Saw 'Desert Sands' due to primarily finding the subject matter fascinating, the foreign legion is always interesting to portray on film and there are films that have done so very well. It also had the always reliable Ralph Meeker and John Carradine in the cast, with Carradine especially having the sort of role that was well suited to him. It also appeared in my more like this section after seeing other Meeker and Carradine films some time back.
'Desert Sands' was an example of a film that had such a promising story on paper. It is sadly also an example of a film that has very uneven execution. A big part of me wanted to be on the same wavelength of those reviewing 'Desert Sands' positively, but to me there were too many things that worked against it. It is though not near as bad as those that commented unfavourably have said and does have some major strengths that raise it to average level.
It is a good-looking film. The photography is particularly beautifully crafted in the action and is quite vibrant. The scenery is quite attractive and the way the camera is used shooting it prevents it from being static. The music fits quite well and sweeps effectively, with stirring use of "Le Boudin" and a suitably nostalgic theme song.
The action and battle choreography is exciting and has tension, things not present in much of the rest of the story. A few of the performances are good. Meeker is suitably brooding and Marla English is alluring, but menacingly ruthless Carradine gets the acting honours.
However, the story outside of the action just didn't grab me and felt on the thin side. The film takes forever to get started and the first portions are pretty dull. The romance is not very interesting at all and is not particularly believable. Other than Meeker, English and Carradine the acting is nothing really to write home about in roles that come over as sketchy stereotypes rather than real people and portraying the legionnaires as complacent is not going to go down well with some. And no it is not the lack of authenticity or the accents that bother me.
Being somebody that wanted to not take things too seriously or nit-pick. It does have to be said that it is distracting that there doesn't really seem to be a discernible sense of time and place. With things present that don't belong in the period. Worst of all is the dialogue, which is more often than not cringe-worthingly awful, far too much cheese, unintentional humour and with not a shred of originality.
Summarising, not terrible but to me regrettably it was not particularly good either. 5/10
