Riding a horse at speed across the face of your target and holding your Gewher 98 one handed and hitting gene hackman - whew one hell of a warrior that!!
That’s because most of them were WW2 German soldiers with no where to go. Stranger yet was that in Vietnam they were getting shot with German small arms that that the Russians confiscated after WW 2 from them and gave to the Vietminh to use against the French and German soldiers in the Legion.
The tribesmen' tactics enjoyed superior numbers and mobility to overwhelm better firepower from many sides, but they certainly could have made a better use of their rifles, at least for suppression followed by shock. Anyway, this scene reminded me of Fraser in The Mummy.
Rick: "You're with me on this one, right?" Beni: "Oh, your strength gives me strength..." (proceeds to flee as soon as enemy gets close) Makes me laugh every time 😂.
It never ceases to amaze me how military commanders would order frontal attacks on well-fortified positions manned by troops with machine guns and quick-firing rifles; slaughter was inevitable. They did this time and time again during the 19th and early 20th centuries, even though they had learned from history that this type of attack very rarely succeeded. They were STILL ordering such suicidal attacks in the First World War (the Somme, Ypres, Passchendaele, etc). Pure madness!
@@07corpsman07 Thats different. The fighting in Pacific happened alot in jungles and well in the jungle your range advantage is kinda gone. This is why bayonett charges were used in Vietnam by both sides. According to research your average fighting range in jungle was 10 to 30 meters. So yeah... It also makes sense for engaging in melee when literally everything in the jungle can act as a cover trees, ground holes etc...
I always love how in the movie the one guy throws the Lewis gun at the Bedouin. A lewis is heavy enough to knock the wind out of you. A lot of people are comparing March or Die with the Mummy (Brendon Frazier) but it's closer to Jean Claude Van Damme's Legionnaire. Covers two different points in the same war. Same results. They both show with great clarity the brutality of those colonial wars. As it is said in both movies once you signed up," the only way to return to France , when your enlistment is up, on disability or in a box." Many never returned at all.
@@alexanderhay-whitton4993 what you don't understand is, the part of return to France is simple. Foreign legion was originally formed in an effort to get foreign men out of France. Those who serve 5 years enlistment can become a citizen of France. It's as simple as that. It's always been that way. So the saying there are only three ways to return to France holds as true today as it did 150 years ago. Serve your enlistment, on disability or in a box. During the Rif war most didn't come back to France at all. Dude after my time in the Marine Corps,I almost enlisted in the Foreign legion. Seemed like a good adventure. Chose marriage instead. Seems you are the one cofused here. The idea for most is to become a citizen. And that enlistment is in 5 year blocks. And it is something they actually used to say, except they said it in French. The other part that was very real was that all you had to do was get to Calais, during enlistment just give them a name, any name, didn't matter (it does now, you can't wanted or something completely undesirable) your background was your business. They didn't ask. It's how the Nazi SS troops got into the Legion between the end of WW2 and the battle of Dien Bien Phu. During the course of that battle, the Legion was pulled back and sequestered because THAT came out. So in modern times you do need a government ID. They still don't ask much about your personal business though.b
@@bigdaddytrips6197 I've fired a Lewis gun, they aren't that light. Light enough for walking fire but just heavy enough to knock the wind out of you if it were thrown at you. Does that sound better to you?
I worked as an extra on this film,brings back some good memories...great food and wine on set...but they stopped the wine after a couple of days as the legionnaires were getting pissed...had some great chats with Terence hill and max Von sydow..two really nice blokes.Did enjoy the last battle. I think maybe dick Richards was on the set of Zulu.
The only problem is that casualties showed no sign of injury. It breaks the reality when multiple Legionnaires get struck in the head and there is no blood. The could have used blood packs in the hand to do the job. I guess blood prevents multiple reshoots of the same scene though they could have gotten glancing wounds from a bullet or sabre or blood from their friends wounds. It was an intense battle scene though. I try and show my kid these older movies like Lawrence of Arabia and she doesn't see the beauty of how it was filmed or the scope of the battles using real actors. Kids these days get spoiled by CGI armies.
Thanks for sharing this. I have been looking for this clip forever. I remember watching this with my dad decades ago, I never could remember the movie, and he had passed on. Thank you.
Terrence Hill and Gene Hackman in the same movie...how cool is that? I was blown away when I first saw this film decades ago simply because Terrence Hill starred in it (Gene Hackman was OK, I guess-LOL). A very much overlooked movie. Had quite a bit of grittiness and pathos. Most of the characters except for Hill, his Russian friend and the pianist weren't people one could feel any empathy for.
I've handled that Lewis gun (the machine gun with the pan magazine), it belongs to Historic Arms Corporation, it was also used in Lawrence of Arabia, and 'Duck you Sucker" starring James Coburn and Rod Steiger....
I have fired several Lewis Guns over the years, British, American, and Dutch Types, The Dutch Guns were as smooth as butter, and had a much higher rate of fire, they had heavier barrels, were of top quality manufacture and were much more robust than any other Lewis Type Guns, The Japanese captured hundreds of Dutch Lewis Guns after defeating the Dutch Colonial Troops in the Pacific Islands, they were so impressed with the quality of Dutch weapons, most of the captured Lewis Guns were given to the Japanese Navy, and some installed on Japanese Bombers, and float planes.
The FFL can only serve outside of France. Only in the most dire circumstances can it be brought back to France to fight. Great movie scene and Gene Hackman was one of my favourite actors ever!
Yes, one of the Legion regiments was disbanded for taking part on a mutiny, even today it remains inactive and is a reminder of the price for disloyalty, the French love the legion, but have a healthy awareness for how dangerous can be to deploy them on their own territory
My Father fought with the Legion, Indochina, 1950--54.....I have his Legion Beret......He flew CAT Airlines....for CIA.....assisting the Legion...His station was Hanoi & Haiphong...
hell yeah, they were great, played hundred of hours with that airfix stuff, had the Airfix Fort Sahara, The Legion and the "Bedouins" ( in fact they are Berbers) , when my Father ( a northafrican) saw me playing he was excited. My favorites were the Napoleonic war Era "Amazones" the Highlanders even outnumbered against my French line Infantry they won every Battle against the French. Had nearly 1000 Men Airfix Soldiers plus over 30 Planes and 60 Tanks
@@Sturminfantrist Never understood given the popularity of 'Zulu' that Airfix did Legionnaires and Arabs (and even a Beau Gest fort) but never 1879 Red Coats and Zulus and a Roukes Drift model.
