Fantastic!

Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

For a war movie from 1980, then "The Big Red One" was actually quite good. Sure it was no "Saving Private Ryan" or "Band of Brothers", but it did hold up its own quite nicely.The story is about a group of soldiers who make it through the various campaigns throughout World War II, spanding from Africa to Germany and everything in between.The movie did, however, come off as somewhat fractioned, as if the red thread throughout the movie had been cut in various places and then tied together, and the result was this movie. That being said, then the movie is still enjoyable. But it tends to jump from location to location in a manner such as the audience never really gets attached to what's going on, and once we start to get into it, then the year and location changes."The Big Red One" does have some good people to the cast list, and it is no secret that I bought this movie solely because I wanted to see Mark Hamill in a war movie. And it was actually quite a nice treat to see him in this movie. The movie is driven by some good characters, however, unlike "Band of Brothers" or "The Pacific", then the audience are never really let into the inner sphere of each of these characters, and as such something was lost to the movie, because the movie failed to build up a relationship between the characters and the audience as a whole.If you enjoy World War II movies, then "The Big Red One" is definitely well worth watching. And for those of the slightly older generation, then Lee Marvin does put on a good performance in this movie as well.

Yes, this movie features two well known actors of the time, and still today: Lee Marvin & Mark Hamill. The Big Red One has some ups and downs, but mainly downs...in a matter of opinion of course. To start off, I feel that nobody in this movie was truly dedicated to their role, as most or all of the actors were very unconvincing. The way it was filmed makes me feel like there are pieces missing or it's broken/hastily made. They land in Africa (wait did I see a black soldier on the landing boats?! with white soldiers?! Didn't the army segregate whites and blacks into their own battalions post 1942?). Then the Americans are fired upon "accidentally" by the French, U.S. has sporadic firefights with the Germans, later they dig in and tanks run over their foxholes killing some men?, two guys get out of foxholes (one of them Hamill) and run for the hills, and then everyone is out of their foxholes, and THEN I don't know what the f**k is going on...just a lot of nonsense. THEN they are on the beaches, and Mark Hamill's narration kicks in and states that there are only four guys left in their unit or something like that....Nest scene their on a boat to Sicily. Blah blah blah. I'm not going to review every inch of this film. I saw this for the first time 15 or so years ago, but recently watched it again and had to put in some words. I loved the Dirty Dozen, but did not like Lee Marvin in Red One. He seemed far away, like on autopilot for this role. The good I have to say is that although some/most of the battle scenes were off, they were still entertaining, and for that I give this movie a 5. It's 1:08 AM now, I can't sleep and had nothing better to do. I think I'll watch All Quiet On The Western Front (1930 talkie version), the acting and battle scenes are more realistic than The Big Red One made 50 years later.

The Big Red One directed by Samuel Fuller bases the story line off of his own life and has done it well. 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 anyone who does not know of Marvin's background, he too served in the military in World War II. And now he's fighting for his country again but on screen; where he can't be really killed. Lucky him! Along side Marvin is actor Mark Hamill. Yes-Luke Skywalker is in this movie too! Now America has the force on its side! Hamill plays a character named Griff who is a little bit insecure about himself. He's the kind of person that does not acclimate to war so easily but tries to cope with it. The main things that will grab people's attention are the accuracy of what most of the war was like. Everything was grueling. Everything was communicated by hollering orders. Everything was at war. There are not a lot of characters involved with the plot but you see many brave soldiers die; no doubt about that.There are also some touching moments in this film. Sometimes platoon's would run into run-down foreign European towns where many people did not have food and water. What makes moments great like these is that the soldier's would help them, which is what America does. We help people. We release people from their captives because everyone has the right to be free. The only reason why I did not give this World War II flick ten stars was the way the story line moved. Everything seemed too choppy. First they start out in some place in Africa. All of a sudden, they're in Europe. Wait, where's the transition here? It just felt like the platoon was just migrating from place to place just because they felt like it. That's the only thing that bothers me in this movie. Everything else I appreciate and respect to up-most degree.Containing less gore but the same amount of zeal, Fuller's version of World War II is heartfelt and touching altogether. For any World War II buff, this is another classic that should be on your list to watch.

In the early 1950s, writer/director Sam Fuller made a name for himself making ultra-low budget war films such as "Steel Helmet" and "Fixed Bayonets". The films shared a few things which appear once again in "The Big Red One"--a relatively small cast, small numbers of extras, clipped but realistic dialog and a grittiness not seen in many other war films. So in "The Big Red One", despite showing battles such as the invasion of Sicily, North Africa and Normandy, the actual number of soldiers in these massive engagements is very, very small. Many times, in fact, it just showed the same five guys! Fuller tried to hide his small budget by focusing on a small number of individuals but it was obvious he couldn't afford more. Compare these with movies such as "The Longest Day" and "Saving Private Ryan"--you'll notice a huge difference. Now this is NOT necessarily a harsh criticism of the film--just an observation since Fuller obviously did not have the huge budgets like Zanuck and Spielberg. This low budget also comes out if you look carefully at the Germans--many of which look rather Mediterranean or Semitic.The film was inspired by Fuller's own WWII experiences--something that made him an excellent war film director. He, too, served with the same unit featured in the film and here he pays homage to the brave men he served with, though it is not meant to be a literal retelling of Fuller's combat career. Like the tough sergeant played by Gene Evans in "Steel Helmet", here we have old reliable Lee Marvin playing nursemaid to a group of rookies as the film begins. The film follows them from 1942 to the end of the war in 1945. In many ways, the film also plays a lot like Leon Uris' "Battle Cry"--which was also based on his WWII experiences.Overall, an interesting homage to the infantry who fought WWII and without the flowery and over-glorified stuff you'd typically find in a Hollywood war film. Certainly not great (as I think Fuller's earlier war films were better and more original) but well worth seeing.