I have no problem with the huge amount of war movies that have been made over the last few years, but since the release of “Saving Private Ryan,” most films have failed to contribute something new to the war movie genre. There are exceptions, such as the sniper thriller “Enemy at the Gates” and the courtroom drama “Hart’s War,” but most movies are feeding off what “Saving Private Ryan” started, including “We Were Soldiers.”

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In “We Were Soldiers,” Mel Gibson stars as Lt. Col. Hal Moore, a dedicated soldier who will stop at nothing to protect his men. His troop lands under fire in Vietnam’s “Valley of Death.” Before the battle scenes, the viewer is given an in -depth view of what family life is like for all the men.

Gibson is a father and husband. He is very religious, although his wife is not. This all gets a little old after the first 25 minutes. The viewer may find him or herself saying “Alright, we get the idea. Now let’s see those bloody battle scenes.” And believe me, they are bloody and gory.

Caution, if you haven’t seen this movie, some of this information may give some scenes away. The battle scenes contain the usual “a soldier gets seriously injured and everybody does all they can to save him, but they fail” stuff. And before he dies, he has to say that last line, “Tell my wife I love her.” Yeah, we haven’t heard a line like that before in EVERY OTHER WAR MOVIE.

Then along comes the photographer played by Barry Pepper (“Saving Private Ryan”). This is, of course, the guy who has never fought before but is going to learn firsthand just how vicious war is. This guy doesn’t even have a helmet, so I don’t know how he survives.

The movie isn’t all bad. There is some great acting in it from Gibson, Pepper, Greg Kinnear, who plays the paranoid helicopter pilot, and Sam Elliot, who is next in rank below Gibson in the squad. One thing the movie did that I thought was unique was show the Vietnamese preparing for battle and suffering the agony of defeat. It gives us a good perspective of both sides of battle, not just ours.

The DVD has some pretty nice features, like 10 previously deleted scenes with commentary worth watching, a behind the scenes feature and an excellent commentary by director Randall Wallace. This, however, does not make up for how average this movie is. Part of me was hoping for another “Braveheart” epic with Gibson and Wallace at the helm. Unfortunately, all I got was bits and pieces of other war movies strung together to form a new one.