Only in Movies would this of gone down like this, In Reality, The French CO would of ordered a few Warning Shots, if the Arabs still came on ahead Yep! let them have it! And Yes The French CO would of NEVER Allowed the enemy to come so close before opening up on them. The French shown here were all highly trained Rifleman, with some of the best rifles of the Era, they rarely missed, compared to the Arabs with their Hodge Podge of old Junker Rifles, and very limited Ammo, This is all Fantasy Stuff, In Reality after the first few seconds of being blown to bits and shot dead the surviving ones would of retreated very quickly.
4:52 The Berber commander really didn’t make good use of the terrain given to him. He could have put some of his best marksmen on that ridge line to shoot down on the exposed Legion position. Would have probably saved a lot of his warrior’s lives.
I completely missed this one at the cinema & I was a Hackman fan then. I would've pedaled my bike to go see it but don't remember seeing any tv ad for it. Maybe it was only in the newspaper classified with the cinema bookings. maybe it was a box office flop. I liked Hackman. Wish he wasn't retired forever. He earned it anyway at his age. I won't even live to his age.
Sadly the film bombed on its release,Star Wars came out the same year and changed cinema tastes forever.I saw this at a drive in as a child,remember being very caught up in it during the final battle ( and more than a little surprised that Gene Hackman 's character got killed,he was the biggest name in the cast as far as America was concerned.I recall seeing Hackman interviewed once on a late night talk show where the host asked him if he had ever made a film that didn't do well that he thought didn't get a fair shake,was underrated and he said yes,"March or Die".Got the sense he was fond of it.I think if it had come out a decade earlier,when big scale historical adventure films were en vogue it would have done well.There was a remake of Beau Geste in the 60's,old school adventure flicks were pretty popular in those days,by the time this film came out that sort of film probably seemed old fashioned to many younger viewers,that type of film was relegated to Sunday afternoon TV.If memory serves this film was picked up by a major network and shown prime time with some extra footage included ( that wasn't unusual back then,I remember films like SUPERMAN and EARTHQUAKE have deleted scenes cut back into them for TV broadcast.
well... too often people feign attacks. shooting too early can lead to a lot of shit when it was just a warning. I mean look in the South China sea nowadays. US ships get Missile Target Lock warning so often and its always Chinese planes locking them in, diving into range, hand on the trigger and then they pull away again. These kinds of things happen. One shot shot too early can lead to a lot of shit.
Not so much, he was at the end of a loosing him marbles, took 8000 men to war in WW1' came home with 200, that will make an impression, great old movie though
He was waiting to the last minute to make sure ALL of them were in the kill box. Escapees would have trailing them at night. But that turned out to be not all of them after all.
Waiting to open fire is arguably tactically sound, as the effect on enemy morale can be greater, but waiting to take positions is just indecisive or stupid. You can order the troops to do so casually if the plan is to act cool.
Two mistakes in the tactic of the defenders: 1. Should fire cannons much earlier, esp. toward the obvious enemy leader's position; 2. Should always man & fire the machine guns & sub-machine guns.
Never predict the direction from which an enemy will attack. They will probably choose the direction least expected. All round defence is therefore preferred.
I love the hats with the flap covering the back of the neck. I would do the same I was a kid playing like a Legionnaire. They had style. Thank you France for helping the USA attain it's independence from the British. Viva la France!!!!
The French Foreign Legion icon headress Le kepi blanc .The white kepi. You've got alot to thank the French if wasn't for them the struggle for independence from Britain could have lasted alot longer.
1:24 Whatever you do, don't take positions early. That would give you a chance to be comfortable with your lines of fire. Wait until the last moment instead because ... suspense. Every soldier values suspense over their own survival ...
He waited because a civilian on site accused him of not having any discipline or control over his men, so he waited until the last minute before giving the order to take position. He was making a point.
Recuerdo haber visto la película cuando era niño y le decía a mi padre que yo quería ser de la legión, él me contaba sobre su bisabuelo (no recuerdo bien) que era de la legión española durante la guerra del Rif y cantaba la canción "Blocao de la muerte" cuando le recordabamos, como dice la canción: "Eran gente sin estudio, algunos muertos de hambre, dejaron atrás su vida y partieron al combate, no tenían miedo a nada pues la muerte es su compañera, la vida no vale nada, preferiría morir por su bandera, no le importa medallas, que se entere su familia, que lo sepa el pueblo entero, aquel borracho que vivía en calle se ofreció voluntario, habían soldados, hermanos acorralados sin salida, llegaron, los salvaron pero a ellos les dieron un bombardeo, 1925 fue una fecha que jamás olvidamos...
Back then it was alot easier and cheaper to tell a human to flop back after getting "shot" then a animal, you have go understand these effects are all practical
@msc14111990The movie is set immediately after WWI. Algeria may have been conquered in the 19th century, but there were still a lot of natives in the interior who did accept that as a fact.
BERBERS OF THE ATLAS MOUNTAINS NOT BEDOUINS WHO ARE FROM ARABIA AND THE LEVANT. TWO TOTALLY DIFFERENT ETHNIC GROUPS. THese battles pictured are from the Rif Wars, of the early 1920s...hence the mixed WWI machine guns (Lewis, Maxim, Hotchkiss) common in the FFL at the time.
In reality no attacking force would accept casualties like this and keep coming. In practice units who take one in four killed is considered too weakened for combat. That many machine guns and the light artillery would have seen off an attack like this without too much trouble. But in reality Bedouins would have dogged the French and sniped them and denied them water until only rushing them when they were very weakened.
@@periclesperez103 Nope. Courage is when you know what you are doing yet you overcome the fear. When you are blinded by some stupid ideology, it is fanatism. Simple difference.
Epic filmes this this needs days or weeks of rehersal.Just getting the invaders into place and react to commands is a excerise in itself. The sands must be fixed to the state of normancy. No prints of man or horse or camel must be evident. Picking the man who's deathwill be shown, how the fights are staged, when the little bag of stain is fired. All this and more is rehersed to the finest detail . The man who threw the Lewis gun was a center piece. Great show and gives part of life tht is not taught much.
