Product: Legionnaire [VHS]
Rating: 4.0
pretty good flick
This movie definately deserves more credit than it has been given in other reviews. I usually cannot stand Van Damme, but my wife told me this was a good movie (she saw it on cable). I rented it, and liked it alot. This movie seemed to be loosely based an out of print 1977 movie called "march or die". This one is better.Van damme tries to double-cross some french gangster, and blows it horribly. His only alternative to being murdered is to join the Foreign Legion.He winds up in North Africa, along with a bunch of other undesirables. The Legion is assigned to protecting french interests in that region. If you know your history of the French Foreign Legion, you will know that they always seemed to get the short end of the stick when it came to combat. This movie is pretty historically accurate in this sense. The legionnaires are outnumbered, poorly supplied, and isolated. As you can expect, they get whupped, pretty bad, too (just like real life). No BS here. No cavalry riding in to save the day, or some herculean feat which thwarts the enemy. They fight a losing battle, and are killed to the last man.The cinematgraphy is excellent. The on-location shooting lends favorable credibilty to this movie. The uniforms, weapons, and settings provide real authenticity. Van Dammes' accent (which usually irritates me) blends in with this movie suprisingly well. Since the Foreign legion is replete with, well, foreigners, his accent goes well with the other german, english, and italian accents one would expect from such an entity. The dialogue is also well written. It can get a little mushy and mopey, but it does not detract from the overall film. I would sum this up as a war/romance movie. this is definately NOT the typical Van Damme flick. Those of you looking for his typical stuff (karate/action), will be sorely dissapointed. Some military enthusiasts will like the authenticity. My wife liked it, and she hates Van Damme, so even the female counterparts will like it. I grudgingly have to admit that Van Damme suprised me with his acting ability. He is still no Cary Grant, but I can look at him in a new light with more respect. He did a pretty good job in this movie. I would have to rate this as one of my favorite movies. It is just plain good overall.Oh, by the way, to the person who wrote the previous review about him wielding a gatlin gun, and firing it standing up: do your research. He is firing a Lewis machine gun. It was developed by American inventor Sam Lewis prior to the First World War. While adopted in the US in only limited numbers, the Lewis gun was adopted as standard issue in the British, Belgian, and French armies and continued to serve in a limited number in the Second World War. It only weighs 27 pounds, and is quite portable, as depicted in Legionnaire.Enjoy the movie!