Comments on: Lost Battalion – Movie Review http://www.armchairgeneral.com/movie-review-lost-battalion.htm All things military history! Mon, 13 Feb 2012 16:24:13 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3 By: R. Laplander http://www.armchairgeneral.com/movie-review-lost-battalion.htm/comment-page-1#comment-8347 R. Laplander Sat, 01 Aug 2009 14:06:22 +0000 http://www.armchairgeneral.com/articles.php?page=1&p=2555#comment-8347 This movie was an abomination and a farce. It doesn't even come close to telling the truth of what happened, how it happened, or anything about the actual men that were there. Despite the flashy special effects, it drops the ball at every turn and creates far too much fantasy and uses too much of the myth to tell a story that needs no 'dressing up'. I will grant that it is highly entertaining and that it has helped raise awareness of the event - and that it would be hard to pack all the details of what happened during those FIVE days in the Charlevaux Ravine (NOT three) and the preceding two weeks of combat into a bare hour and a half. However, entertaining or not, it simply skews the truth too far to be considered a serious work. Rick S. does not do a convincing job of portraying Major Whittlesey and they tried too hard to focus on the 'social' aspects of the units that made up the Lost Battalion. Further, they insist on referring to the unit as part of the 308th BATTALION, which it was not - it was portions of battalions from the 307th and 308th Infantry REGIMENTS, as well as nine machine guns and their teams from the 306th machine Gun Battalion. If the writer (who was responsible for writing 'Hamburger Hill' - a great Vietnam movie) could not even get his military nomanclature correct, then one can imagine how badly the rest of the details and facts of the movie have been bungled as well. Overall this movie can be considered a dismal failure for relaying a true rendering of what the Lost Battalion actually went through. However, if you're looking for a flashy period of entertainment with no resemblance to the facts of what truly happened, then this is the movie for you. Robert J. Laplander Author of 'Finding the Lost Battalion: Beyond the Rumors, Myths and Legends of America's famous WW1 Epic'. This movie was an abomination and a farce. It doesn’t even come close to telling the truth of what happened, how it happened, or anything about the actual men that were there. Despite the flashy special effects, it drops the ball at every turn and creates far too much fantasy and uses too much of the myth to tell a story that needs no ‘dressing up’. I will grant that it is highly entertaining and that it has helped raise awareness of the event – and that it would be hard to pack all the details of what happened during those FIVE days in the Charlevaux Ravine (NOT three) and the preceding two weeks of combat into a bare hour and a half. However, entertaining or not, it simply skews the truth too far to be considered a serious work. Rick S. does not do a convincing job of portraying Major Whittlesey and they tried too hard to focus on the ‘social’ aspects of the units that made up the Lost Battalion. Further, they insist on referring to the unit as part of the 308th BATTALION, which it was not – it was portions of battalions from the 307th and 308th Infantry REGIMENTS, as well as nine machine guns and their teams from the 306th machine Gun Battalion. If the writer (who was responsible for writing ‘Hamburger Hill’ – a great Vietnam movie) could not even get his military nomanclature correct, then one can imagine how badly the rest of the details and facts of the movie have been bungled as well.
Overall this movie can be considered a dismal failure for relaying a true rendering of what the Lost Battalion actually went through. However, if you’re looking for a flashy period of entertainment with no resemblance to the facts of what truly happened, then this is the movie for you.

Robert J. Laplander
Author of ‘Finding the Lost Battalion: Beyond the Rumors, Myths and Legends of America’s famous WW1 Epic’.

]]> By: rockin robin http://www.armchairgeneral.com/movie-review-lost-battalion.htm/comment-page-1#comment-7883 rockin robin Fri, 27 Mar 2009 02:14:06 +0000 http://www.armchairgeneral.com/articles.php?page=1&p=2555#comment-7883 I thought lostbatallion was a great movie for ricky s. anybody see saints and soldiers, and a midnight clear.? these were some excellent movies that never get shown on tv. I thought lostbatallion was a great movie for ricky s.
anybody see saints and soldiers, and a midnight clear.?
these were some excellent movies that never get
shown on tv.

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