I remember my regiment was in Africa our military fort was exactly like the Alamo and in the distance what's the French Foreign Legion marching towards us within 7 days we had over 700 French Foreign Legion at our fort it was called fort Texas we were able to fight against thirty-five thousand and we survived my men and I we survived and we were given the highest award by France by the next morning the enemy thought they won but they were wrong the Confederate flag was raised to the top
I was there too and the only Latino allowed in the confederacy as an honorary white. Baptized into whitehood with a white hood by Major Ricky Martin himself.
Are you sure you were in Africa Connor MacLEOD , I THOUGHT YOU WERE IN THE HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND FIGHTING THE IMMORTALS , AND PLAYING THE GREAT HIGHLAND WARPIPES . ALBA GU BRATH .
There not all French. That's why it's called the Foreign Legion .This was set post ww1 with the legion returning to Paris after 4 years of bitter fighting their regiments decimated the FFL would welcome with open arms soldiers from many nations to replace those lost.
Hahahah they got smashed by the Berbers using guerrilla warfare and up the mountains the french shat their pants there they couldn't bring their cannons up
@@mohammedyassine9263Then why did France manage to conquer all of Algeria? You always lost militarily. France was just too powerful, and it still is today. Guerrilla warfare means nothing when you face a technologically superior force.
So I've watched this scene many times, tactically, there were a lot of mistakes. This battle is similar to Rorke's drift in comparison, but with the defenders having the added bonus of machine guns, Lewis guns and artillery. They should have formed the sandbag barrier closer to the center ruin, the tents would be completely exposed but they don't need to be defended, as they could have either been taken down or left prior to the battle. Apart from that, he should have had a double line of sandbags with the second line having firing steps and closest to the Maxim guns, better yet would be having the guns surround and protect the howitzer, which is then placed in an area where it had 360 degrees of fire with no obstructions. One thing the commander did right was placing a machine gun in the ruin, what he did wrong was place only one. Having your Maxim guns all in the center can give over arching fields of fire to cover your troops and most of them could cover a single approach when needed. He should have used his Lewis and Vickers-Berthier gunners act as a reserve force to plug any gaps or breaches in the line. The rest of the infantry could have filled in the the space and completely surrounded the ruin. There was no reason why the commander had to expose and leave his Maxim guns or artillery. There was no reason why he had to form a loose two line formation late in the battle. There was no reason why the artillery had to be abandoned nor suffer as many casualties as he did.
Just a few minor clarifications.... The tribemen were Berbers not Bedouin (there were no Bedouin Morocco in significant numbers). The rifles weren't Berthiers they were older Labelle rifles. LaBelles had the bolt sticking strait out from the stock, while Berthier rifles had their bolt bent sharply down along the stock side. Both used the standard French 7mm cartridge. The three machineguns in use were the light Lewis gun (probably the 1914 variant with the 97 bullet drum magazine in .303 caliber), the medium air cooled Hotchkiss gun in 7mm using 50 cartridge strip magazines, and the heavy water cooled Vickers gun in .303 caliber using a belt magazine. Minor points for sure.
Beyonder, you forgot to say: simultaneously. They did attack from different sides, but one side at a time, sort of like the Kung Fu movies, the hero fights 50 guys one at a time while the other 49 just watch him and side step around back and forth until somebody else's turn comes up.
@@rafaelramirez7089 that's why i wrote attack from all directions from your name i take it you're Hispanic i suggest to look more into pancho villa's cavalry tactics
@@Ironmike2233 can't. They didn't write them in french, n'est ce past Mon ami? On the other hand, it's just a movie, done for entertainment and monetary gain, void of historic facts or military tactics, exactly like a Kung Fu movie. N'est ce past pussycat?
Did the Bedouin not have ammunition or somethign? Why charge in running with your rifle (With no bayonette attached either), when they could just as easily started shooting from both ridges?
Those Legionnaires are not nearly sunburned enough to have been that far into the desert, Also, I never saw the guy with the Lewis gun swap magazines. Good action, though.
Love this period in history love how liner warfare was being phased out but still used in areas. The technology changing the battlefield and the colorful dress of the fighting men. I’ll not forget to mention the utter balls of steel the enemies against these modern armies of the time had. This period was so beautiful and terrible in the same way.
I know that my great grandfather served in the french legions he was from what is now French Guyana but was there when it was british Guyana he fought for 10 years my grandfather took his spot serving in Vietnam before going to Burma as a American soldier
I suppose one reason for holding fire if you're very confident and want the maximum number of enemy to commit to the swept fire path. Also more time to shoot down the ones that retreat.
Holding fire makes no sense. The enemy is already in effective shooting range of the legion's rifles. But it's a movie and it needs to build up tension before the battle 😉
The battles of the southeast in Morocco were not like this in the movie and those fighting Berber tribes from Zenata and Sanhaja were planners and brave warriors like the Berbers of the North
silly movie: the clothes are from the extreme north of africa and not from the desert (for very cold regions in the mountains and not in the hot sands), the camels are not used in a battle with gunshots (with bladed weapons yes, camels panic for loud noises), and the formation of the horses is silly, you have to proceed in waves, with a noticeable distance between the horses, in tight formation they are difficult to guide, and the shots always hit a target.
Me and a mate were going to join the FL in 1980 but my girlfriend talked me out of it he did and last I heard was a sgt I joined the Royal Artillery and ended up doing selection for SF me and the girlfriend now man and wife 40+ years so there
@@jeffadams9807 Not sure what to think of them because they only prevail when they vastly outnumber the opposition. I would rank Punjab warriors higher than Zulus.
Love at 8:45, he gets 4 riders with a 3 shot Berthier. Which has never been reloaded anyway. Only the French, inventors of smokeless powder, would issue a 3 shot repeater.
I was in the legion also a bird cage was known as The Stonewall Brigade Virginians there's also another Brigade in Legion it was also known as the California Brigade
Thx, we have Maxime gun and we used against Prussian in franco-prussen war in 1870 (we loose for many reason but allway the French fault not the army, republican make all for french loose and make the end of french empire and rebecome french republic and for that the emporor must capture or kill by germans and so it was captured by them) sad story for us because it's this war who make the premise of the WW1
The most amazing thing about this movie is that we saw Terrance Hill using his real Italian accented voice instead of it being dubbed by an American.
