Four young French Army officers volunteer to join the Foreign Legion to fight in Dien Bien Phu (Vietnam) in 1954.Four young French Army officers volunteer to join the Foreign Legion to fight in Dien Bien Phu (Vietnam) in 1954.Four young French Army officers volunteer to join the Foreign Legion to fight in Dien Bien Phu (Vietnam) in 1954.
Jacques Sernas
- Capt. Guy Bertrand
- (as Jack Sernas)
Patricia Blair
- Gisele Bonet
- (as Pat Blake)
Lisa Montell
- Jacqueline
- (as Irene Montwill)
Jacques Scott
- Lt. De Jean
- (as Jack Scott)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThough the movie accurately depicts the strongpoints of the Dien Bien Phu fortifications as being named after females, most of the names are changed. In the real battle, the strongpoints were Anne-Marie, Beatrice, Claudine, Dominique, Eliane, Gabrielle, Huguette, and Isabelle. Later after the fall of Beatrice and Gabrielle, additional strongpoints of Sparrowhawk and Juno were erected.
- Quotes
Gen. Christian De Castries: [addressing the Chinese prisoner] And as for you, my friend, we shall be ready, you can be sure. But should we lose, the whole world will still know that our enemies were not nationalists but conquerors for Communism. And you will find that the dead too can speak, often more loudly than the living.
- ConnectionsReferenced in Vidal Sassoon: The Movie (2010)
Featured review
Crude Propaganda
The narrative follows the 1954 battle of Indo-China's Dienbienphu, as the French try to prevent their fortress from falling to the indigenous Viet Minh.
Strictly as a war movie, the results are not very good. Outside of the stock footage, the small battles are not well staged. For example, there's that dreadful scene where three French troops dive into a Viet Minh foxhole, the battle being filmed more like a Three Stooges comedy than a matter of life or death. That's not surprising since director Butler's credits shows a distinct preference for comedy. Then too, the acting, particularly Van Eyck, is uninspired, to say the least. I agree with the reviewer who notes the movie's best parts are those in Paris. Also, note how brief the women's parts are even though they're given the kind of billing that misleads audience expectations.
All in all, it's not possible to discuss this nakedly propagandistic movie without a few observations. The Viet Minh are consistently vilified, while the French colonialists are consistently lionized (with one exception). Nowhere, however, does the film acknowledge the French as an army of foreign occupation, in service to what remained of the French empire post-WWII. Nor does the film distinguish between nationalism, anti-colonialism, and communism. Yet all three were in play among the Viet Minh. The political landscape was, in fact, much more complex than this simple-minded, reductionist screenplay acknowledges. As propaganda, the movie is clumsily obvious, at best. Too bad, we Americans had to find out the complex realities of Indo-China the hard way. At the same time, it's movie screed like this that helped grease the skids.
Strictly as a war movie, the results are not very good. Outside of the stock footage, the small battles are not well staged. For example, there's that dreadful scene where three French troops dive into a Viet Minh foxhole, the battle being filmed more like a Three Stooges comedy than a matter of life or death. That's not surprising since director Butler's credits shows a distinct preference for comedy. Then too, the acting, particularly Van Eyck, is uninspired, to say the least. I agree with the reviewer who notes the movie's best parts are those in Paris. Also, note how brief the women's parts are even though they're given the kind of billing that misleads audience expectations.
All in all, it's not possible to discuss this nakedly propagandistic movie without a few observations. The Viet Minh are consistently vilified, while the French colonialists are consistently lionized (with one exception). Nowhere, however, does the film acknowledge the French as an army of foreign occupation, in service to what remained of the French empire post-WWII. Nor does the film distinguish between nationalism, anti-colonialism, and communism. Yet all three were in play among the Viet Minh. The political landscape was, in fact, much more complex than this simple-minded, reductionist screenplay acknowledges. As propaganda, the movie is clumsily obvious, at best. Too bad, we Americans had to find out the complex realities of Indo-China the hard way. At the same time, it's movie screed like this that helped grease the skids.
helpful•53
- dougdoepke
- Jun 28, 2014
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Die Hölle von Dien Bien Phu
- Filming locations
- Janss Conejo Ranch, Thousand Oaks, California, USA(battle scenes)
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 33 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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