Product Details

• Actors: Jacques Perrin, Bruno Cremer, Pierre Fabre, Manuel Zarzo, Boramy Tioulong
• Directors: Pierre Schoendoerffer
• Format: Black & White, NTSC
• Language: French, Vietnamese
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Kino International
• VHS Release Date: November 13, 1990
• Run Time: 94 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6302185998
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #403,315 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A tough, gritty view of the "other" Vietnam war, October 1, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The 317th Platoon [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This film is an excellent story of the first Vietnam War, the one that involved the French. The French involvement in Vietnam is not that well known in the USA. However, those that see this film will be interested to know that battle have been fought in that country for many years. Pierre Schoendoerffer, the director and Raul Courtard, the cinematographer are both veterans of the French conflict in Vietnam (Indo-China). The 317 Platoon tells the story of a group of French soldiers and their Latoian allies who trek through the jungle to the saftey of a French outpost. They a pursued by the Viet-Minh, and the odds of them reaching safety get longer avery day.

32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finest Indochina war film ever made., February 14, 2002

By 

J.M. Brown (Sacramento, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The 317th Platoon [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Directed by Pierre Schoendorfer, a Dienbienphu survivor, and photographed by Raoul Coutard, who shot "Breathless" (the real one, Godard's) and Truffaut's best films, this is in every way the best, most real and gripping filmed drama of the Indochina wars ever made. It was photographed in glorious black-and-white on location in Cambodia. If you were a combat veteran, line doggie or LRRP in Vietnam this wonderful movie will resonate with you. The little details are there, sounds, faces, jungle rivers, all of it. If you weren't there and want to know what it was like then you should purchase this film. No other film comes close to the understated realism and gritty reality of Schoendorfer's masterpiece -- and I've seen them all. This is a true masterpiece of the war film genre and the best "Vietnam movie" ever made. Trust me.