IMDb > March or Die (1977)
March or Die
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March or Die (1977) More at IMDbPro »


IMDb Holiday Movie Guide

Overview

User Rating:
6.1/10   1,147 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 12% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writers:
David Zelag Goodman (story) and
Dick Richards (story) ...
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Contact:
View company contact information for March or Die on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
8 September 1977 (West Germany) more
Genre:
Tagline:
The Foreign Legion - they were the greatest fighting force of all time and they obeyed but one command - [March Or Die] more
Plot:
Foreign Legion Major Foster (Hackman), an American haunted by his memories of the recently-ended Great War... more | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
NewsDesk:
March and Die Movie Review
 (From MoviesOnline. 19 March 2009, 8:00 PM, PDT)

User Comments:
Downbeat view of life in the Legion more (16 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Gene Hackman ... Maj. William Sherman Foster
Terence Hill ... Marco Segrain

Catherine Deneuve ... Simone Picard

Max von Sydow ... François Marneau

Ian Holm ... El Krim

Jack O'Halloran ... Ivan
Rufus ... Sgt. Triand
Marcel Bozzuffi ... Lt. Fontaine
André Penvern ... Top Hat
Paul Sherman ... Fred Hastings

Vernon Dobtcheff ... Mean corporal
Marne Maitland ... Leon
Luigi Bonos ... Andre

Wolf Kahler ... German #1
Matthias Hell ... German #2
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Additional Details

Runtime:
107 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Company:

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Selected by Quentin Tarantino for the First Quentin Tarantino Film Fest in Austin, Texas, 1996. more
Goofs:
Factual errors: The Legion uses French military equipment and customs. Yet in one scene, when the new recruits are awakened one morning, an American bugle call (reveille) is used. more
Quotes:
Maj. William Sherman Foster: [to El Krim] I see you've learned to enjoy watching men suffer. more
Movie Connections:
Edited into 42nd Street Forever Part 4 (2009) (V) more
Soundtrack:
Le Boudin more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
2 out of 4 people found the following comment useful.
Downbeat view of life in the Legion, 18 March 2007
6/10
Author: heedarmy from United Kingdom

Following his success with "Farewell My Lovely", ITC invited Dick Richards to pay homage to another quintessentially 30s genre, the Foreign Legion movie.

Unfortunately, he seems to have followed his instructions rather too literally. One imagines that ITC executives were horrified by the finished product, a gloomy, downbeat affair that went over-budget (according to Lew Grade) and which focuses on brutality and despair, rather than on heroism and adventure. Some choppy editing betrays signs of studio intervention to try to make the film more acceptable to modern audiences. Nevertheless, it's a long haul to the admittedly splendid battle which concludes the film.

"March or Die" is not without its merits, however. There's a superb cast and beautifully-lit, painting-like images from the great cinematographer, John Alcott. At its best the film catches a haunting mood of futility and sadness and it treats all sides - the Legion, their opponents, the archaeologists led by Max Von Sydow - with surprising even-handedness. Maurice Jarre's evocative love theme is also worthy of note.

The films' biggest flaw, however, is its uneven treatment of the Foreign Legion itself. It wavers uncertainly between 30s-style adulation and 70s-era condemnation. The climax asks us to salute the enduring courage and martial traditions of the Legion, yet this contrasts oddly with the sadism and brutality we witnessed earlier. Do we really wish to admire an institution which encourages its men to abandon colleagues and let them die in the desert?

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German special edition 2 disc r 2 dvd. The_Khazi
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Uncut full version of "March or Die" ncand3d
Full uncut version on dvd? The_Khazi
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