Riding a horse at speed across the face of your target and holding your Gewher 98 one handed and hitting gene hackman - whew one hell of a warrior that!!
thats bullshit
Would not of Happened.....
This whole act woulve not happened like that innreal life lol. The bedouins wouodve ripped them apartt
@brooksbrown580
In Vietnam IN 1970 I met a former member of the legion and he said in he 50s the second most commo n language spoken was Germam.
That’s because most of them were WW2 German soldiers with no where to go. Stranger yet was that in Vietnam they were getting shot with German small arms that that the Russians confiscated after WW 2 from them and gave to the Vietminh to use against the French and German soldiers in the Legion.
Wann schickt der Macron endlich der FFL in der Ukraine? Selensky könnt diese Jungs jetzt gute brauchen!! CATO
@@leonardharper317 Stimmt
If you keep winning battles like this you lose the war. This is so great of a battle.
Its called a pyrrhic victory. Look at Verdun in the first world war.
The tribesmen' tactics enjoyed superior numbers and mobility to overwhelm better firepower from many sides, but they certainly could have made a better use of their rifles, at least for suppression followed by shock. Anyway, this scene reminded me of Fraser in The Mummy.
100 % agreed before charging with cavalry and camels commander could use foot troops by crawling to get closer to fortified contingent
Yeah, funny how the Bedouin don't fire one shot while attacking. Did they think they were going to trample the Legionnaires with their camels?
Rick: "You're with me on this one, right?"
Beni: "Oh, your strength gives me strength..." (proceeds to flee as soon as enemy gets close)
Makes me laugh every time 😂.
@@mrmaster9801 "WAIT FOR ME!!"
@@Bullet-Tooth-Tony- haha👍🤣🤣
It never ceases to amaze me how military commanders would order frontal attacks on well-fortified positions manned by troops with machine guns and quick-firing rifles; slaughter was inevitable. They did this time and time again during the 19th and early 20th centuries, even though they had learned from history that this type of attack very rarely succeeded. They were STILL ordering such suicidal attacks in the First World War (the Somme, Ypres, Passchendaele, etc). Pure madness!
Shows how a lot of commanders still had a very outdated mindset and tactics
Don’t forget WW2 with Japanese banzai charges
@@07corpsman07
Thats different. The fighting in Pacific happened alot in jungles and well in the jungle your range advantage is kinda gone.
This is why bayonett charges were used in Vietnam by both sides. According to research your average fighting range in jungle was 10 to 30 meters. So yeah... It also makes sense for engaging in melee when literally everything in the jungle can act as a cover trees, ground holes etc...
This story takes place immediately following the end of WW1.
i am more surprised that people are willing to charge in front line
I always love how in the movie the one guy throws the Lewis gun at the Bedouin. A lewis is heavy enough to knock the wind out of you. A lot of people are comparing March or Die with the Mummy (Brendon Frazier) but it's closer to Jean Claude Van Damme's Legionnaire. Covers two different points in the same war. Same results. They both show with great clarity the brutality of those colonial wars. As it is said in both movies once you signed up," the only way to return to France , when your enlistment is up, on disability or in a box." Many never returned at all.
note the"thousands"shots from a small magazine trope
"return to France" - Which part of "Foreign Legion" is causing confusion here?
@@alexanderhay-whitton4993 what you don't understand is, the part of return to France is simple. Foreign legion was originally formed in an effort to get foreign men out of France. Those who serve 5 years enlistment can become a citizen of France. It's as simple as that. It's always been that way. So the saying there are only three ways to return to France holds as true today as it did 150 years ago. Serve your enlistment, on disability or in a box. During the Rif war most didn't come back to France at all. Dude after my time in the Marine Corps,I almost enlisted in the Foreign legion. Seemed like a good adventure. Chose marriage instead. Seems you are the one cofused here. The idea for most is to become a citizen. And that enlistment is in 5 year blocks. And it is something they actually used to say, except they said it in French. The other part that was very real was that all you had to do was get to Calais, during enlistment just give them a name, any name, didn't matter (it does now, you can't wanted or something completely undesirable) your background was your business. They didn't ask. It's how the Nazi SS troops got into the Legion between the end of WW2 and the battle of Dien Bien Phu. During the course of that battle, the Legion was pulled back and sequestered because THAT came out. So in modern times you do need a government ID. They still don't ask much about your personal business though.b
Actually it's light.
@@bigdaddytrips6197 I've fired a Lewis gun, they aren't that light. Light enough for walking fire but just heavy enough to knock the wind out of you if it were thrown at you. Does that sound better to you?
I worked as an extra on this film,brings back some good memories...great food and wine on set...but they stopped the wine after a couple of days as the legionnaires were getting pissed...had some great chats with Terence hill and max Von sydow..two really nice blokes.Did enjoy the last battle. I think maybe dick Richards was on the set of Zulu.
You were one of the muslims?
Wow, what a memory Dave, lucky you!
is very surprising
Wow!!!
Where was it filmed?
Nice to see Non from Superman II (the large black bearded Legionaire) and Lex Luthor (Gene Hackman) reunited.
Haha yeah thanks , I genuinely missed that
I noticed the same thing. I believe Hackman said to the director, "Get me the big guy, Non from my Superman 2 movie. This will make the scene work."
One of the best battle scenes ever filmed in cinema history. Filmed entirely on location with no silly CGI or blue screen.
Qual o nome do filme em português?
The only problem is that casualties showed no sign of injury. It breaks the reality when multiple Legionnaires get struck in the head and there is no blood. The could have used blood packs in the hand to do the job. I guess blood prevents multiple reshoots of the same scene though they could have gotten glancing wounds from a bullet or sabre or blood from their friends wounds. It was an intense battle scene though. I try and show my kid these older movies like Lawrence of Arabia and she doesn't see the beauty of how it was filmed or the scope of the battles using real actors. Kids these days get spoiled by CGI armies.
Another one is zulu
its horribly made. 0 realism or even accuracy to any way how any of those weapons work
@@9999plato at 7:12 there is a wound that shows blood
Thanks for sharing this. I have been looking for this clip forever. I remember watching this with my dad decades ago, I never could remember the movie, and he had passed on. Thank you.
worked on the film as PA; Catherine Deneuve was Astounding; Mr. Gene Hackman, phenom! filmed at Inezgane, Morocco; ;}}}ko
Terrence Hill and Gene Hackman in the same movie...how cool is that? I was blown away when I first saw this film decades ago simply because Terrence Hill starred in it (Gene Hackman was OK, I guess-LOL).
