Product: Legionnaire [VHS]
Rating: 5.0
Le Boudin C'est Magnifique!
This is one the best Legion movies to come out in recent years. A straight-forward plot sets the action in motion. I must confess to not being a Van Damme fan, and actually knew little about him before this film, but I give him credit for a good job here. In fact he seems to have co-produced it which I also appluad. He gives a solid performance combining humor with pathos and sadness. The film provides a realistic view of the Legion during the murderous Riff Wars of the 1920s. This was just after WW1 and France was hard-pressed to hold onto her Algerian colonies. The movie accurately portrays the brutal atmosphere of the Legion from training to combat. The harshness of life, the tough NCOs and the inadequate officers who indifferently lead the Legion are all well shown. One can almost say that this is a modern re-make of BEAU GESTE, but it also combines elements of MARCH OR DIE as well. Still, there is enough here that is original and allows LEGIONAIRE to stand on its own with those two earlier classics. The film movies quickly and is handsomely produced. Fans of the Legion will surely enjoy, and those use to Van Damme in a different kind of film may be intriqued as well. No doubt the only Legion film we may see for a while it follows in the tradition of that genre. Recommended.