The Lost Battalion

Buy This Item The Lost Battalion by A&E Home Video  Available from Amazon  $14.99  on 8-27-2008     The true World War I story of an American unit that was surrounded by German troops and pounded mercilessly for days (at times even by its own artillery) is vividly portrayed in this made-for-television film starring Rick Schroder. Playing a patrician New York City lawyer commissioned a major and sent into combat, Schroder commands a battalion composed of New York wiseacres as well as so-called "apple knockers" from the West. The plot is straightforward (and will be familiar to those who know World War I history), but the film rises above what could have been a clichéd telling of the story of Major Whittlesey and his heroic men. The action sequences, shot tightly with hand-held cameras, owe a debt to <I>Saving Private Ryan</I>, and the surreal horror of World War I, in which armies killed with machine guns yet communicated by carrier pigeon, is conveyed very well. <I>--Robert J. McNamara</I> Reader Reviews The First World War was the seminal event of the twentieth century, and the first war in which the United States sent a large army abroad, yet it is the Second World War that people remember. Part of the problem is there just aren't many recent movies about WWI. Happily The Lost Battalion is a surprisingly good retelling of the story of 600 American soldiers, who spent five days in an isolated pocket surrounded by the German army, during the October 1918 Meuse-Argonne Offensive. Rick Shroeder is convincing as the major in command of the troops, the portrayal of life in the trenches is fairly realistic, and the use of hand-held cameras gives the impression that you are there. Don't expect panoramic scenes, though. This is a made for television movie, so the cast is small. The special effects are adequate, but only just, and aspects of the story were changed for dramatic effect and to make use of available resources. For example, the "Lost Battalion" was located by a pilot and observer flying in an American-made DH 4 two-seater, but in the movie the plane is a single seat British-made SE 5 with unlikely French markings. Other good movies about WWI include The Lighthorsemen (the British in Palestine), Gallipoli, Paths of Glory, various remakes of Alls Quiet on the Western Front, and a number of aviation movies. Accurate information about the events portrayed in the move can be found in a 1928 report by the Army War College, entitled "The Operation of the So-Called 'Lost Battalion,' Oct. 2nd to Oct. 8th, 1918", which can be downloaded from the National Archives website. The book,Finding the Lost Battalion: Beyond the Rumors, Myths and Legends of America's Famous WW1 Epic is well researched and exhaustive.

The Lost Battalion Available from Amazon Price: $14.99 Updated on 8-27-2008.

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