Cubussoli Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Exoticalot People are voting emotionally.

MusicChat It's complicated... I really like the directing, acting and writing but, there are issues with the way it's shot that I just can't deny. As much as I love the storytelling and the fantastic performance but, there are also certain scenes that didn't need to exist.

Paynbob It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

Robert J. Maxwell The Sahara -- Years Ago! Land of Sand, Riffs, Adventure, and beaded curtains! Also fairy tales like this story. Burt Lancaster is a sergeant in the French Foreign Legion, head of a pack of madcap ne'er-do-wells including some of the leading lights among the supporting players of the 40s and 50s. There's Gilbert Roland, Mike Mazurky, George Tobias and John Dehner. Yes, they will fight over a pair of socks but share the last drop in their canteen with the others. When they die, it's with a joke on their lips. ("Why does the chicken cross the road?") One for all; all for one. For added thrills and laughs, there is Mari Blanchard in a canary yellow dress and a fluffy hair do of the same tint.Lancaster and his men capture a Riff prisoner and bring him back to Lieutenant Kruger in temporary charge of the base at Tafra. Kruger is played meanly by Stephen Bekassy. Bekassy was a Hungarian but no matter. One foreign accent sounds much like any other to Hollywood's ears, and it's as well that the mean guy should be a German because 1951 was only six years after the end of World War II and we still hadn't forgiven the Nazis. Bekassy and Lancaster hate each other. And while Bekassy is busy torturing the Riff prisoner, Lancaster's Sergeant Kinkaid does roughly to Bekassy's girl friend what Lancaster's Sergeant Warden did to HIS captain's wife in "From Here to Eternity." Result: Lancaster and his musketeers are sent on a dangerous mission through the desert in order to avert a Riff attack on the undermanned base. They kidnap a princess who is the cause of it all and gallop off into the wasteland. This is some princess too, well worth kidnapping, even if it doesn't prevent a war. Jody Lawrance, in dark makeup, is sublimely beautiful and sexy. She burns with hatred for the Legionnaires. She glares at them with irises the color of obsidian. When she speaks her voice is low, throaty, piercing, menacing, bitter, conjuring up personal images of marriages past. And she's awfully cute when she's mad. The men, of course, all want to ravage her -- except for Lancaster, who saves her from their brutality. For a moment, Lancaster and princess clinch while the ghost of Rimsky-Korsakoff plays a romantic tune in the background.Situation Report. The half-dozen or so legionnaires are hustling across the desert with the sultry princess in tow, pursued by a multitude of black-robed, outraged, and frustrated Elf Kings. The chase is not without its hazard. Three of the legionnaires are picked off, each after some heroic deed, expiring in the arms of a comrade, always cheerful. "Londos, you're hurt bad." "I'm cashing in my chips, Mike, but why -- why -- did Descartes suddenly disappear in the wine shop? (Gasp.)" The ending is a Donneybrook in the enemy camp, so comic it could be Bing Crosby and Bob Hope instead of Lancaster's men. There are tense moments when a Riff has Lancaster pinned under him, both men straining against the Arab dagger, only quivering inches from Lancaster's taut face. Do Burt and his men save the fort? Does Burt get the girl? Is that supposed to be a joke? Burt Lancaster is at his best here. With a few exceptions like "Atlantic City," he was never much of a serious actor but he was great in these early adventure roles. He pulled out all the stops to magisterial comic effect. His grin is filled with Chiclets. He bounces around as if he were half his actual size, limber but not muscle bound. Off the screen he was an equally admirable altruist. Lots of fun.

Prismark10 When French Foreign Legionnaire Kincaid (Burt Lancaster) is told of an impending attack on the outpost of in North Africa while he is imprisoned. In return for his freedom he and his men will distract the enemy until help arrived.However he learns that the treacherous leader of the Riffs plans to marry Mahla, a girl from a rival tribe in order to create an alliance against the French. Kincaid kidnaps her and takes for the desert where both fall for each other.Burt Lancaster was the tough, compassionate and dashing soldier several years before From Here to Eternity.The plot nicely shot in Technicolour does have a hint of being shot in a Hollywood back lot rather than a desert. It also has a whole heap of campness especially with a bare chested Lancaster about to be tortured.Its purely a film of its time with a light plot, broad humour, a clunky romance where the white soldier kidnaps the Arab princess and inexplicably fall in love. Still you feel that all involved had their tongues in their cheeks and went all out to entertain.

thinker1691 Somewhere in the 1950's Hollywood discovered a simple formula for superior entertainment. Around that formula, any major star worth his salt could inspire a group of characters to create a magical memory. Thus this movie called " Ten Tall men " became a hit. Burt Lancaster, plays Sgt. Mike Kincaid, a French Foreign Legionnaire, who, while in a military stockade, learns of an impending attack on the city proper while the main garrison is away. Volunteering for what some consider a suicide mission, he and nine other prisoners ride into the desert to impede the attack for five days. During that time, the small group creates havoc among the gathering tribes to get their attention. Further they kidnap Mahla (Jody Lawrance) a tribal princess, which prevents the evil Khalif Hussein (Gerald Mohr) from caring out his attack. The entire film is fun to watch as great actors like Gilbert Roland, Kieron Moore, George Tobias, John Dehner and Mike Mazurki establish a wonderful and fun filled afternoon of creative enjoyment. A solid family offering for all ages. Easilly recommended. ****

bob the moo When in the brig on charges, Foreign Legion Sgt Mike Kincaid learns from a Riff prisoner of an impending attack on the outpost of Tarfa. In exchange for freedom, Kincaid and his men offer to run a series of distracting missions across the territory to keep the enemy busy until help can arrive. When he also learns that the leader of the Riffs, Caid Hussein, plans to marry Mahla, a girl from another tribe, in order to combine the two tribes against the French, Kincaid kidnaps her and flees into the desert – sparking anger and a chase from Hussein and a growing love for Kincaid in Mahla.Featuring the chest and jaw of Burt Lancaster, this is just one of many foreign legion films that were so popular at one time in Hollywood. The plot is fairly enjoyable despite not having any great development or depth to it; it provides movement and direction sufficient to keep the audience watching without ever requiring much of them and for this reason it works. Of course this is not to say it does anything special, because it doesn't but it does do what you would expect from a foreign legion picture of the period – sand storms, heroic sacrifice, bare chested heroes, torture, attacks on forts and so on. Sadly with this territory comes the usual problems – standard acting, poor characters, obvious plotting, clunky romances and a lack of real audience engagement; for me these did limit the effectiveness of the film and just made it blend with an average crowd.The acting is roundly average to match the material. Lancaster is sturdy and heroic with a good charisma and presence; hardly an interesting performance but appropriate for the genre I think. Support is not so good. Naturally Lawrence and Mohr are white actors in ethnic roles but the problem is that they don't perform that well on any level – Lawrence is unconvincing and Mohr is only acceptable as the bad guy. The rest of the cast provide some comic relief and generally give the film a rambling feel.Overall this is a standard genre film, nothing more nor nothing less. Those who like the matinée feel of the foreign legion film will enjoy it as such but just don't expect it to do anything above and beyond the call of duty as the characters, plot, action and delivery are all fairly average and prevent the film from standing out from the crowd.