March or Die is a 1977 British war drama film directed by Dick Richards and starring Gene Hackman, Terence Hill, Catherine Deneuve, Max von Sydow, and Sir Ian Holm.

The film celebrates the 1920s French Foreign Legion, whose Major Foster (Hackman), a war-weary American haunted by his memories of the recently ended Great War, is assigned to protect a group of archaeologists at a dig site in Erfoud in Morocco from Bedouin revolutionaries led by El-Krim (based on the Moroccan revolutionary Abd el-Krim).

Soon after the Great War, Major William Foster (Gene Hackman), an American commander in the French Foreign Legion, suffers the haunting memories of leading an army of more than 8,000 men and watching them slowly get whittled down to just 200.

Foster is also ordered to escort archaeologists from the Louvre, who are uncovering an ancient city near Erfoud that was buried by a sandstorm 3,000 years ago.

Among those who volunteer willingly or unwillingly is "the Gypsy" Marco Segrain (Terence Hill), a charming jewel thief famous for a three-year crime spree on the Riviera before getting arrested.

Gypsy befriends three other recruits: the Russian giant Ivan (Jack O'Halloran), formerly a member of the elite bodyguard of the deposed Russian imperial family; "Top Hat" François Gilbert (André Penvern), a fashionable man and musician who lacks the physical traits needed in a soldier; and Frederick Hastings (Paul Sherman), a romantic young English aristocrat who longs for the days of the Great War.

The four friends are soon disillusioned by the harsh realities of life in the Legion, including heavy physical labour, little food and water and scorching heat.

El Krim gives a "gift" to Foster to take back to the Premier of France: the archaeologists of an earlier dig who have had their eyes and tongues gouged out and been subjected to exposure.

Top Hat collapses during a march and is left to die of thirst but manages to return to camp and ultimately commits suicide rather than endure any further abuse.

Later, at the digging site, Hastings is kidnapped on guard duty and is tortured to death by a tribal raider, whom El Krim excuses as being merely overzealous.

According to Lew Grade, the film "went well over budget when Gene Hackman suffered an accident, and lost money" at the box office.