TrueJoshNight Truly Dreadful Film

Baseshment I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

Livestonth I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

Scarlet The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

alanjohnson-65117 Most of the reviewers here have been pretty spot on with their observations. It's worth noting that there were some exceptional stories of valour and gallantry at Dien Bien Phu. A good example is the Walker light tanks that were literally dropped in crates and built on-site by the Motorcar platoon at the fortress. The tanks are still there today. The action was more than a little 'faked' but not at all out of character for the 1950's. (See the Gene Barry-Angie Dickinson movie, 'China Gate' for a very comparable French Indochina picture.) It would have been far more compelling as a docudrama chronicling the events of the siege from the beginning until the tragic (at least for the Legionnaires) end. This is a movie that would be well worth a remake, however unlikely that is. All in all there are many worse war movies. The appearance of a young and beautiful Patricia Blair in her pre-Daniel Boone days is a plus. It's disappointing that she did not have a more expansive career.

Tranacria I saw this when it came out in 1955. I would like to obtain it in DVD or VHS format. Where can I get this done? I think that it would help the American viewing public to understand we got involved in Vietnam. The problem was that the French were surrounded in Dien Bien Phu and were expecting American air strikes to help them get out of being surrounded by the Vietminh. The air support never came and the French were over run. The United States filled the vacuum left by the French in order to contain communism.President Eisenhower started by sending about fifteen American servicemen as advisers in the late 1950s.President Kennedy increased the complement of American servicemen to 15, 000 men and President Johnson up the ante to 500,000.

lord woodburry I saw this film many years ago. Perhaps watching Platoon, Firebase Gloria, Go Tell it to The Spartans, Casualties of War brought this film to mind.Jump into Hell often shown in the days of the Big Show, the after school re-run movie in the 1960s takes a look at the early phase of the Viietnam War fought by the French. In 1954 French forces parachuted into western Vietnam to cut off Viet Minh (communist) supply lines from Red China. The move encouraged by a US promise of air support which never materialized put French troops far removed from their supply lines. General Giap the Viet Minh commander perhaps the greatest General of the 20th Century, General Westmorland's comments to the contrary, seized the opportunity and besieged the over-extended French. The result was a French Staligrad, sapping French enthusiasm for further colonial conflict in South East Asia and leading to a negotiated peace.The movie Diên Biên Phu, often titled Jump Into Hell, takes a look at the French disaster at Dien-bien-phu from the French perspective: bravery, personal loyalty and determination leads many French soldiers and Legionnaires to volunteer to reinforce Diên Biên Phu and rescue trapped comrades. There is a good look at the tactics of the Viet Minh and the use of the helicopter in modern warfare, albeit unsuccessfully at Diên Biên Phu.General DeGaulle summed up the American involvement which followed the collapse of the French war effort in Vietnam: "Americans have learned nothing from French blunders."

guanche This is one of the very few films dealing with the the "French" phase of the Vietnam War. It's a medium budget (even though the guns aren't fully authentic) American film with many European actors. It was made at the height of the Cold War, and before the American public became jaded and cynical over our own involvement. Many brave men on both sides sacrificed their lives at Dienbienphu, and most believed deeply in their respective causes. A fair number of rear echelon French troops---including Vietnamese and Foreign Legionnaires (some of them with ugly past lives in the SS) parachuted into the slaughterhouse, even after the situation had become hopeless. Amazingly, some of them had never jumped before! But, despite this truly monumental display of courage, the overly worshipful portrayal of the French is more than a bit over the top.The idea of turning Dienbienphu---surrounded by densely forested mountains----into a super firebase in an area with only one all weather road and an airstrip right under the concealed guns of an unsubdued enemy, was a military blunder of the first rank.Unmentioned in the film is the fact that the French really expected massive U.S. intervention if they got into serious trouble. But, they didn't even get the airstrikes they begged for. The ending is a bit deceptive since it is implied that the French went down fighting to the last man. Although they sustained heavy battle casualties, in actuality they surrendered after running out of ammunition, and thousands of French soldiers and legionnaires went into captivity. Many died of disease and malnutrition.The movie does contain a fair amount of action and the battle scenes are well staged. Strangely enough, some of the best parts deal with the "soap opera" flashbacks of the main characters about their prewar lives. I loved this movie when I was a kid. Although my subsequently acquired knowledge has cooled my enthusiasm in many respects, it is still an interesting historical period piece, and a worthwhile story about bravery and sacrifice.Another one of a rather surprising number of quality films that have never made it to commercial video.