20 Best War Movies Released Since 2000

We Were Soldiers tells of the Battle of Ia Drang during the peak of the Vietnam War, and does so with thunderous intensity. 

With bracing battle scenes and gritty realism, the drama, based on the same-titled autobiography by Colonel Hal Moore (played here by Mel Gibson), offers an unflinching look at the horrors of war from the perspective of soldiers both weathered and new, as well as a photographer (Barry Pepper) lost in the carnage. 

It's not all battles and bloodshed, though, because unlike many war movies it also takes audiences back home, grappling with the emotions of family unsure if their loved ones will ever return.

Offering screentime to everyone on every side of the conflict - Vietnamese civilians and soldiers, American servicemen, families waiting for resolution - with compelling humanity, We Were Soldiers knows the conflict at its centre was a controversial and horrible one, and sets up a surprisingly tender way to honour all those who fought in it.