Riding a horse at speed across the face of your target and holding your Gewher 98 one handed and hitting gene hackman - whew one hell of a warrior that!!

My Father fought with the Legion, Indochina, 1950--54.....I have his Legion Beret......He flew CAT Airlines....for CIA.....assisting the Legion...His station was Hanoi & Haiphong...

In Vietnam IN 1970 I met a former member of the legion and he said in he 50s the second most commo n language spoken was Germam.

The most amazing thing about this movie is that we saw Terrance Hill using his real Italian accented voice instead of it being dubbed by an American.

If you keep winning battles like this you lose the war. This is so great of a battle.

The tribesmen' tactics enjoyed superior numbers and mobility to overwhelm better firepower from many sides, but they certainly could have made a better use of their rifles, at least for suppression followed by shock. Anyway, this scene reminded me of Fraser in The Mummy.

It never ceases to amaze me how military commanders would order frontal attacks on well-fortified positions manned by troops with machine guns and quick-firing rifles; slaughter was inevitable. They did this time and time again during the 19th and early 20th centuries, even though they had learned from history that this type of attack very rarely succeeded. They were STILL ordering such suicidal attacks in the First World War (the Somme, Ypres, Passchendaele, etc). Pure madness!

One of the best battle scenes ever filmed in cinema history. Filmed entirely on location with no silly CGI or blue screen.

I always love how in the movie the one guy throws the Lewis gun at the Bedouin. A lewis is heavy enough to knock the wind out of you. A lot of people are comparing March or Die with the Mummy (Brendon Frazier) but it's closer to Jean Claude Van Damme's Legionnaire. Covers two different points in the same war. Same results. They both show with great clarity the brutality of those colonial wars. As it is said in both movies once you signed up," the only way to return to France , when your enlistment is up, on disability or in a box." Many never returned at all.

I worked as an extra on this film,brings back some good memories...great food and wine on set...but they stopped the wine after a couple of days as the legionnaires were getting pissed...had some great chats with Terence hill and max Von sydow..two really nice blokes.Did enjoy the last battle. I think maybe dick Richards was on the set of Zulu.

The FFL can only serve outside of France. Only in the most dire circumstances can it be brought back to France to fight. Great movie scene and Gene Hackman was one of my favourite actors ever!

Victory Dab @ 4:50 lol

Nice to see Non from Superman II (the large black bearded Legionaire) and Lex Luthor (Gene Hackman) reunited.

Nice to see Rambo's French ancestor in action.

worked on the film as PA; Catherine Deneuve was Astounding; Mr. Gene Hackman, phenom! filmed at Inezgane, Morocco; ;}}}ko

Terrence Hill and Gene Hackman in the same movie...how cool is that? I was blown away when I first saw this film decades ago simply because Terrence Hill starred in it (Gene Hackman was OK, I guess-LOL). A very much overlooked movie. Had quite a bit of grittiness and pathos. Most of the characters except for Hill, his Russian friend and the pianist weren't people one could feel any empathy for.

6:13 This is why I always pick the Support class in war games.

To have cannon and to wait so long time before open fire-suicide decision

I find this to be an underrated film. Well shot and cast ( ..and Gene Hackman)

My father fought with the Legion...1950s, Indochina...

They are not bedouins they are Berbers.The bedouins are in the middle east in the south near yemen and saudi and that region

Great movie. As a child I thought those little Airfix foreign legion toy soldiers were great, also the Bedouin with horse and camel. Great scene.

Knowing the Legioners could have started picking off the attack at 500+ yards it really burns as a former military the arrogance some leaders display.

The commander was cool as a cucumber waiting to fire until the last moment. However, the cannons should have opened fire immediately.

Thanks for sharing this. I have been looking for this clip forever. I remember watching this with my dad decades ago, I never could remember the movie, and he had passed on. Thank you.

I've handled that Lewis gun (the machine gun with the pan magazine), it belongs to Historic Arms Corporation, it was also used in Lawrence of Arabia, and 'Duck you Sucker" starring James Coburn and Rod Steiger....

In reality no attacking force would accept casualties like this and keep coming. In practice units who take one in four killed is considered too weakened for combat. That many machine guns and the light artillery would have seen off an attack like this without too much trouble. But in reality Bedouins would have dogged the French and sniped them and denied them water until only rushing them when they were very weakened.

