Lost Command

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John H Tries hard to be an epic movie but falls short Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 03/08/24 Full Review Audience Member Good plot. Guerrilla warfare well presented. Some rough edges in the acting. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/26/23 Full Review Audience Member Main protagonist of the ''Lost Command'' is a French peasant determined to become a newcomer to the military aristocracy. He was decisive on becoming a general, even if it meant climbing over a mountain of dead bodies, up to the generals' epaulets. For this goal, he is willing to cover up war crimes, to participate in their execution, to kill civilians, to organize torture and to participate in it... ''Lost Command'', in a very clear but also very subtle way, shows the class character of the French military and colonial order. Main focus of the movie is the brutality of the colonial war that France waged against the Algerian liberation movements during the Algerian Revolution (1954-1962), until Algeria has won its independence. It is quite clearly shown how big business protects its interests and pressures politicians, who then push senior military officers, who than issue orders and send plain soldiers to die for the interests of big business. It is quite unusual for a Hollywood movie to bluntly show how the war, and capitalism in general, is the best environment for psychopaths and people who have renounced their humanity, or are actively suppressing it, as well as how promotions and bloody medals are given to the murderers and criminals in the service of the state. Although the unfolding of the film takes place in Algeria, the opening scene takes us to the siege of Dien Bien Phu, the key battle of the First Indochina War, an anti-colonial conflict in Indochina (now Vietnam), where the forces of Viet Minh defeat the French army. It is interesting that in 1954 Alain Delon, actor that plays French officer whose integrity gets him into conflict with his superiors, voluntarily participated in the Indochina War as a French soldier. This armed conflict lasted from 1946 until the mid-1950s, when France left Indochina and was immediately followed by Vietnam war waged in the same area by the US between the mid-1950s up to 1975. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/15/23 Full Review Audience Member i watch this for the beautiful Alain Delon :D Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/16/23 Full Review Audience Member Anthony Quinn was great in this film Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/06/23 Full Review Audience Member Lt. Col. Pierre-Noel Raspeguy (Anthony Quinn), is a typical maverick; a hardcore soldier who runs operations his way. His paratrooper battalion has fought to the bitter end at Dien Bien Phu in Indochina. Raspeguy and his surviving officers and soldiers ends up in a P.O.W. camp and are then shipped 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. Well, I was hoping for something better when I bought "Lost Command", but it´s a so so military actioneer where the action and acting switch from bad to ok throughout the movie. Quinn tries too hard to be rough and macho, and Delon don´t really fit the humanistic and academic Captain Phillipe Esclavier. Cardinale has a supporting role that gives her little space and it´s an ungrateful role she got on her hands. And the movie doesn´t paint a very pretty picture of the french, thus it was banned in France for ten years. "Lost Command" is not a must see. Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/21/23 Full Review Read all reviews

Lost Command

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