The Final Battle (1978)

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Movie
German title the last fight
Original title Go tell the Spartans
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1978
length 114 minutes
Age rating FSK 16
Rod
Director Ted Post
script Wendell Mayes
production Allan F. Bodoh ,
Mitchell Cannold
music Dick Halligan
camera Harry Stradling junior
cut Millie Moore
occupation

The last battle (original title: Go Tell the Spartans ) is a 1978 American war film released and directed by Ted Post . The novel Incident at Muc Wa by US writer Daniel Ford was adapted for the script . The film is about a unit of US soldiers who fight the Viet Cong in the Vietnam War .

The original English title is an ironic allusion to the Spartan soldiers who died in 480 BC. Chr. In the Battle of Thermopylae by the Persians were defeated.

action

The film is set in the south of Vietnam in 1964. The US major Asa Barker has been commissioned to convert the village of Muc Wa, abandoned by the French, into a base. In the absence of personnel, he puts together a unit of newly arrived reservists from the US Army and about 20 captured Vietnamese civilians, who can manage without the handicapped Barker, who remains in the command center with Captain Alfred Olivetti, and under the direction of the idealistic but inexperienced lieutenant Hamilton makes his way through the jungle. On the way, and even more strongly near the village, the unit is attacked with firearms by the Viet Cong. Hamilton is shot by the Viet Cong. Olivetti will soon replace him on site as head of the unit, while Barker will coordinate by radio. Barker soon learns that the Viet Cong are planning an even stronger attack on the village. Therefore he wants to have the village with the soldiers evacuated on the orders of the superior general. When Corporal Courcey, one of the soldiers, defies the order so as not to abandon the wounded Vietnamese civilians, Barker also remains in the village. They soon discover that there were also heavily armed traitors among the civilians who are apparently working for the Viet Cong. Therefore they shoot them, except for one who can escape. When Barker and the wounded try to move towards a street at night, they are ambushed by the Viet Cong. Barker and most of the others die in the process. Courcey survives and wanders disoriented through the forest.

production

The budget for the film was $ 1.5 million. As it turned out to be insufficient during production, lead actor Burt Lancaster waived part of his fee and gave an additional $ 150,000.

publication

The film had its world premiere on June 14, 1978 in the USA. First performance in the Federal Republic of Germany was on July 13, 1978.

In terms of the number of moviegoers, the film was not particularly successful in US theaters. In 1987, and during a wave of hit war films like Platoon and Full Metal Jacket , the film was re-released in theaters in at least one movie theater in Los Angeles .

reception

The film service ruled: "War film spectacle staged with all the clichés of the genre, whose critical approaches apparently only serve as an alibi."

The British magazine Empire awarded three out of five possible stars and said: "Routine war film with enough entertaining dialogues to watch until the end."

Screenwriter Wendell Mayes was nominated for a 1979 Writers Guild of America Award for adapting the novel as a screenplay .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c The Last Battle (1977). In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed February 22, 2020 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  2. ↑ a b c Aljean Harmetz: 'Go Tell Spartans,' On Vietnam War, To Be Re-released , in: The New York Times of June 24, 1987, retrieved on Feb. 8, 2019
  3. ↑ Release Info , in: IMDb , accessed on Feb. 8, 2019
  4. ↑ Go Tell The Spartans Review , in: Empire , accessed on Feb. 8, 2019, original quote: “Routine war film with enough entertaining dialogue to keep you watching till the end.”
  5. ↑ Awards , in: IMDb , accessed on Feb. 8, 2019