March Or Die

Starring:Gene Hackman
Studio: Jef Films Inc.
Product Type: DVD

Average customer rating:

Marching thru the Riff!
This one is the one to buy
Cut Version
March or Die
Good movie, poor quality

March Or Die
Starring: Gene Hackman
Manufacturer: Jef Films
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

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The Wild Geese (30th Anniversary Edition)
Zulu Dawn
Lost Command (Ws Sub Dts)
Waterloo (1971) with Rod Steiger
Legionnaire

ASIN: B0007CIM1K
Release Date: 2005-03-08

Customer Reviews:

Marching thru the Riff! .......2006-10-31

The Foreign Legion has inspired a variety of films from comedies as "Abbott & Costello in the Foreign Legion" (1950) thru epic classics as "Beau Geste" (1939) till more recent action ones as "Legionnaire" (1998).
"March or Die" (1977) is a good film on the subject with many ingredients as to produce an outstanding product, yet the viewer ends with the impression that something is missing to insufflate a real epic spirit.
I have only seen this VHS version and some other reviews imply there is a more complete version in existence and that may be the reason to this.
However it wasn't a box office success either, so there is some flaw that I can't define exactly.

Arguably the only weak link may be director Dick Richards who hasn't delivered any remarkable film. He was supposed to direct great success "Tootsie" (1982) but for reasons unknown to me he was replaced by Sydney Pollack and relegated only to produce that movie.
Every other category is headed by well known specialists that had made first class products.
In charge of cinematography is exquisite John Alcott, who usually worked with Stanley Kubrick as in "Barry Lyndon" (1975) and "The Shining" (1980). Desert images are beautiful and battle scenes very neatly photographed.
Musical score is composed by famed Maurice Jarre author of remarkable and awarded scores as "Lawrence of Arabia" (1962), "Dr. Zhivago" (1965), "A Passage to India" (1984) and "Ghost" (1990) amongst more than 170 other.
First class actress and actors: Catherine Deneuve, Gene Hackman, Max von Sydow, Terence Hill and Ian Holm. Even if none of them deliver their best, they are more talented than average.

The story is two pronged as it follows Maj. William Sherman Foster persecuted by dreadful memories of WWI and legionnaire Marco Seagraine who entered the Legion escaping jail.
Confronting them is historical character Abd el-Krim, in a fictitious episode, who is in search of something symbolic and transcendent that helps him to unite and launch Riff's tribes into revolt.
Finally there is a group of archeologists that in the name of science, will try to unearth some relics considered sacred by the tribesmen, no matter the cost.
All this elements will blend to constitute an interesting movie crowned by an epic battle filmed marvelously.

It is a good action film deserving to be seen!
Reviewed by Max Yofre.

This one is the one to buy.......2006-05-15

A fantastic DVD of a fantastic movie. Image quality perfect and unedited. Don't buy the crummy Domino Principle/March or Die double feature. The film there is bad quality and very very edited.

Cut Version.......2006-01-23

It is difficult to say which of Gene Hackman's movies is "best", but this little known movie is certainly among them.

The complete story is actually very good. I saw the uncut version one time, which enhances the characters and explains the storyline more fully, certainly in the case of Hackman's character and several of the other major characters. There is much more to Hackman's character than the cut version shows, which makes him, and the movie, exceedingly more interesting. This US release, unfortunately, is the cut down version, which has, of course cut out some of the most important aspects of the story.

I would like to see the uncut version, which I believe is the European release, made and re-released for American audiences. In total, it is a great adventure movie and certainly a great view of La Legion Etrangere in the 1920s.

March or Die.......2005-09-30

Great foreign legion movie with Gene Hackman in the lead role. Great supporting cast to include, Ian Holm, Max von Sydow, and Catherine Denuve. Filmed at the height of his career (he's still there)on location with no studio shots. Gary Cooper's Beau Geste and this film are the best foreign legion films made!
It would be nice if hollywood would reissue this film so we would not have to buy foreign copies because it is not available otherwise. You can find a copy of "Bride of Chucky" which is disgusting but not of a classic like this. In any case, I would highly recommend this film to all Hackman fans.

Good movie, poor quality.......2005-09-19

This movie has been edited from it's original release. Also the film quality can only be considered poor or average at best.

Average customer rating:

Cut Version of March or Die???
reviewed without watching...and I won't!

