The Big Red One

Plot synopsis:
The film begins in black and white in November 1918 at the end of World War I. A private (Marvin), using his trench knife, kills a German soldier who was approaching with his arms raised and speaking in German. When he returns to his company's headquarters, the private is told that the "war's been over for four hours." The 1st Division patch is shown in color.
The film then moves to November 1942, when the soldier, now a sergeant in the "Big Red One", leads his squad of infantrymen through North Africa, where they are initially fired on by a Vichy French general, who is then overpowered by his French troops who are loyal to Free France. Over the next two years the squad serves in campaigns in Sicily, where they are given intelligence by a peasant boy, and are fed by grateful women, Omaha Beach at the start of the Normandy Campaign, the liberation of France where they battle Germans inside a mental asylum, and the invasion of western Germany.
Throughout the film, the sergeant's German counterpart, Schroeder, participates in many of the same battles and displays a ruthless loyalty to Hitler and Germany. At different times he and the sergeant express the same sentiment that soldiers are killers but not murderers.
During the advance across northern France the squad crosses the same field where the sergeant killed the surrendering German at the start of the film, where a memorial now stands. The following short conversation takes place:
Johnson: Would you look at how fast they put up the names of all our guys who got killed?
The Sergeant: That's a World War One memorial.
Johnson: But the names are the same.
The Sergeant: They always are.
The squad's final action in the war is the liberation of Falkenau concentration camp in Czechoslovakia. Shortly after this, the sergeant is in a forest at night, having just buried a young boy he had befriended after liberating the camp. Schroeder approaches, attempting to surrender, but the sergeant stabs him. His squad then arrives and informs him that the war ended "about four hours ago." This time, as the squad walks away, Pvt. Griff (Mark Hamill) notices that Schroeder is still alive; the sergeant and his men work frantically to save his life as they return to their encampment.

Tags: bleak, pornographic, suspenseful, historical, realism

Review:
For all the hoopla created by "Saving Private Ryan" (another excellent film, which, in my opinion, had a better understanding of it's subject than a lot of it's critics gave it credit for), it owed a great deal to what Sam Fuller did a decade and a half before.Lee Marvin, an actual WWII veteran himself, holds the film together as the tough but exhausted seargent.
While other movies have focused on specific campaigns, "The Big Red One" deserves high marks for painting the broad canvass of the Second World War from the perspective of the guys who actually had to do the work..
Many of the scenes, especially one involving a group of older sicilian women who cook a big meal for the squad, ring very true, since a fiction writer would obviously try and spice them up--the film is very honest, and it is good that Fuller left this story for us.
Less than 5 years after the Vietnam War officially ended, Director and acclaimed (but aged) film writer Sam Fuller attempted to recount the experiences he encountered while serving as an infantry soldier in the European Theatre of WW2.
to make a film about the REAL story of WW2, about his own experiences in the Big Red One, or The First Infantry Division.Too ahead of it's time to be appreciated during it's birth, and too dated to be appreciated in hindsight.Some of the other user comments suggest this film is inferior to modern war films.
The Big Red One tells the story from a WW2 Vet's point of view, Sam Fuller, and is wonderfully acted by a WW2 vet, Lee Marvin.
The soldier is not a clean sterile fighter for the holiest do goodynest army of all time, he is a human being locked in a battle for survival, and most importantly, he hasn't lost his sense of humor, or his libido.Regardless of it's dated, almost 70's TV movie feel, I must mention that this film was first to show D-Day in a light other than that cast by The Longest Day, and uses some very clever cinematography to illustrate the violence.
Of course, the director is the famous Sam Fuller, who did a number of tough film noirs, among other things.Speaking of tough, the person who makes this movie a notch above average is Lee Marvin.
It was especially interesting to see baby-faced Star Wars' star, Mark Hamill, playing one of the soldiers in the unit called "The Big Red One."The story with narration by one of the soldiers, tells of Marvin and his handful of men who travel and do battle from North Africa to Sicily, then Italy, the beaches of Normandy on D- Day and into Germany in addition to a few other memorable stops such as "an insane asylum."It's long, but I never found it boring and the men never stay too long in one spot..
