The Lost Battalion (2001)

Fact-based war drama about an American battalion of over 500 men which gets trapped behind enemy lines in the Argonne Forest in October 1918 France during the closing weeks of World War I.

Director:

Russell Mulcahy

Writer:

James Carabatsos (as Jim Carabatsos)

Stars:

Ricky Schroder, Phil McKee, Jamie Harris

Nominated for 3 Primetime Emmys. Another 2 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ricky Schroder	...	Maj. Charles White Whittlesey (as Rick Schroder)
Phil McKee	...	Capt. George McMurtry
Jamie Harris	...	Sgt. Gaedeke
Jay Rodan	...	Lt. Leak
Adam James	...	Capt. Nelson Holderman - Co. K, 307th
Daniel Caltagirone	...	Pvt. Phillip Cepeglia
Michael Goldstrom	...	Pvt. Jacob Rosen
André Vippolis	...	Pvt. Lipasti - Runner
Rhys Miles Thomas	...	Pvt. Bob Yoder - Sharpshooter
Arthur Kremer	...	Pvt. Abraham Krotoshinsky
Adam Kotz	...	Col. Johnson
Justin Scot	...	Pvt. Omer Richards - Carrier Pigeons
Anthony Azizi	...	Pvt. Nat Henchman
George Calil	...	Pvt. Lowell R. Hollingshead
Wolf Kahler	...	Gen. von Sybel

Storyline

In 1918 in World War I, in the Meuse-Argonne Sector in France, the former New York lawyer and Major Charles White Whittlesey is assigned by Gen. Robert Alexander to a massive suicidal attack against the German forces in the Argonne Forest with his five-hundred-man battalion. However, the forces supposed to be giving support through the flanks retreat and the communications with the headquarter of the 77th American Division are cut. Major Wittlesey holds his position with his men, mostly Irish, Polish, Italian and Jewish immigrants from New York, surrounded by the German army. Without food, water, ammunition and medical supplies, only two hundred men survive after five days of siege.

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Plot Keywords:

france | argonne | army | u.s. army | trench warfare | 

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Taglines:

Caught between two lines of fire, the Germans gave them two options: surrender or die. They chose a third.

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Genres:

Action | Drama | War

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Certificate:

TV-14

Details

Official Sites:

AandE.com On TV: characters,interviews,photos [United States]

Country:

USA Luxembourg

Language:

English German

Release Date:

2 December 2001 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Lost Battalion

Filming Locations:

Luxembourg

Company Credits

Production Co:

A+E Networks, David Gerber Productions, Fox Television Network

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The passage that Whittlesy quotes to comfort the dying soldier with the blood-soaked Bible is Psalm 71:1-5, KJV.

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Goofs

Lt. Holderman uses what is commonly known as the Weaver stance to shoot his pistol. This is a two handed stance. At the time the military trained officers and NCOs to fire sideways and one handed.

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Quotes

[last lines]
Gen. Robert Alexander: Major Whittlesey, there's going to be promotions and commondations for everybody! No wonder our airplanes couldn't find this place.
Lipasti: Well... your artillery certainly found it, General.
Gen. Robert Alexander: [to Whittlesey] Where's the rest of your battallion?
Maj. Whittlesey: [Whittlesee hands the General the collection of dog-tags] Sgt. Gaedeke we couldn't find enough to bury. Lt. Schenck's platoon is somewhere out there. I sent him to link with the French you said were on our flank, General.
Gen. Robert Alexander: [pulls Whittlesey aside] These ...
[...]

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Connections

Referenced in Laurel Canyon (2002)

User Reviews

This hasn't got anything to do with propaganda !!!!

Just before I wanted to write a review on this movie, I saw the comment from another viewer that it has nothing to do with the reality of WW I and that this is pure propaganda for the US Army. Being European myself, I know that it is very popular in Europe to throw mud at everything that has something to do with the US army, especially since they started the second Gulf war. And to be honest, I agree with most of those protests, but that still doesn't mean that history should be rewritten, does it? I'm very sorry, but if it is your opinion that this movie is nothing more but some cheap propaganda, than I really doubt if you have understood anything about it.

It's a fact that it is thanks to the American involvement at the end of the war (they only entered the war in 1917), the allies won. If they hadn't come to help the French, the British and the Belgian (yes there were a lot less Belgian soldiers fighting in the war than French or British, but we are only a very small country - to give you an idea on how small Belgium is: there are about 10 million inhabitants today), we would probably have lost the war. It's true that the Germans were war-weary, but so where the other parties. The Russians had already signed a truce, allowing the Germans to withdraw a lot of their troops from the Eastern front and sending them to the Western front and the French and the British had lost too many good troops at Ypres (Belgium), Verdun (France) and the Somme region (France). In fact, if the Americans hadn't entered the war, it might not have ended at the 11th of November 1918, but might have continued for many months or perhaps even years.

So far for my history class, back to the movie now. In my opinion this is far from a propaganda movie: It clearly shows the futility and horror of the attacks that the ordinary infantry soldier had to go through. It doesn't leave out the fact that the generals only had few respect for people's lives and it also shows that many mistakes were made like bombing the own troops. It all happened in reality and it is all shown very well in this movie. And if that's propaganda for an army than I'm glad I don't have to fight for them!!!

Perhaps you are afraid that it all is a bit too soft or that the acting will not be good, because it is a TV movie. Well, than this might be the surprise of your life. The acting is very good, it's far from corny and it shows all the horrors and the brutality of the war in a very graphic way. In fact I believe it might be good to warn people with a soft stomach not to watch it, because seeing a man being blown to a million pieces by a direct shell hit, someone being stabbed to death with a bayonet, someone's leg who was torn off because of a blast,... isn't exactly for the faint of heart. Personally I can deal with it, but I'm sure many can't.

I'm a great amateur of realistic (anti-)war movies and I'm very glad that this one belongs to my collection. Of course you don't have to believe me if I say this is a good movie, but do know that it was produced by the History Channel. I guess you might see them as a good reference when it comes to accuracy and realism, don't you think? I give it an 8,5/10. Definitely a must see for everybody who's interested in WW I.