rating:
(out of
4 stars)United States; 1980
Directed by Samuel Fuller; produced by Gene Corman; written by Samuel Fuller
Starring Lee Marvin, Mark Hamill, Robert Carradine, Bobby Di Cicco, Kelly Ward, Stéphane Audran
Below you will find a temporary review for this film. The real (better, more complete) review will be online very soon.
'The Big Red One' is an episodic film that shows episodes in World War II,
all dealing with a sergeant (played by Lee Marvin) and four remaining
members of a company also known as The Big Red One. The director is a
veteran and it shows. The film has no real story but is built up from
memories. Some of these memories are big and could turn in films of their
own, like D-Day or the invasion of Northern Africa and Sicily, others are
just images. We see a man hanging in a tree, or the sergeant looking pleased
from underneath his helmet, or tanks rolling over the screaming soldiers in
their holes. Of course we understand soon enough that the five main
characters represent all soldiers in that war, but realizing that does not
improve the quality of the film.
As a whole I did not particularly like this film, but there are moments good
enough to keep your attention. Those moments never involve real combat which
basically exists out of explosions and gunfire, running and dying men, and
the face of the sergeant. However, there is a scene where the main
characters are ambushed, although the sergeant is aware of that. Here
director Samuel Fuller builds up tension, creating a nuanced scene where we
really care what happens. This scene and some other moments keep out
attention, showing us why some people think this is a real masterpiece.
A masterpiece, in my opinion, this definitely is not. Although Lee Marvin
has an interesting character, probably based on one of Fuller's memories,
the young kids are more clichéd than in an average John Wayne film. They
talk like they are in a high school comedy on television like 'Saved by the
Bell', and most of the time their dialogue introduces another one of
Fuller's memories in the next scene. From time to time this gives us laughs
that should not be there.
In the end 'The Big Red One' is a good B-film, with lots of mindless action,
but some moments that show depth and a film that could have been. Compare
this to other war-films where the focus is on a couple of characters in
combat (including 'Patton', 'Platoon' and 'Saving Private Ryan') and we
notice that this film does not add much. On the other hand, as a personal
film of a war veteran it can be sort of enjoyed so might give it a chance.