In that respect the film, in scenes like that, and in the little moments with the "four horsemen" and their episodes, are on the level (if not superior) to the emotional connectedness that Spielberg or Stone achieved.The script is a feat as a story of the stead-fast progression of the soldiers from North Africa to Germany.
In many ways THE BIG RED ONE laid the foundations for BAND OF BROTHERS but whereas that acclaimed mini series dedicates the first episode to jump school training followed by nine one hour episodes from June 1944 to the Summer of 1945 , this movie has a running time of less than two hours featuring a timeframe that lasts from Spring 1942 to May 1945 which seems a bad idea with hindsight: Cut to Algeria 1942 , cut to Sicily 1943 , cut to Normandy 1944 etc .
And looking back on this film 20 years later after seeing APOCALYPSE NOW , A BRIDGE TOO FAR , CROSS OF IRON , SAVING PRIVATE RYAN , THE THIN RED LINE and BLACK HAWK DOWN I can`t say the battle scenes in THE BIG RED ONE are all that impressive to me in 2003.THE BIG RED ONE  does have a few good points .
But the best part of the movie is a moving segment featuring Lee Marvin`s tough Sarge befriending a child who`s just been liberated from a Nazi death camp , though once again this is skated over far too quickly in a film that`s got too many negatives and not enough positives .
The Big Red One is not only one of the greatest WWII films, it is also one of the greatest war movies.Sam Fuller's film, which was butchered by the studio, is the picaresque tale of 5 members of the First Infantry, known, because of their shoulder patch, as the Big Red One. The film moves from one story to the next without spending too much time on any particular tale.The individual vignettes, as they must, vary in quality, but on the whole are excellent.
Fuller's direction here, though not his best when compared to Underworld USA or Shock Corridor, is still better than most, especially considering that this was his first film in several years.All in all, I find the Big Red One to be an exemplary war movie, even in its emasculated format (I cannot wait to see the restored, 140 minute print, which should improve upon scenes that feel to brief in this version).
It's based on actual experiences that the Writer/Director, Sam Fuller, went through during his time in the war.The movie follows several soldiers in The 1st Infantry.
There are some very dramatic and intense scenes in this film, but it avoids making the viewer feel  too depressed or saddened, thanks to a lot of light humour throughout the script.Although "The Big Red One" is not well known, it easily ranks up there with Saving Private Ryan, Apocalypse Now, and Tora Tora Tora as one of the greatest war films of all time.
At no time is any serious attempt made to conjure up a realistic atmosphere; we always have the impression that we are watching actors on a set rather than soldiers on a battlefield.The lack of verisimilitude might not matter if we were presented with characters we can sympathies with, but the soldiers in this film are a fairly unsympathetic lot, with the partial exception of Mark Hamill's Private Griff, a semi-pacifist who is suspected of cowardice by his colleagues.
Particularly memorable are the shots of the dead soldier's hand and wristwatch sticking up out of the shallows off the Normandy beaches or the battered wooden crucifix which appears both in the main body of the film and in the black-and-white prologue about the sergeant's First World War experiences.
He really does become the experienced non-commissioned officer who shepherds the young soldiers of our greatest generation through war.These guys are not heroes by any means, but they are doing a necessary job and being led by the best when it comes to their survival.My favorite scenes are when the U.S. Army's First Division liberates a concentration camp in Czechoslovakia towards the end of the war.
It's what movies are all about.Mark Hamill straight from his iconic role as Luke Skywalker in the original Star Wars gets billing second to Marvin.
About half an hour into watching this film I decided instead to count the Hollywood cliches instead of trying to believe in the plot.For those lucky enough not to have seen this film they were in no particular order: 1.Persistent lazy Hollywood producers allowing non-Americans to speak English to each other, e.g. German soldiers.At least Joseph E Levine insisted in his film "The Longest Day" (1962) that the French spoke French, German spoke German etc, and this was 18 years before the subject film was made!For those not able to understand these languages sub titles are always available.This lazy habit immediately destroys a film's credibility and convinces you all you are seeing is acting.It seems if you are going to portray an historic event you might at least film it in a credible way.2.Untrained soldiers skilled in obstetrics in the middle of a battle field!3.You see a concentration camp boy victim apparantly unable to walk and is laid down on the commandant's bed.Almost immediately he is seen to walk out under his own steam and then eating looking almost healthy when he refused food before.Then he cannot walk again and finally expires while riding piggy back on the sergeant!
