The Foreign Legion: Tougher Than the Rest

As I was intrigued by the thought of some insight into the workings of the Foreign Legion, I thought I'd give this one a go.

Sadly, this documentary is a total mess. It seems to me a mediocre blend of regurgitated quotes from the Foreign Legion's own information brochures and uninteresting anecdotal information.

It's such a shame too, since the opportunity to explore either a historical, political, military or even personal viewpoint of one of the most interesting military forces in modern history is totally missed. Only in the last of the three parts does it start to resemble good storytelling, but sadly it's way too late.

I cannot start to comprehend what the producer and writer of this movie were thinking. With such great possibilities of intimate interaction and access to the officers and soldiers, it's really astonishing that they weren't able to fit it into a more coherent dramaturgy.

There are some scenes that show great promise, but they all end way too early. They're simply dismissed while the series moves on to another distraction.

The editing is ridiculous at times, mostly just annoying, and it really saddens me to see such great potential totally wasted. It seems obvious that the woman behind this has a background from reality TV too, as there are numerous repetitions of many scenes, and the editing jumps randomly between different scenes as well.

The narrator does a nice job, although the writing is simply sub par. Unless you're fanatically interested in receiving fragmented info on the Foreign Legion, I'd recommend you to stay away from this one.

Hopefully someone more talented will come along at a later time and do a better job at telling the world about the Foreign Legion and their place in our world.