A very much overlooked movie. Had quite a bit of grittiness and pathos. Most of the characters except for Hill, his Russian friend and the pianist weren't people one could feel any empathy for.
Added bonus… Randall “Tex” Cobb as the bearded giant taking on a dozen Bedouins before they could finally bring him down.
@@robvig60 it was Jack O’Halloran. Look up the official cast list.
I've handled that Lewis gun (the machine gun with the pan magazine), it belongs to Historic Arms Corporation, it was also used in Lawrence of Arabia, and 'Duck you Sucker" starring James Coburn and Rod Steiger....
I have fired several Lewis Guns over the years, British, American, and Dutch Types, The Dutch Guns were as smooth as butter, and had a much higher rate of fire, they had heavier barrels, were of top quality manufacture and were much more robust than any other Lewis Type Guns, The Japanese captured hundreds of Dutch Lewis Guns after defeating the Dutch Colonial Troops in the Pacific Islands, they were so impressed with the quality of Dutch weapons, most of the captured Lewis Guns were given to the Japanese Navy, and some installed on Japanese Bombers, and float planes.
The FFL can only serve outside of France. Only in the most dire circumstances can it be brought back to France to fight. Great movie scene and Gene Hackman was one of my favourite actors ever!
he is 94.
@@stevenmutzu8940 Wow...thanks. I had no idea he was still around...good for him!
Yes, one of the Legion regiments was disbanded for taking part on a mutiny, even today it remains inactive and is a reminder of the price for disloyalty, the French love the legion, but have a healthy awareness for how dangerous can be to deploy them on their own territory
@@cesaravegah3787 oui, mon oncle était au 1er REP, et sa fidélité lui a couté la prison.
@@cesaravegah3787 one of the parachute regiments, right after or during algeria
6:13
This is why I always pick the Support class in war games.
CJ I prefer to be Sniper because I could take out any target from far places
My Father fought with the Legion, Indochina, 1950--54.....I have his Legion Beret......He flew CAT Airlines....for CIA.....assisting the Legion...His station was Hanoi & Haiphong...
And ... ?
@@roedgroed12 And? He survived...
@@marclayne9261 Good to know:)
so he was a traitor
@@thesaracen3992 Beesh stfu
Nice to see Rambo's French ancestor in action.
The French were in fact some of the best soldier's, they earned the respect of their enimies.
I find this to be an underrated film. Well shot and cast ( ..and Gene Hackman)
And Max Von Sydow and Trinity 👍
Do not forget Catherine Denuve
They are not bedouins they are Berbers.The bedouins are in the middle east in the south near yemen and saudi and that region
Wrong read some history I’m real Bedouin
Faisal Alhajri the Bedouins live in Arabia
@@king_of_war5327, yes, but in several other countries, too.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bedouin
same POS.....
all nomad arabs are beduins, they are almost in every shithole country in northern africa
My father fought with the Legion...1950s, Indochina...
@@comradericefarmerhao2269 your name is Andrew, which means you betrayed your country by leaving it and going to your enemy's country, USA, LOL
@@comradericefarmerhao2269 then why did you say "ez clap the french" you idiot, you were literally allied with them during the Vietnam war
@@comradericefarmerhao2269 anti fascism all tje way!
Great movie. As a child I thought those little Airfix foreign legion toy soldiers were great, also the Bedouin with horse and camel. Great scene.
hell yeah, they were great, played hundred of hours with that airfix stuff, had the Airfix Fort Sahara, The Legion and the "Bedouins" ( in fact they are Berbers) , when my Father ( a northafrican) saw me playing he was excited.
My favorites were the Napoleonic war Era "Amazones" the Highlanders even outnumbered against my French line Infantry they won every Battle against the French. Had nearly 1000 Men Airfix Soldiers plus over 30 Planes and 60 Tanks
@@Sturminfantrist Never understood given the popularity of 'Zulu' that Airfix did Legionnaires and Arabs (and even a Beau Gest fort) but never 1879 Red Coats and Zulus and a Roukes Drift model.
To have cannon and to wait so long time before open fire-suicide decision
@msc14111990, The Maxim Gun was in use from 1884 onwards. But they use Lewis guns from 1914.
@msc14111990 That guy was using one like a Tommy Gun! LOL!
@msc14111990 Dude, did you miss the beginning of this movie? The time this movie plays is after WW1...
@@tomtom34b yeah, that's correct.
@@springerok thanks!
I’ve actually met Jack O’Halloran, the guy who played Ivan, he was such a nice man when I met him
French colonialist!
@@rommelplasenciasoto1473 ?
Knowing the Legioners could have started picking off the attack at 500+ yards it really burns as a former military the arrogance some leaders display.
Maybe he believed they were not going to atack
Don't you know about the saying, "Don't shoot until you see the white in their eyes."?
They were really just trying not to burn ammo
Only in Movies would this of gone down like this, In Reality, The French CO would of ordered a few Warning Shots, if the Arabs still came on ahead Yep! let them have it! And Yes The French CO would of NEVER Allowed the enemy to come so close before opening up on them. The French shown here were all highly trained Rifleman, with some of the best rifles of the Era, they rarely missed, compared to the Arabs with their Hodge Podge of old Junker Rifles, and very limited Ammo, This is all Fantasy Stuff, In Reality after the first few seconds of being blown to bits and shot dead the surviving ones would of retreated very quickly.
@@brooksbrown580 dobrze napisane ☝️
Victory Dab @ 4:50 lol
Hsgsgsgsgshd
@@pappii9806 aáqá
4:52
The Berber commander really didn’t make good use of the terrain given to him.
He could have put some of his best marksmen on that ridge line to shoot down on the exposed Legion position. Would have probably saved a lot of his warrior’s lives.
I agree with that.
It's like he's trying to thin his herd.
Its a movie lol its not a real battle
Because he was a Hobbit and not a real sojer!
its just a movie but in real life berber do the most strategic battle theyr are like 300 whit no weapon vs a thousand of french and spanis soldier
I completely missed this one at the cinema & I was a Hackman fan then. I would've pedaled my bike to go see it but don't remember seeing any tv ad for it. Maybe it was only in the newspaper classified with the cinema bookings. maybe it was a box office flop. I liked Hackman. Wish he wasn't retired forever. He earned it anyway at his age. I won't even live to his age.
