Directed by:
Dick RichardsScreenplay:
David Zelag GoodmanCinematography:
John AlcottComposer:
Maurice JarreCast:
Gene Hackman, Terence Hill, Catherine Deneuve, Max von Sydow, Ian Holm, Rufus, Marcel Bozzuffi, Jack O'Halloran, Walter Gotell, Lila Kedrova, Vernon Dobtcheff (more)VOD (1)
Plots(1)
At the end of World War I, Major Foster (Gene Hackman), a tough, bitter American who was forced to resign from West Point and is now in the French Foreign Legion, is ordered, with his legionnaires, to protect an archaeological expedition headed by Francois Marneau (Max Von Sydow) of the Louvre, who is to excavate a priceless tomb in Morocco. (official distributor synopsis)
(more)Reviews (1)
"If the Legion doesn't get you, the desert will. If the desert doesn't, the Arabs will. And if the Arabs don't, then I will. I don't know which is worse." An encounter of unwavering principles: leadership, professional, romantic, swaggering, and commanding, with the penultimate blending unexpectedly with the final one in the closing scene. Thanks to Catherine Deneuve's character, the romantic subplot remains sharp, and the climactic battle between the legionnaires and Bilbo's coalition of tribes, who make strange noises with their language, is better than Peckinpah's work. However, I fought an even fiercer battle with Terence Hill's casting, as he couldn't resist his favorite gymnastic moves and his western-comedic mischief was evident throughout.
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