Recuerdo haber visto la película cuando era niño y le decía a mi padre que yo quería ser de la legión, él me contaba sobre su bisabuelo (no recuerdo bien) que era de la legión española durante la guerra del Rif y cantaba la canción "Blocao de la muerte" cuando le recordabamos, como dice la canción: "Eran gente sin estudio, algunos muertos de hambre, dejaron atrás su vida y partieron al combate, no tenían miedo a nada pues la muerte es su compañera, la vida no vale nada, preferiría morir por su bandera, no le importa medallas, que se entere su familia, que lo sepa el pueblo entero, aquel borracho que vivía en calle se ofreció voluntario, habían soldados, hermanos acorralados sin salida, llegaron, los salvaron pero a ellos les dieron un bombardeo, 1925 fue una fecha que jamás olvidamos...

I love the hats with the flap covering the back of the neck. I would do the same I was a kid playing like a Legionnaire. They had style. Thank you France for helping the USA attain it's independence from the British. Viva la France!!!!

7:25 Look at that soldier with infinite ammo on Lewis gun.

4:52 The Berber commander really didn’t make good use of the terrain given to him. He could have put some of his best marksmen on that ridge line to shoot down on the exposed Legion position. Would have probably saved a lot of his warrior’s lives.

Avid mercenary just loves the outdoors in any weather

Love the maxim gun; The devils paintbrush!

With all the firepower and ammo and machine guns, the managed not hurt a single animal

1:24 Whatever you do, don't take positions early. That would give you a chance to be comfortable with your lines of fire. Wait until the last moment instead because ... suspense. Every soldier values suspense over their own survival ...

One of my favorite movies.🤙🏽

7:47 Respect to the Berber launching himself into enemy lines !! That is either a ton of courage or a ton of fanaticism either way Respect !!

I’ve actually met Jack O’Halloran, the guy who played Ivan, he was such a nice man when I met him

I completely missed this one at the cinema & I was a Hackman fan then. I would've pedaled my bike to go see it but don't remember seeing any tv ad for it. Maybe it was only in the newspaper classified with the cinema bookings. maybe it was a box office flop. I liked Hackman. Wish he wasn't retired forever. He earned it anyway at his age. I won't even live to his age.

Never predict the direction from which an enemy will attack. They will probably choose the direction least expected. All round defence is therefore preferred.

Whatching this while stoned is intense af

I watched it many years ago. What a great movie!

The only thing which gives me solace in this scene, is that the cowardly, procrastinating commander was also killed.

Such a great fight, old but gold

Been along time since I saw this movie!!

Two mistakes in the tactic of the defenders: 1. Should fire cannons much earlier, esp. toward the obvious enemy leader's position; 2. Should always man & fire the machine guns & sub-machine guns.

The giant Russian knew how to die gloriously.

Those edits were making my head spin @.@

The courage of the French soldiers and French firepower are impressive .

I remember my regiment was in Africa our military fort was exactly like the Alamo and in the distance what's the French Foreign Legion marching towards us within 7 days we had over 700 French Foreign Legion at our fort it was called fort Texas we were able to fight against thirty-five thousand and we survived my men and I we survived and we were given the highest award by France by the next morning the enemy thought they won but they were wrong the Confederate flag was raised to the top

My respects to the Legion. Some of the toughest men ever.😇

Combat, close quarters combat..to charge or meet a charge head on ..most probably the ultimate adrenaline rush!!!

BERBERS OF THE ATLAS MOUNTAINS NOT BEDOUINS WHO ARE FROM ARABIA AND THE LEVANT. TWO TOTALLY DIFFERENT ETHNIC GROUPS. THese battles pictured are from the Rif Wars, of the early 1920s...hence the mixed WWI machine guns (Lewis, Maxim, Hotchkiss) common in the FFL at the time.

So I've watched this scene many times, tactically, there were a lot of mistakes. This battle is similar to Rorke's drift in comparison, but with the defenders having the added bonus of machine guns, Lewis guns and artillery. They should have formed the sandbag barrier closer to the center ruin, the tents would be completely exposed but they don't need to be defended, as they could have either been taken down or left prior to the battle. Apart from that, he should have had a double line of sandbags with the second line having firing steps and closest to the Maxim guns, better yet would be having the guns surround and protect the howitzer, which is then placed in an area where it had 360 degrees of fire with no obstructions. One thing the commander did right was placing a machine gun in the ruin, what he did wrong was place only one. Having your Maxim guns all in the center can give over arching fields of fire to cover your troops and most of them could cover a single approach when needed. He should have used his Lewis and Vickers-Berthier gunners act as a reserve force to plug any gaps or breaches in the line. The rest of the infantry could have filled in the the space and completely surrounded the ruin. There was no reason why the commander had to expose and leave his Maxim guns or artillery. There was no reason why he had to form a loose two line formation late in the battle. There was no reason why the artillery had to be abandoned nor suffer as many casualties as he did.