Sadly the film bombed on its release,Star Wars came out the same year and changed cinema tastes forever.I saw this at a drive in as a child,remember being very caught up in it during the final battle ( and more than a little surprised that Gene Hackman 's character got killed,he was the biggest name in the cast as far as America was concerned.I recall seeing Hackman interviewed once on a late night talk show where the host asked him if he had ever made a film that didn't do well that he thought didn't get a fair shake,was underrated and he said yes,"March or Die".Got the sense he was fond of it.I think if it had come out a decade earlier,when big scale historical adventure films were en vogue it would have done well.There was a remake of Beau Geste in the 60's,old school adventure flicks were pretty popular in those days,by the time this film came out that sort of film probably seemed old fashioned to many younger viewers,that type of film was relegated to Sunday afternoon TV.If memory serves this film was picked up by a major network and shown prime time with some extra footage included ( that wasn't unusual back then,I remember films like SUPERMAN and EARTHQUAKE have deleted scenes cut back into them for TV broadcast.
7:25 Look at that soldier with infinite ammo on Lewis gun.
News flash genius it's a movie
yeah… God was feeding his gun…
The commander was cool as a cucumber waiting to fire until the last moment. However, the cannons should have opened fire immediately.
well... too often people feign attacks.
shooting too early can lead to a lot of shit when it was just a warning.
I mean look in the South China sea nowadays.
US ships get Missile Target Lock warning so often and its always Chinese planes locking them in, diving into range, hand on the trigger and then they pull away again.
These kinds of things happen.
One shot shot too early can lead to a lot of shit.
@@underarmbowlingincidentof1981 r/Whoosh. what an out of context comment, reading comprehension isn't strong with u.
Not so much, he was at the end of a loosing him marbles, took 8000 men to war in WW1' came home with 200, that will make an impression, great old movie though
He was waiting to the last minute to make sure ALL of them were in the kill box. Escapees would have trailing them at night. But that turned out to be not all of them after all.
Waiting to open fire is arguably tactically sound, as the effect on enemy morale can be greater, but waiting to take positions is just indecisive or stupid. You can order the troops to do so casually if the plan is to act cool.
I watched it many years ago. What a great movie!
Two mistakes in the tactic of the defenders: 1. Should fire cannons much earlier, esp. toward the obvious enemy leader's position; 2. Should always man & fire the machine guns & sub-machine guns.
Well done field marshall.
Didn't have submachine guns then.😊
OK napoleon
Never predict the direction from which an enemy will attack. They will probably choose the direction least expected. All round defence is therefore preferred.
I love the hats with the flap covering the back of the neck. I would do the same I was a kid playing like a Legionnaire. They had style. Thank you France for helping the USA attain it's independence from the British. Viva la France!!!!
The French Foreign Legion icon headress
Le kepi blanc .The white kepi.
You've got alot to thank the French if wasn't for them the struggle for independence from Britain could have lasted alot longer.
🇫🇷♥️🇺🇲
1:24 Whatever you do, don't take positions early. That would give you a chance to be comfortable with your lines of fire. Wait until the last moment instead because ... suspense. Every soldier values suspense over their own survival ...
He waited because a civilian on site accused him of not having any discipline or control over his men, so he waited until the last minute before giving the order to take position. He was making a point.
Well, then needlessly risking his mens' lives was perfectly ok then.
@@blockmasterscott Thats even worse, a military man making tactical decisions to make a civilian happy. He made a point alright: Hes an Idiot.
Recuerdo haber visto la película cuando era niño y le decía a mi padre que yo quería ser de la legión, él me contaba sobre su bisabuelo (no recuerdo bien) que era de la legión española durante la guerra del Rif y cantaba la canción "Blocao de la muerte" cuando le recordabamos, como dice la canción:
"Eran gente sin estudio, algunos muertos de hambre, dejaron atrás su vida y partieron al combate, no tenían miedo a nada pues la muerte es su compañera, la vida no vale nada, preferiría morir por su bandera, no le importa medallas, que se entere su familia, que lo sepa el pueblo entero, aquel borracho que vivía en calle se ofreció voluntario, habían soldados, hermanos acorralados sin salida, llegaron, los salvaron pero a ellos les dieron un bombardeo, 1925 fue una fecha que jamás olvidamos...
Cool, was part of a Spanish colony (your grandfather I mean)
With all the firepower and ammo and machine guns, the managed not hurt a single animal
Back then it was alot easier and cheaper to tell a human to flop back after getting "shot" then a animal, you have go understand these effects are all practical
"No animals were hurt in the making of this movie."
And the bedoin didn’t shoot a single shot
@msc14111990The movie is set immediately after WWI. Algeria may have been conquered in the 19th century, but there were still a lot of natives in the interior who did accept that as a fact.
I thought camels and horses don't mix because the horses panic when they see camels. Guess these were acclimatized horses then.
Avid mercenary just loves the outdoors in any weather
BERBERS OF THE ATLAS MOUNTAINS NOT BEDOUINS WHO ARE FROM ARABIA AND THE LEVANT. TWO TOTALLY DIFFERENT ETHNIC GROUPS.
THese battles pictured are from the Rif Wars, of the early 1920s...hence the mixed WWI machine guns (Lewis, Maxim, Hotchkiss) common in the FFL at the time.
Love the maxim gun; The devils paintbrush!
That's actually lewis,Hotchkiss and mg 08
One of my favorite movies.🤙🏽
Gene Hackman, Terence Hill. Catherine Deneuve, Ian Holm, Max Von Sydow I remember to seen this movie. I first saw it 1985? At VHS cassette.
The only thing which gives me solace in this scene, is that the cowardly, procrastinating commander was also killed.
In reality no attacking force would accept casualties like this and keep coming. In practice units who take one in four killed is considered too weakened for combat. That many machine guns and the light artillery would have seen off an attack like this without too much trouble. But in reality Bedouins would have dogged the French and sniped them and denied them water until only rushing them when they were very weakened.
Really, since when, the Battle Vienna did not show that tactic, or any action in Gaza.
