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Rating:  -
This is one of the truly great war movies! It's a cryin' [...] shame the movie producers don't make more like this one! The only other truly great series about the World War is Band of Brothers!! Get it!!
Rating: -
Great movie i would say it was worth the wait,but i recieved it very fast
Rating: -
'The Lost Battalion' is a very gritty and moving movie about a famous incident that happened toward the end of the war in October 1918. The battle scenes are surprisingly intense for something made for A & E. But I believe this was right choice because combat in World War I was truly horrific. The scene going across No Man's Land is a definite highlight as is a defense against German flamethrower assault. Rick Schroder as Whittlesey does a fine job invoking the conflict in his character whether the stand is worth it. Overall, a great depiction of American valor.
One of the great quotes from the movie is by Major Whittlesey (played by Schroder) and sums up the American fighting man for all wars: "You'll never know what they've been through, or what they can and can't do. They're better then you, General. They're better then me, they always are."
The DVD has good picture and sound and does justice to this fine film.
Highly recommended!
Rating:  -
How nice it is to find yourself surrounded by a good story of military history during a week when the rain never seemed to end. A colleague provided the DVD and I sat down to learn a little bit more about a forgotten war, the Great War, entitled, "The Lost Battalion."
To add to the spirit of the time frame, a scratchy sounding song of the era introduces the credits and the start of the film. (And I knew instantly that this remake would be better than the 1919 version as it had sound, and not just someone at the piano).
Major John Whittlesey played by Ricky Schroder commands a battalion of the 77th Division from New York. The division commander gives him an operation's order to attack through the Meuse Argonne Forest against the Germans. Whittlesey sets the theme by protesting the order as his unit is undersupplied in every conceivable way. He wants assurances that Americans and French will protect his flanks. He agrees to the order but tells the general that he doubts if he will ever see his battalion again. The general mumbles to an aide after the major's departure that he will see what this New York lawyer is made of. The insinuation is transparent.
The film wanted to stress the ethnicity of the players and the origin of a division. They created foils in the characters of Lieutenant Leak (Jay Rodan), a Texan who couldn't pronounce their names, and an "apple-knocker" Pvt. Yoder (Rhys Miles Thomas) from Montana assigned to the regiment. You get to know the ethnicity of the characters as soon as you hear the poor Texan begin a roll call of the Irish, Italian, Jewish, Polish and Chinese names. I began to find this part of the film overdirected or overdone like an explosive that fails to go off--a dud. The high point or low point of this, depending upon your point of view, is the smiling, captured Lt. Leak telling a German intelligent officer in a smiling southern drawl, "What you got are a bunch of [ethnic slang] ... gangsters from New York City, and they'll never surrender--never." The acting compensates for a script of modern slang such as "fuggetaboutit," and "knock yourself out," and a bunch of smiling, clean white teeth that looked like an Ipana commercial. Ricky Schroder, who was about thirty-one when this was filmed, still looks fifteen and slightly younger than Audie Murphy, in spite of (probably) an exhausted make-up department that racked up overtime trying to make him look older.
The battle scenes are one of this film's highlights with the hand-held cameras being used right in front of the actors. It looks realistic without being gory. The sound effects are good with the exception of artillery fire that can never be faithfully replicated, but the pilot who starts his engine from the cockpit is inaccurate. No one turned the prop for him as was required with the technology of the day. The Germans were also described as Krauts, a term that didn't gain currency until WW II. Heinies and Huns were more common epithets for the enemy.
What also came through in this movie was a certain chivalry that existed during this war. The American surrounded by German bayonets was captured rather than killed. The Germans treated their prisoners with every courtesy as Germans of two regimes later would rarely do.
In real life, the Americans went into the attack on October 2, 1918 with approximately 465 men and were reinforced by a lost "K" Company that brought the number to 550. All were low on food, water, and ammunition. After constant sniper, machine gun, and mortar fire, infantry attacks and inaccurate American artillery that fell on them, the New Yorkers held their ground and defied the two options the Germans offered them--surrender or die. They were relieved after five days with only 194 men alive and unhurt. They did not surrender. The war to end all wars ended five weeks later.
So, if you ever find yourself surrounded by the walls of your home with inclement weather beyond them, and war genre is your schtick (sorry), this is a drama that is well worth digging in to watch. The players are colorful and there are sporadic bursts of good script when it isn't "cliched." It was written by James Carabaltsos and over-directed by Russell Mulcahy.
It will still be one of my favorite war movies.
P. S. I recommend putting the name of Major Whittlesey in your search bar to find out more about his post war life and tragic end. He and Captains McMurtry and Holderman received the nation's highest award, the Medal of Honor for valor. Pvt. Krotoshinsky, Polish-Jewish immigrant, was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross.
Rating: -
An excellent movie. Close to what history says happened, but has a few flaws.They did an excellent job with them movie.
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