Lost Battalion, The (2001)
Action | Drama | War

Tagline: October 5, 1918. Caught between two lines of fire, the Germans gave them two options: surrender or die. They chose a third.

It began on October 2nd, 1918, when the men of the U.S. Army's 77th Division, 308th Battalion were surrounded by German troops in the Argonne Forest. Without food, water or reserve ammunition, cut off from supply and communication lines, and subjected to constant assaults and bombardments, they managed to hold off the enemy until they were finally rescued after five days of desperate action.

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. Written by Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

This A&E Original Movie brings their harrowing ordeal to life. Directed by Russell Mulcahy (Ricochet, Highlander), The Lost Battalion stars Rick Schroeder (NYPD Blue, Crimson Tide) as Major Charles Whittlesey, the civilian-turned soldier who won the Congressional Medal of Honor for keeping his outnumbered troops alive and fighting in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds.

Special Bonus Program from The History Channel®: Dear Home: Letters from World War I America fought in World War I for just over 9 months, yet close to 120,000 Americans died, leaving a country forever changed.. Learn what it was like in the trenches, hospitals and front lines from the soldiers, nurses, ambulance drivers, and postal clerks who were, as they wrote in their letters home, "Somewhere in France." Haunting and moving, this program brings "The Great War" to life through the words of Americans who lived it.

User Comment: Philip Van der Veken from Tessenderlo, Belgium, 9 March 2005 • 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.

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

[CSW] -5- War was a personal and brutal hell even in the days that we think of as simpler times. This is don't- miss movie that touches you in ways that you would not expect.

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