Please read some history before you come off as an expert. Many armies charged machine guns and accepted heavy casualties.
7:47 Respect to the Berber launching himself into enemy lines !!
That is either a ton of courage or a ton of fanaticism
either way
Respect !!
The title literally said bedouin, not berbers
There is difference between Bedouins and Berbers.
Simple: if he's a third world country citizen, it's fanatism. If he's some occidental, blondy soldier, it's courage... Thank you, Hollywood...
@@periclesperez103 lol
you are completely right haha
@@periclesperez103 Nope. Courage is when you know what you are doing yet you overcome the fear. When you are blinded by some stupid ideology, it is fanatism. Simple difference.
@@mungo7136 tell that to hollywood's sreenwriters XD
Those edits were making my head spin @.@
Epic filmes this this needs days or weeks of rehersal.Just getting the invaders into place and react to commands is a excerise in itself. The sands must be fixed to the state of normancy. No prints of man or horse or camel must be evident. Picking the man who's deathwill be shown, how the fights are staged, when the little bag of stain is fired. All this and more is rehersed to the finest detail . The man who threw the Lewis gun was a center piece. Great show and gives part of life tht is not taught much.
The giant Russian knew how to die gloriously.
Is that Pat Roach?
@Prkau telek lmfao
A COSSACK!!!!
@P T im orthodox but hes a colonist??
Eres pro OTAN, estas mal de tu cabeza te faltan neuronas
Been along time since I saw this movie!!
I remember my regiment was in Africa our military fort was exactly like the Alamo and in the distance what's the French Foreign Legion marching towards us within 7 days we had over 700 French Foreign Legion at our fort it was called fort Texas we were able to fight against thirty-five thousand and we survived my men and I we survived and we were given the highest award by France by the next morning the enemy thought they won but they were wrong the Confederate flag was raised to the top
Thank you for your service Connor MacLeod Major General the Confederate States Army I remember being there also
I was there too and the only Latino allowed in the confederacy as an honorary white. Baptized into whitehood with a white hood by Major Ricky Martin himself.
@@CuttySobz They dunked you in a giant tub of mayonnaise?
Are you sure you were in Africa Connor MacLEOD , I THOUGHT YOU WERE IN THE HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND FIGHTING THE IMMORTALS , AND PLAYING THE GREAT HIGHLAND WARPIPES . ALBA GU BRATH .
@@duncancallum the undead
The courage of the French soldiers and French firepower are impressive .
There not all French. That's why it's called the Foreign Legion .This was set post ww1 with the legion returning to Paris after 4 years of bitter fighting their regiments decimated the FFL would welcome with open arms soldiers from many nations to replace those lost.
Pffff they got their asses kicked
Hahahah they got smashed by the Berbers using guerrilla warfare and up the mountains the french shat their pants there they couldn't bring their cannons up
@@mohammedyassine9263Then why did France manage to conquer all of Algeria? You always lost militarily. France was just too powerful, and it still is today. Guerrilla warfare means nothing when you face a technologically superior force.
@@abdellah7879They managed to completely colonize all of Algeria.
Combat, close quarters combat..to charge or meet a charge head on ..most probably the ultimate adrenaline rush!!!
A little reminder of the old Army one-liner - Adrenaline Is Brown!!!
Indeed...the best thing for a rainy afternoon and a pot of tea 🍵
Such a great fight, old but gold
Gene Hackman was in Superman 2 with the FFL NCO there on the machine gun who was the bad guy in Superman 2, lol.
Whatching this while stoned is intense af
Word
Exel
Pot head response
Stop stoning yourself.. get healthier. Life is already depressing enough, don't further worsening it. If you want to die, die straight away.
The Legion dies. It does not surrender.
Sums the Legion up rather well.
You have to wonder why it took so long for the concept of “Out Flanking” to dawn on commanders.
So I've watched this scene many times, tactically, there were a lot of mistakes. This battle is similar to Rorke's drift in comparison, but with the defenders having the added bonus of machine guns, Lewis guns and artillery. They should have formed the sandbag barrier closer to the center ruin, the tents would be completely exposed but they don't need to be defended, as they could have either been taken down or left prior to the battle. Apart from that, he should have had a double line of sandbags with the second line having firing steps and closest to the Maxim guns, better yet would be having the guns surround and protect the howitzer, which is then placed in an area where it had 360 degrees of fire with no obstructions. One thing the commander did right was placing a machine gun in the ruin, what he did wrong was place only one. Having your Maxim guns all in the center can give over arching fields of fire to cover your troops and most of them could cover a single approach when needed. He should have used his Lewis and Vickers-Berthier gunners act as a reserve force to plug any gaps or breaches in the line. The rest of the infantry could have filled in the the space and completely surrounded the ruin. There was no reason why the commander had to expose and leave his Maxim guns or artillery. There was no reason why he had to form a loose two line formation late in the battle. There was no reason why the artillery had to be abandoned nor suffer as many casualties as he did.
Vote4DahV Yeah, he really wasted the potential of his positional advantage.
@@seanniver5418 I get it was for movie spectacle. But I think he was too prideful.
Why don’t the Bedouins just skirmish them down instead wasting lives
@@silvermasktraveler1788 I agree, it would have been more effective.
Just a few minor clarifications.... The tribemen were Berbers not Bedouin (there were no Bedouin Morocco in significant numbers). The rifles weren't Berthiers they were older Labelle rifles. LaBelles had the bolt sticking strait out from the stock, while Berthier rifles had their bolt bent sharply down along the stock side. Both used the standard French 7mm cartridge. The three machineguns in use were the light Lewis gun (probably the 1914 variant with the 97 bullet drum magazine in .303 caliber), the medium air cooled Hotchkiss gun in 7mm using 50 cartridge strip magazines, and the heavy water cooled Vickers gun in .303 caliber using a belt magazine. Minor points for sure.
I guess they were all qualified to wear the Legions white Kepi.
the white kepi is the one worn by all soldiers, rather, the officers should have been wearing a black one
At cavalry tactics the only valuable attack is from all directions this should distract the enemy and causes a fast and a lethal blow to their forces
Beyonder, you forgot to say: simultaneously. They did attack from different sides, but one side at a time, sort of like the Kung Fu movies, the hero fights 50 guys one at a time while the other 49 just watch him and side step around back and forth until somebody else's turn comes up.