One of my favorite movies!

The comna ding officer was cool as ice. 😮

Indeed...the best thing for a rainy afternoon and a pot of tea 🍵

The Legion dies. It does not surrender. Sums the Legion up rather well.

One of the greatest movie ever!!!

Sir! Please! Let us defend ourselves!

Vive la France

Philippines spot treasure watching God bless thank you

Viram quem estão neste filme? - Lex Luthor e o capanga do general Zord!

Happy 190th birthday FFL! Merci on all your hard-earned sacrifices heading onto the enemy in all wars! Death before dishonor :)

RIP Ian Holm.

Gene Hackman, Terence Hill. Catherine Deneuve, Ian Holm, Max Von Sydow I remember to seen this movie. I first saw it 1985? At VHS cassette.

Epic filmes this this needs days or weeks of rehersal.Just getting the invaders into place and react to commands is a excerise in itself. The sands must be fixed to the state of normancy. No prints of man or horse or camel must be evident. Picking the man who's deathwill be shown, how the fights are staged, when the little bag of stain is fired. All this and more is rehersed to the finest detail . The man who threw the Lewis gun was a center piece. Great show and gives part of life tht is not taught much.

Those Legionnaires are not nearly sunburned enough to have been that far into the desert, Also, I never saw the guy with the Lewis gun swap magazines. Good action, though.

MAGNIFICENT

Great movie and an excellent cast.

Gene Hackman was in Superman 2 with the FFL NCO there on the machine gun who was the bad guy in Superman 2, lol.

At cavalry tactics the only valuable attack is from all directions this should distract the enemy and causes a fast and a lethal blow to their forces

Looks like that Officers sole objective was to get his command wiped out.

Blue wool over coats are perfect for the desert in the daytime.

Love this period in history love how liner warfare was being phased out but still used in areas. The technology changing the battlefield and the colorful dress of the fighting men. I’ll not forget to mention the utter balls of steel the enemies against these modern armies of the time had. This period was so beautiful and terrible in the same way.

I know that my great grandfather served in the french legions he was from what is now French Guyana but was there when it was british Guyana he fought for 10 years my grandfather took his spot serving in Vietnam before going to Burma as a American soldier

I guess they were all qualified to wear the Legions white Kepi.

Catherine Deneuve indimenticabile la più bella unica sublime ❤

silly movie: the clothes are from the extreme north of africa and not from the desert (for very cold regions in the mountains and not in the hot sands), the camels are not used in a battle with gunshots (with bladed weapons yes, camels panic for loud noises), and the formation of the horses is silly, you have to proceed in waves, with a noticeable distance between the horses, in tight formation they are difficult to guide, and the shots always hit a target.

Вот бы такой пулемёт с бесконечным боекомплектом и чугунным стволом!

The battles of the southeast in Morocco were not like this in the movie and those fighting Berber tribes from Zenata and Sanhaja were planners and brave warriors like the Berbers of the North

по такой толпе из винтовок того времени можно было стрелять за 1 километр, не промахнешься. Патроны тех времен создавались как раз для таких ситуаций.

What movie is this?

Salute this French army

Anyone else thinking about the battle in the mummy?

1/This scene isn't portraying the true warfare of the Berbers which is guerrilla tactical warfare they aren't stupid as such to charge head on knowing that the enemy has the latest equipments and fire-power 2/the Berber commander supposedly should have the first cavalry in two attacking from the right and left flanks in a pincer attack and then do a feingt retreat that would save lots of the Berbers lives and then the infantry would sneak attack from behind The movie is trying to show that Berbers were primitive and stupid in terms of war

Seen the big guy in some movies when i was young... Damn i am old

Gene Hackman made it out because he found the entrance to the "Mummy" Tomb and hibernated until Brandon Fraiser woke him up.

greatest battle of all time on film

congrats to bedouin, they got the main leader

Grande Film visto aL cinema Bellissimo

Death of russian Guy is the saddest moment of a whole movie...

Terence Hill absolute Legende👌

Magnifique documentaire

What's with the time traveler using the recoilless automatic rifle?

Love at 8:45, he gets 4 riders with a 3 shot Berthier. Which has never been reloaded anyway. Only the French, inventors of smokeless powder, would issue a 3 shot repeater.

after Gene Hackman says have the men take their positions there are a number of commands in French. Can anyone translate?

It’s amazing people watched movies like this and said they were good. We have scene the same 15 people charge and die 30,000 times in 11 mins.

Tribesman: Why aren't the French surrendering? Chief: Because they are not French. They are the Legion.

The battle of the No-Go Zones.