The real glory of war is surviving

Directed by Samuel Fuller
Lee Marvin as Sergeant
Mark Hamill Pvt Giff
Robert Carradine as Pvt Zad
Bobby DiCicco as Pvy Vinci


The Big Red One 1980

The Story

The Big Red One starts out in World War I where the sergeant is fighting in the trenches of France as a private. Then it takes us straight to World War II where the Sergeant is leading his squad in the invasion of north Africa. The sergeant leads his men on a doomed advance at Kasserine pass. They met a massive counter attack by a German panzer division. Most of the 1st squad was killed in action there. The sergeant and four of his original men get replacements and invade Sicily. Fierce fighting occurs in the invasion of Sicily but the sergeant and his four soldiers make it through the battles.

Each invasion seems to get tougher and tougher. The worse of all of still ahead of them. They are one of the lead elements in the invasion of Normandy on Omaha Beach. After several failed attempts to breach the heavy wire entanglements on the beach, their squad is ordered to lay bangalore torpedoes. Several soldiers are killed before the bangalores can be pushed through the wire and detonated. After the invasion they push their way through France and western Europe. Finally they liberate a Nazi death camp as the war comes to an end.


Conclusion

The Big Red One is a film you don’t hear much about. Although the film had a low budget, it had a interesting and thought provoking message and script. In that since it was ahead of its time. It is a bit like Band of Brothers and Saving Private Ryan. It follows a band of four soldiers and their sergeant through World War II. It was pretty raw and realistic for a film made in 1980. The acting and actors in this film do a great job with their parts. Lee Marvin, Carradine and Di Cicco all aced their parts. Although I thought the directing was good the sets and low budget effects takes a toll on this film. It’s difficult to make a low budget war film and this film is a good example.

Even with the films poor sets and low budget, the rest of the films assets make up for it. The acting, script, cast and message make the film worth seeing. Some of the issues that this film deals with is how history repeats itself. This film does this in a dramatic fashion. It also looks at how soldiers deal with War and the difference between murder and killing. The film has a good pace to it. It combines the drama, action and even humor in a good manner. I would recommend this one to fans of military films. Before Saving Private Ryan and The Band of Brothers, there was The Big Red One.


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Thanks for the read,

© 2006 Joe McMaster

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Better than Watching TV