this film is for–it’s about healing.”
Gibson thinks Wallace was able to make things right. “This is Randy’s baby–he fell in love with the book and pursued these guys until he got the rights. He must’ve done some pretty fancy talking because they didn’t want to hand [their story] over to some hack.. He pulled off some wild stuff there–that ain’t no CGI you see up onscreen.”
Even in this post-September 11th climate, audiences may not be ready to see patriotic depictions of the Vietnam War, one of the most divisive issues in American history. No matter what public and critical opinion of the film is, the only review that matters to Gibson is General Moore’s. He need not worry.
“To see him playing my role, it struck me that he really wasn’t playing Hal Moore,” Moore asserts. “He was an honest-to-god, bona fide infantry battle commander in Vietnam.”
