laplander

This movie, for all the hype, is really a let down to those who know what really happened in the Charlevaux Ravine between October 2nd and October 8th, as well as the offensive fought in the Argonne Forest between September 26th and November 11th. Factually the movie repeatedly persists in making very basic mistakes concerning uniforms, dialog, military matters, and a whole host of other points too numerous to mention in this post. The quality of the acting is marginal at best, the continuity falls well short of the mark, and the story line fails to follow what really happened. The researchers obviously didn't do their jobs - otherwise the majority of the mistakes made would never have occured (ie: it wasn't the '308th Battalion', it was basically the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the 308th Infantry Regiment, 154th Infantry Brigade, 77th Division, and elements of the 306th Machine Gun Battalion, and Company 'K' of the 307th Infantry - it is also inconceivable that combat soldiers would STAND UP in the middle of an attack and expose themselves to infilading fire) The location chosen for the film does not resemble the Charlevaux Ravine in the least, nor does Rick Schroeder resemble Charles Whittlesey (or act like him for that matter). All in all, except for certain battle scenes, this movie was a pure waste of film. Robert J. Laplander Author of the forthcoming book "Epic in the Argonne: A Comprehensive History of Charles W. Whittlesey and the Lost Battalion"