@@rafaelramirez7089 that's why i wrote attack from all directions from your name i take it you're Hispanic i suggest to look more into pancho villa's cavalry tactics
@@Ironmike2233 can't. They didn't write them in french, n'est ce past Mon ami? On the other hand, it's just a movie, done for entertainment and monetary gain, void of historic facts or military tactics, exactly like a Kung Fu movie. N'est ce past pussycat?
@@rafaelramirez7089 il en faut un pour en connaître un
Did the Bedouin not have ammunition or somethign? Why charge in running with your rifle (With no bayonette attached either), when they could just as easily started shooting from both ridges?
Good movie. Is there a similar one in the Boxer Rebellion? Or is 44 Days in Peking the only one?
Yeah there is, it was a film made years before this in 1963 and was pretty darn good imo,"55 Days at Peking," and it stared Charlton Heston.
Those Legionnaires are not nearly sunburned enough to have been that far into the desert, Also, I never saw the guy with the Lewis gun swap magazines. Good action, though.
Anyone else thinking about the battle in the mummy?
Yeah, they weren't armed like this ...
Father was a fighter jet pilot (MiG 21 F13, ROAF, after the age, IAR 330 PUMA or Sud Aviation SA330 PUMA same...
Love this period in history love how liner warfare was being phased out but still used in areas. The technology changing the battlefield and the colorful dress of the fighting men. I’ll not forget to mention the utter balls of steel the enemies against these modern armies of the time had. This period was so beautiful and terrible in the same way.
Gene Hackman made it out because he found the entrance to the "Mummy" Tomb and hibernated until Brandon Fraiser woke him up.
I know that my great grandfather served in the french legions he was from what is now French Guyana but was there when it was british Guyana he fought for 10 years my grandfather took his spot serving in Vietnam before going to Burma as a American soldier
I suppose one reason for holding fire if you're very confident and want the maximum number of enemy to commit to the swept fire path. Also more time to shoot down the ones that retreat.
Holding fire makes no sense. The enemy is already in effective shooting range of the legion's rifles. But it's a movie and it needs to build up tension before the battle 😉
What's with the time traveler using the recoilless automatic rifle?
The battles of the southeast in Morocco were not like this in the movie and those fighting Berber tribes from Zenata and Sanhaja were planners and brave warriors like the Berbers of the North
Happy 190th birthday FFL! Merci on all your hard-earned sacrifices heading onto the enemy in all wars! Death before dishonor :)
How many bullets were in the Lewis gun's magazine? I never saw the man reload.
One of my favorite movies!
these are not arabs at all they are amazigh (berbers) of the rif mountains (my ancestors where in that army)
Correct, though in the film El Krim managed to unite the Berbers and Bedouins against the French.
Sir! Please! Let us defend ourselves!
Great movie and an excellent cast.
Seen the big guy in some movies when i was young... Damn i am old
MAGNIFICENT
after Gene Hackman says have the men take their positions there are a number of commands in French. Can anyone translate?
stephen greene ... oh shit they are cling we better get ready
Are coming ...
The machine guns... Goddamn it, they're coming... the guns... fire... shoot in short bursts... fire!
Yes. One of the officers says: we gonnagetfucked! 2nd. Says: no! 3rd. One says: Oui, we gonnagetfucked!
I do believe that's original french!
silly movie: the clothes are from the extreme north of africa and not from the desert (for very cold regions in the mountains and not in the hot sands), the camels are not used in a battle with gunshots (with bladed weapons yes, camels panic for loud noises), and the formation of the horses is silly, you have to proceed in waves, with a noticeable distance between the horses, in tight formation they are difficult to guide, and the shots always hit a target.
Me and a mate were going to join the FL in 1980 but my girlfriend talked me out of it he did and last I heard was a sgt I joined the Royal Artillery and ended up doing selection for SF me and the girlfriend now man and wife 40+ years so there
One of the greatest movie ever!!!
My respects to the Legion. Some of the toughest men ever.😇
Legionnaires and Vikings are at the top when it comes to ferocious warriors.
After WW 2 a lot of them were former Waffen-SS.
@@brianbagnall3029
Don't Forget The Zulu's, They Are Bad-Asses To...
@@jeffadams9807 Not sure what to think of them because they only prevail when they vastly outnumber the opposition. I would rank Punjab warriors higher than Zulus.
@@brianbagnall3029 Ahem: The Waffen SS and Viet Cong have just entered the chat...
Love at 8:45, he gets 4 riders with a 3 shot Berthier. Which has never been reloaded anyway. Only the French, inventors of smokeless powder, would issue a 3 shot repeater.
If you look closely you'll see that he actually runs out of ammo after 3 shots and pick up another rifle
What happened to the other March vid… * the audio was 1000x better
The comna ding officer was cool as ice. 😮
greatest battle of all time on film
Death of russian Guy is the saddest moment of a whole movie...
I thought the kid being tortured to death was sadder.
He was A COSSACK who probably fought in the former Russian Imperial Army before the Russian Revolution.
I heard the outpost attack scene from Starship troopers was inspired by this.
Omg it is
Viram quem estão neste filme? - Lex Luthor e o capanga do general Zord!
RIP Ian Holm.
I was in the legion also a bird cage was known as The Stonewall Brigade Virginians there's also another Brigade in Legion it was also known as the California Brigade
So who ended up with the sand bag fort?
It’s amazing people watched movies like this and said they were good. We have scene the same 15 people charge and die 30,000 times in 11 mins.
Looks like that Officers sole objective was to get his command wiped out.
If you watch the full movie, you'll know it is it
@@stealthnoid watched it over 20 years ago. Don’t remember the details
@@AgressorNation you grandpa
They could have used the American Civil War Gatling gun in the American Napoleon Cannon with canister shot
Thx, we have Maxime gun and we used against Prussian in franco-prussen war in 1870 (we loose for many reason but allway the French fault not the army, republican make all for french loose and make the end of french empire and rebecome french republic and for that the emporor must capture or kill by germans and so it was captured by them) sad story for us because it's this war who make the premise of the WW1
@@piepiep2368I thought the Maxim machine gun was invented in 1885? Unless the French had an earlier version?
Blue wool over coats are perfect for the desert in the daytime.
What war was this, Amazing scene I've never seen this movie but that looks like that will change.