i respectfully disagree (but only partially). the only 'reason for viewing' is sex kitten Brigitte Bardot.
as far your history lesson is concerned i think you've made an interesting observation. if the Apache represent the Viet Cong defending their lands then the foolishly clueless aristocratic multi-national hunting party with superior firepower represent the invading forces. i'll buy into this idea but the fact remains that this is a Louis L'Amore novel, and a poor one at that.
in addition, as i recall the French had a go at the Vietnamese decades before U.S. and Communist Chinese involvement and the French got their asses handed to them by the same guerilla tactics which, by the way, is actually well documented in a book the Vietnamese government keeps under lock and key to this day. (i saw this on the History Military channel recently.)
i also like this movie even with all its flaws. Bardot's magical hairpiece aside her bathing scene by the waterhole alone is worth the price of admission. its really a shame that her command of the English language prevented her from starring in more movies but she did leave us with Helen of Troy, Babette Goes to War and A Woman Like Satan.
cheers...
"only one food for the rest of my life? That's easy, cherry-flavored Pez. No question about it."
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sludgehound
14 years ago
Yes her bathing scene was neat. Saw a little black mole on her right side
that was so cute. A blemish that didn't detract at all, just made her more
human. Accent wasn't a problem. When she said "out of cartridges" at start it
was very clear, unless dubbed. Maybe at very end the way the two women had to
just stand there voiceless was a bit odd. But that's only because BB's voice
had been raised as an issue by TCM guy intro.
That Indian spear technique at start was rough one. Flaming arrows hit one
guy straight on. And that bit with the jewelry choking was pretty graphic
after the way the Indian used the sand/breathing part. Yuck.
Ending might have been tighter. Earlier I kept thinking oh well maybe the superior firepower might end up in play with Connery lobing explosives or something to lower the odds.
Then there's the Euro guy using a powerful scope rifle at close range against a
pistol?? Where was that rifle being used to advantage before. Didn't remember much fuss about it unless I passed by that.
Oh and as to Vietnam, the Japanese had had their butts kicked by them before
the French came back to try and reestablish their control. French even asked
Pres Ike to use small nukes at Dien Bien Phu. He turned them down. US did help supply French at certain point. DBP tho wasn't a guerrilla/Indian event tho given that the Viets outnumbered the French by 4 to 1. Have to hand it to the French they could hang on at all given their lousy setup and so far from home.
Prob the Brits have had best outcome in these kinds of actions. US took that
into consideration in some of their ground actions.
Years later the west's superior fire power came in handy as a bargaining chip when JFK secretly agreed to pull down some near obsolete nukes from Turkey to seal the deal over Cuban missile crises.
Sometimes having the superior position means not having to actually use it.
Just enough to have it. Once the nukes weren't used in Korea they became less
of an advantage to this day.
We're back to the old cave man days where the single 'guerrilla' can bring down a single mass airplane or civilian element like the WTC. Cowboys and Indians all over again.
Boy didn't that TCM go on about BB's heavy eye makeup! Who cares. As you point out the sex kitten can pull off anything.
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