4.The usual 1940 and 50s method of soldiers dying on screen i.e. a sudden hand up to "the wound" and then keeling over.5.Usual portrayal of skilled German soldiers as stupid and unable to defend themselves.6.Omaha Beach on a shoestring budget on D-Day - the platoon wins the beach battle by itself!7.A superannuated sergeant (far too old for active service in WWII) going around Europe without any officer in charge of him and his platoon and when he asks for help from Brigade is told, "you're on your own".8.A female resistance guerilla infiltrates into a lunatic asylum and proceeds to cut the throats of trained German soldiers.All medical staff were vetted and under German orders and would not have been able to secrete her into this type of establishment.9.Little or no character development, so one feels no sympathy for the characters portrayed.10.An insurance actuary would not accept when assessing the odds on survival, that the principal characters would all come through unscathed at the end of the film after risking their lives at Sicily (1943), D- Day (1944) and sundry other combat engagements.
Some people have criticised Lee Marvin's lethargic performance but I thought that he was one of the few good things in the film, a reflection perhaps of his own experience of combat in the Pacific theatre (he was badly wounded on Saipan).
Too bad there weren't more of them in director Samuel Fuller's interpretation of service and survival during the Second World War.Despite the potential to be something memorable, this tale of American soldiers led by an aging (though still gritty) Lee Marvin suffers from weak characterization, unconvincing battle scenes, clunky editing and a lack of material to adequately fill its nearly two-hour running time.
And our star delivers a quintessential Lee Marvin performance, displaying a "I've seen it all before" level of perseverance.THE BIG RED ONE doesn't hold a candle to great war pictures of the past and present.
The scene where Marvin "comforts" the wounded soldier by reminding him "that's why you got two of them" sums up this film so well: war is hell but that doesn't you can't be human when you're in the middle of it.Interestingly, my top three WW2 movies are this one, _Saving Private Ryan_, and _The Longest Day_: all of which have major action on Omaha Beach..
I could could just go on and on about how absurd "The Big Red One" is, but here are a few which I remember off the top of my head:* This is supposed to be a "serious" war movie (not like "Rambo" or some Chuck Norris BS), and one based on the director Sam Fuller's real-life experiences, ostensibly, but how in hell do these boys go through combat behind enemy lines talking so much??
For a much better serious war film (though none is perfect, admittedly), try Sam Peck's "Cross of Iron" -- but DO NOT get the Region 1 Hen's Tooth DVD version, which is terribly done; screen the Region 2 French (with English dub) version instead!"The Big Red One" is "Saving Private Ryan" without any of the special effects or modern action and pacing which made the latter at least marginally redeemable.
It was supposed to be about the experiences of the men who fought but I didn't feel the film delivered that: none of the characters were really explored or given much depth, even the great Lee Marvin seemed distant and cold.
Marvin and his Four Horsemen fight their way through North Africa, Sicily, D-Day, and the European campaign all the while in clean uniforms, and clean shaven.The battle of the Kasserine Pass with 3 tanks, wow.Crummy dialogue, poor special effects.Hey, another new guy in the squad gets 3 lines - mildly entertaining trying to guess how soon he'll get killed.Ludicrous scene in an insane asylum where a Resistance fighter feigns insanity, dancing about to phonograph music, slicing the throats of the German guards with a razor.One of the worst war movies I've seen..
In one movie, with no remiss of detail!!!An ingenious way to tell the tale of America's involvement in the European war; instead of showing of an epic 3 hour movie, dealing with every facet of a major battle (The Longest Day, A Bridge too Far), they convey it through the eyes of men who actually experienced it, instead of the generals, making it seem all the more real!Believe me, if you are at all interested in WW2 history, see this movie.
