Rent The Big Red One (1980)
3.4 of 5 from 101 ratings
2h 36min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
"The Real Glory of War", Samuel Fuller said, "is surviving". A decorated combatant with the tamed U.S. First Infantry in World War II. Fuller survived. His 1980 film version of his war experiences did not... Until now. Working with 70.000 feet of vault materials and Fuller's shooting script critic/filmmaker Richard Schickel heads a reconstruction that adds over 40 minutes and transforms a truncated but admired war film into an epic masterwork. Lee Marvin, in a richly layered performance now revealed as one of his finest stars as the sergeant of peach-fuzzed riflemen fighting from North Africa to Normandy and across Europe. The film is the squad's combat diary, war as it's fought and sweated and bled and, maybe, survived. - Actors:
- Lee Marvin, Mark Hamill, Robert Carradine, Bobby Di Cicco, Kelly Ward, Stéphane Audran, Siegfried Rauch, Serge Marquand, Charles Macaulay, Alain Doutey, Maurice Marsac, Colin Gilbert, Joseph Clark, Ken Campbell, Doug Werner
- Directors:
- Samuel Fuller
- Producers:
- Gene Corman, Douglas Freeman, Richard Schickel
- Writers:
- Samuel Fuller
- Aka:
- The Big Red One: The Reconstruction
- Studio:
- Warner
- Genres:
- Action & Adventure, Classics, Drama
- Collections:
- Cinema Paradiso's 2024 Centenary Club: Part 1, People of the Pictures, Remembering: A Spring Special, A Brief History of Film...
More like The Big Red One
Found in these customers lists
1128 films by frank-talker™
Reviews (1) of The Big Red One
The Second Most Interesting Thing on Screen - The Big Red One review by griggs
I spent most of this watching Lee Marvin’s face, and I suspect Samuel Fuller did too — the camera keeps parking on it, and every time it does, whatever battle is happening becomes the second most interesting thing on screen. He barely raises his voice and still feels like the most dangerous man in Europe.
The trouble is the rest of the squad. Even Mark Hamill, fresh off The Empire Strikes Back, never comes into focus — I couldn’t tell you much about any of them beyond who holds which rifle. So there’s not much to feel when one of them stops coming back.
And it’s a bit Forrest Gump in fatigues: one platoon at every major stop from North Africa to the last days of the war. Fuller was actually there, which is the only reason it gets away with it. Still, Cinema Paradiso's copy, the Reconstruction Cut is generous with itself at nearly three hours long, (the theatrical release was just over two), and starts running on fumes long before the end.
Worth it for Marvin’s face alone.
1 out of 1 members found this review helpful.