Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #36621 in VHS
• Released on: 1988-11-03
• Rating: Unrated
• Formats: Color, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of tapes: 1
• Running time: 130 minutes

Customer Reviews

Jump into combat, lead men and defeat insurgents
A lone C-47 aircraft flying high overhead.

Stand up! Hook up!

Red light buzzes.

Green light, GO!

As you jump into the surrounded French position of Dien Bien Phu with Aliane Delon, George Segal and the characters French Commando Jean Larteguy created in "The Centurions" and "The Praetorians"---you experience the mood and the feel of a desperate battle gone wrong. As they land to desperately reinforce the abandoned outpost, they meet Anthony Quinn's Raspeguy--his best movie role--a legendary figure modeled after Col Marcel Biegard to include his pipe---who keeps the men together and out of the prison camps by personal humanity and leadership-by-example. Its too bad Larteguy's books are out-of-print--you should read them as companions to the film, which differs in some details to keep you guessing. There is even a romance to keep the females interested with the dashing Delon and sexy Claudia Cardinale (WOW).

This film is simply a masterpiece and must-see for every American in uniform or who ever wants to serve. Its our guide of how a fighting force should be--a force of esperit de corps, yes, but a force that THINKS. After Raspeguy's "lost command" in Indo-China, he reflects and decides to surround himself with bright, innovative young officers and to learn from his experiences. He realizes that men will fight for an identity reflected in a piece of head gear---I love how in the book, Raspeguy says that if he had been Jewish, he would have made the cursed yellow Star of David the Nazis used to march Jews to the death camps, his unit's insignia of honor--to embrace it---to turn its symbolism on its abusers--to fight for and make it a symbol of honor and courage. In the film, he chooses the "Leopard" camouflage cap and makes it the symbol as we would the beret if we were smart in the U.S. Army and made a universal BROWN BERET our symbol to live up to. Raspeguy's men, outcasts from other units---soon start believing in themselves and winning in battles noone thought they could win.

The film is just superb in its depiction of truck and helicopter-mobile tactics fighting the guerrillas in desert Algeria. It has some of the best, most realistic combat scenes of a light infantry assault uphill against a dug-in foe ever depicted on film, Raspeguy's SLAM-esque style of cross-talking by radio his subordinate leaders is superb. All of the key figures are thinking infantry leaders not mindless macho stooges/tyrants as is the common American stereotype depicted in films and emulated too often in real life.

If this were not enough, the film has a My Lai-type moral leadership dilemma incident that would make a good place to stop the tape and discuss among your men.

I cannot rate this film too high, its one of the best war films ever made, its more helpful to watch than even Saving Private Ryan because it has a positive message of what to go out and do if you are in the military, whereas SPR brings on negative sadness and an anger that if properly channeled by a pursuit of how to do it better would be helpful. Most people when they see something negative go no further, its better to see the French Colonial Paratroops find a way to win in this film. I pin a medal for bravey on the leopard camouflage uniforms of the film-makers and old Commando Larteguy wherever he is--and render the salute!

Airborne!

Excellent Combat Classic on DVD
Very good film released in 1966 based on Jean Larteguy's novel "The Centurians" with Anthony Quinn portraying the main character Lieutenant Colonel Raspeguy. The film opens with Raspeguy and his paratrooper battalion fighting to the bitter end at Dien Bien Phu in Indo China. Raspeguy with his surviving officers and soldiers are interned by the Viet Mihn forces and repatriated back to France. Raspeguy loses his battalion, but later obtains command of the 10th Paratrooper Regiment that is activated for battle in Algeria against Arab guerrilla forces fighting for independence. Raspeguy recruits his trusted veterans and they train the regiment with lessons learned from their experiences in Indo China. Raspeguy is the typical maverick; a hardcore soldier who runs operations his way. His unconventional methods for weeding out terrorist factions and insurgent forces causes friction with the French senior command and government administration. He suffers a setback after his soldiers commit atrocities against local villagers in an area where several comrades were ambushed. Raspeguy is under investigation and faces a second relief from command and possible imprisonment. Victory is his key to success and he pulls out all stops to defeat the terrorists and a large insurgent force led by one of his former officers who defected from France.

Overall it's a very good film and an interesting subject with French paratroopers fighting guerrilla forces in Algeria. Good action scenes on small unit combat, though tame by today's movie standards. The DVD release is finally here and an excellent deal considering its previous VHS edition was expensive and of average quality. The DVD's imagery is sharp and clear, in letterbox format, and sound is significantly improved.

Another look at the Lost Command
The film is an excellent adaptation of Jean Larteguy's pivotal novel "The Centurians" which was written just after the French defeat at Dien Bien Phu and during the Algerian war. It is NOT about a unit of the French Foreign Legion, but rather about a newly-formed French Colonial Parachute Regiment. The events described in novel and film are modeled after those of a famous officer of the French Army named Bigeard who went on to a lengthy career in the French service. The important aspect of this history is that it led up to a defacto mutiny of several key elements of the French Army. The film catches the bitterness of French soldiers who gave their all in a lost cause and the book was almost required reading for our own Special Operations people in the early days of the Vietnam war. An excellent film.