Remember that Henry Fonda movie THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE ? That`s the war movie that was set in the fog shrouded snow bound forests of the Ardennes in December 1944 but for some reason the movie`s big set piece battle takes place on an arid desert plain . LOST COMMAND starts with a very similar error in geography involving the battle of Dien Bien Phu where the French built a heavily fortified base in the middle of a mountainous jungle in 1954 , except this film would have us believe that the battle took place in the middle of a desert !

But I`m more than willing to forgive this goof as LOST COMMAND is a good film , it`s maybe not a great film but if you like action adventure / war films you`ll hopefully enjoy this as much as I did and director / Producer Mark Robson should be congratulated for making a film showing the French fighting man in a good light . Say what you like about French political leaders but France does have a long noble military tradition with a glorious defeat being every bit as courageous as a glorious victory . But the screenplay doesn`t glorify conflict and rightly points out that violence breeds violence , it pits former friends against one another , and it`s always the most innocent who suffer the most

It's 1954. Lt. Col. Pierre-Noel Raspeguy (Anthony Quinn) is in command at Dien Bien Phu. They would be captured by the Viet Minh marking the end of French involvement in Indochina. Captain Phillipe Esclavier (Alain Delon) is one of the few who survived a volunteer parachute drop into the doomed garrison. Rasepguy's reputation is saved by Escalavier's glowing review after the war. He is to lead a newly formed 10th Parachute Regiment in Algiers with volunteers and rejects from other regiments. His trusted subordinate Lt Ben Mahidi (George Segal) is an Algerian paratrooper who has gone missing. It turns out that Mahidi faced difficulties after returning home and has switched sides to fight for independence.

Algeria gained independence in 1962 after a referendum a year earlier. I can imagine that 1966 would be too soon and too late for this subject matter. The world probably moved on but it's also too soon to dissect this historically. I like the road traveled by Raspeguy and Mahidi. Esclavaier needs a bit more calibrating. He's too naive in some parts and too strident in other parts. He needs to say less. I'm fine with Raspeguy winning the battle. The movie needs to end with terrorist bombings to show that they are actually fighting a small battle in the wider war. There is also the ethnic problem with Segal playing an Arab. Quite frankly, Quinn would be closer in skin color. Their performances are fine but Segal does stand out in his crowd. While I like the slow progression of Raspeguy's descend, it does need more of the horrors. This is a compelling French history drama. I do want it to hit on the brutality a bit harder.

LOST COMMAND is something of a middling, meandering war movie of the mid '60s. For a change, the French are the heroes in this one, presided over by Anthony Quinn as a hard-bitten lieutenant colonel leading his men to glory. The film is quite unusual in that it features not one but two theatres of war, beginning with a French defeat in Indochina and following up with some frenetic action in Algeria. Veteran director Mark Robson does his best but fails to instil much life or action into the proceedings, which feel like mere globetrotting at times.