The Domino Principle/March or Die
Starring: Gene Hackman , Terence Hill , Catherine Deneuve , Max von Sydow , and Ian Holm
Director: Dick Richards , and Stanley Kramer
Manufacturer: Lions Gate
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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DVDs Under $9.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

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ASIN: B000C65YR6
Release Date: 2006-01-24

Customer Reviews:

Cut Version of March or Die???.......2006-01-26

It is strange that MoD has never been released in its full form. IMDB will tell you what is missing. Without seeing this version I can only surmise that since it is P&S-F/S (per the previous reviewer) then it is unrestored. What a shame that a full battle scene (during the desert journey) and the full ending (won't spoil it) has never been released. I do not believe that even the Euro releases have these edits.

reviewed without watching...and I won't!.......2006-01-25

I was so excited to see this on the rack of new releases at TOWER Records today...until I turned to the back cover to find...BOTH FILMS are presented PAN AND SCAN FULL SCREEN! I urge fans of these films to boycott...aborted versions...these aren't saturday morning cartoons..we want the full aspect ratio as presented in the theatres!

If you are a film buff..AVOID this edition.

Average customer rating:

Lost Legion
Blood Thirsty Sands of the Riff!
European Version

March or Die [Region 2]
Starring: Gene Hackman , Terence Hill , Catherine Deneuve , Max von Sydow , and Ian Holm
Director: Dick Richards
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

( M ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
ASIN: B00009W35O

Customer Reviews:

Lost Legion.......2006-09-03

March or Die was one of a number of massive box-office disasters that nearly brought Columbia to its knees until CE3K rescued it from the brink. On the surface it belongs alongside the trilogy of mid-70s adventure films that Sean Connery made for the studio, with Gene Hackman's embittered Foreign Legionnaire reluctantly leading his surviving men to protect Max Von Sydow's archaeological dig. It's a perfectly workable premise for an adventure but it never really works. It's a schizophrenic film at best, and not just because of the usual international co-production vagaries: Gene Hackman is starring in a bleak, revisionist drama while Terence Hill is starring in an old-fashioned swashbuckler, and despite John Alcott's strikingly subdued photography neither strand quite works - not enough panache or too much depending on whose turn it is in the spotlight. The final (and only) battle scene is a particularly odd affair, with Hackman's character behaving very oddly indeed, depriving the audience of the expected climax in a way that seems more bizarre and just plain wrong than innovative. Heavy pre-release cutting probably didn't help (the original US TV broadcast, which many wrongly assume was given a theatrical release in Europe, included a number of deleted sequences, including an additional battle scene), but this is more an interesting failure than a successful reinvention of a subgenre it all but killed off for good. It certainly managed to kill of director Dick Richards' career.

The UK DVD is a decent fullframe transfer of the same theatrical version released both in the US and Europe with no loss of picture area: for the original 1.85:1 widescreen version you need to track down the Australian DVD. There are no extras on either issue: a shame, as it would have been interesting to see the deleted scenes, and the film's trailer was very good.

Blood Thirsty Sands of the Riff! .......2006-05-17

European Version.......2004-07-05

The original, uncut European version of March or Die, about the Foreign Legion in North Africa, was a damned good movie, with Genre Hackman, as always, portraying his character, a battle-weary veteran of WW I, to the full. The US version, the only version that seems to be available currently, is pathetic by comparison as it has been cut to pieces. It does not show the character detail of the original cut, losing much of the storyline and, therefore, the point of the story and why the characters are where they are at that given time and place.

The original cut was an excelently shot period movie, with time and place well portrayed. The cast, in addition to Hackman, includes Terence Hill, Max von Sydow, Catherine Deneuve, and Ian Holm.

For those who enjoy a good adventure, this is it. Those who enjoy stories of the military, specifically the Legion with few punches pulled, this is it. Also, romance is not forgotten, as it would not be a Legion movie without it. There is also mystery and intrigue.

Product Description

Sweden released, PAL/Region 2 DVD: it WILL NOT play on standard US DVD player. You need multi-region PAL/NTSC DVD player to view it in USA/Canada. Languages: o Danish (subtitles) o Finnish (subtitles) o Norwegian (subtitles) o Swedish (subtitles) o English (Mono) Synopsis: Dick Richards directed this French Foreign Legion adventure that's at once parodies and pays tribute to the venerable Hollywood epics that preceded it. Gene Hackman stars as Major William Sherman Foster, a soldier who has been kicked out of West Point but has managed to obtain command of a group of Legionnaires after the end of World War I. His troops have been ordered to accompany an archeological expedition traveling to Morocco headed by Francois Marneau (Max von Sydow). Foster's motley band includes an on-the-lam cat burglar named Marco Segrain (Terence Hill), an ex-guardsman from the deposed Russian monarchy named Ivan (Jack O'Halloran), an adventure-seeking aristocrat named Fred Hastings (Paul Sherman), and an alluring beauty named Simone Picard (Catherine Deneuve). As the band makes their way to Morocco, they cross paths with the fervid and bloodthirsty Arab leader El Krim (Ian Holm), who vows to unite his people to expel foreigners from their land.

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