Surviving is the Unique Glory in the War. A veteran sergeant (Lee Marvin) of the World War I leads a squad in World War II, always in the company of the survivors Pvt. Griff (Mark Hamill), the writer Pvt. Zab (Robert Carradine), the Sicilian Pvt. Vinci and Pvt. Johnson (Kelly Ward), in Vichy French Africa, Sicily, D-Day at Omaha Beach, Belgium and France, ending in a concentration camp in Czechoslovakia where they face the true horror of the war.I bought the VHS of "The Big Red One" many years ago and I forgot to watch it.
To compare this with Saving Private Ryan or Apocalypse Now is truly absurd - these movies have motion, purpose, but in "The Big Red One" actors just stumble through the scenery, with exploding trees, and a VERY thin story line.
It rides a great performance from Lee Marvin and nice soundtrack into the plus territory but overall it's a bit hollow.It bounces from one set piece to another without a unifying theme except for, "It's in WWII."  It employs the usual war film cliches, the ethnic slurs towards an Italian GI, the bloodless combat, the sharp-shooter who develops a conscience, the drunken party with French girls, the orphan boy.The war scenes are low-budget and unrealistic.
Fuller was thus able to address certain issues with a directness unmatched by many A-movie directors; in fact, it is this directness that surprises many in Fuller's audiences, and befuddles some.The nearly three hour reconstruction of "The Big Red One" the crowning achievement of Fuller's career, is as good a case in point as any of his films.
My sense is that our natural response - somewhat amused, slightly bewildered - is exactly what Fuller wants from us; and that's what makes him such an interesting director, he is intentionally eliciting audience responses most other directors fear."The Big Red One" is indeed a masterpiece; it is at once all war films ever made, rolled into one; and yet it is also one of a kind.
In the words of Sam Fuller himself, "The only way to make a truly realistic war movie is to fill the theater with smoke and flame, the sound of explosions, and to have someone shoot the person sitting next to you."Quite.And aware of that limitation we should take The Big Red One for what it is...
A private (Lee Marvin) kills a German soldier but he finds out that the war is already over.
It's then WWII as the same soldier now as Sergeant of a squad in the 1st Infantry Division nicknamed The Big Red One. They land on the North African shore but Private Griff (Mark Hamill) is unable to kill.
Still he oozes roguish charisma, which is probably why his chemistry with the cast is so sharp.Mark Hamill is a ticking timebomb of twisted emotion, Robert Carradine is delightfully cocky and Bobby Ciccone and Kelly Ward wear their uniforms like they were born for the battalion.True to even the most frank of real life WWII stories such as Band of Brothers, this unit is comprised of men who thrive off each other, which makes The Big Red One feel so refreshingly authentic considering the time of its making.And considering what we know now what we didn't know all those decades ago, and most certainly what I couldn't have known as a child, what we witness in the movie's final scenes make it all the more heart-wrenching to come to terms with.This is a must see for all connoisseurs of war cinema!.
The film will follow him and four infantrymen as they fight across North Africa, the Mediterranean and Western Europe, right up until the eventual German surrender in 1945.I like Sam Fuller's war movies.
This happened all of the time during the war; how often did we see it in WWII films before "Saving Private Ryan" rolled around 18 years later?
Along with several other war tributes to the generation that served our country during the 1940s, Fuller's version is another good film to see.Starring as the main character is Lee Marvin.
For a war movie from 1980, then "The Big Red One" was actually quite good.
Samuel Fuller adds his voice to the countless others who have recorded WWII stories, yet manages to create a movie that's completely original in its vision.The largely autobiographical story follows the Big Red One, the nickname for an infantry rifle squad, through many of the war's major battles.
It concentrates on the 5 main characters, four soldiers who survive through the whole war and their tough as nails Seargent (with no name) played with great humanity by Lee Marvin.
Released in 1980, BR1 is one of the earliest war movies to feature a cast that at least resembles the age of the actual WW II soldier, Lee Marvin being the obvious exception.
I'm sorry, but if you want to see the life soldiers really live and what they talk about, you can't bring your kids, and you might not like what you see, it's not like life in peacetime.Now I know there's a lot of people, like me, who watch war films for the gratuitous battle scenes.