Rating: 
Summary: Interesting but not particularly realistic.
Review: Of the countless war movies I've seen over the years, I can honestly say that this is not one of the better ones. Sure, it has some interesting aspects and even a few suspenseful scenes, but the overall effect is not very impressive.The thing that struck me most, and the least believable part of the whole movie, is that the same squad of the same platoon of the same company of the same division would be the first unit on the beach in every major allied action from Operation Torch to Kasserine (I know, no beach) to Sicily to Normandy and beyond. Strains credulity just a bit, in my humble opinion. A few of the other scenes were just too surreal for my tastes, for example, delivering a baby in a knocked out German tank, or clearing an exit on Omaha beach with the very first bangalore. On the positive side, Lee Marvin and Mark Hamill do decent acting jobs, and the scene where the squad comes upon a German death camp (I think it was Auschwitz -- this squad is first on the scene at all the big stuff) is somewhat moving if overdone. I suppose it's fair to characterize this movie as an attempt to encapsulate the entire G.I. experience in WW2 in a two hour movie by showing every major battle, and it that respect I guess it has a measure of success. Still, for someone who watches these movies from the perspective of an amateur historian, I wasn't particularly impressed by this endeavor. Watch it solely for its limited entertainment value -- it's not good for much else.
Rating: 
Summary: Sorry I bought this.
Review: One of the worst war movies ever. Cliche-ridden, wooden acting, unbelievable (in a bad way) scenery, just general yuck. The storyline is so episodic as to be almost incomprehensible, other than that Lee Marvin's platoon was first st everything in WWII. There's a sequence at an insane asylum that is so laughably bad that I had to stop watching for a while. Would not recommend to anyone who wants a good war movie, or even a bad one. A complete and total waste of time and money.
Rating: 
Summary: Awesome film
Review: Overall, this film was pretty good. I would have preffered more blood, for realism sake. I especially liked Lee Marvin's summary of combat,"We don't 'murder' the enemy, we kill them.'" I also liked Mark Hammill's reaction to the concentration camp.
Rating: 
Summary: Um, little reality check
Review: P>As a child growing up and watching this movie, yes, I felt the John Wayne-esque drive to mimic the "stormin' the beaches of Normandy", but this film also taught the various "cliche" horrors of war that aren't often seen(civilians living in filth and destruction, their hate of their conquerors, the puppet French, hiding in foxholes only to get run over by tanks, the possiblity of losing a testicle - no joke - by a mine, etc.) I'm not sure of the Big Red One's "first in everywhere" policy, but the locales depicted in the movie (North Africa, Sicily, Normandy) are factually correct. Not unlike The Longest Day, there is some Uber Hollywood moments, but enough fact to make it worth while. You could do worse than this movie.
Rating:
Summary: The Loneliness of War
Review: Penetrating, outstanding war drama that depicts, with care and well constructed plot divided in many simultaneous dramas, the lives, hopes, sorrows and, before all, the profound and scarring loneliness of a group of young and unexperienced soldiers in the WW2 and the friendship and deep respect between them and their old and calused sergeant (played with intensity by Lee Marvin).
Maybe the movie is a bit too overlong which reduces it's impact but is extremely rewarding to watch, thanks to the excellent cast (that includes Mark Hamill (Luck Skywalker) and Robert Carradine) and the witty and sensitive dialogues.
A movie about war made with brains and heart and not with violence and prejudice.
Rating:
Summary: Plan 9 from Normandy!
Review: Quite simply the worst war movie of all time. And that may be an understatement. I am shocked at the comparisons to other legitimate films of the genre. And I'm one of Lee Marvin's biggest fans but there must have been a reason I avoided watching this turkey for the last twenty years, and frankly he's way too old for this part. It's terrible. In fact, it's worse than terrible. "You know how you smoke out a sniper? You send a guy out in the open." That was the most intelligent line in the entire movie, but the logic matches the production quality of this thing. Put Sam Fuller in the category with Peckinpah as one of Hollywood's most overrated directors. Just painful to watch. A begrudging one star in the shape of a Bangladore torpedo. Ask Johnny Knoxville what to do with it. BTW, do not believe a word that BoydJT from BizzaroWorld has to say about this movie. If he's from Ft.Bragg he's already a braindead robotron sheep that's living this stupid made for TV Patriotism or Death nonsense the country's riding out. What an idiot.
Rating:
Summary: Sam Fuller's Testament
Review: Sam Fuller waited for years to make this film based on his experiences as a dogface with the famed First Division and he has left us with a minor masterpiece of film story-telling. Fuller did not have the budget of a Spielberg (in fact he had a rather limited budget) so the invasion of Normandy and other scenes are not sweepingly epic. (Just imagine if he had.) But that is not the point. It is a tale of rememberance & by nature episodic & anecdotal. The original cut was over 4 hours, Fuller eventually cut it to about 2 1/2 then the studio cut it to 113 minutes--one can only imagine what is missing. Even so the film builds an incredible power, not cathartic but a weary experience of survival, which as the film states is the only glory in war. Lee Marvin gives an amazingly nuanced performance as the "Sergeant", Robert Carridine does an amusing turn as Zap, Fuller's alter-ego and Mark Hamill is effective as conscious stricken Griff. If you have not seen Fuller's other war films ("The Steel Helmet", which looks like it was made for 1.98, but is quite amazing; "Fixed Bayonets" & "Merrill's Marauders") they are well worth seeking out, as are his other non-war films. Sam Fuller said that the only way for a movie audience to truly experience war was to have someone come out in front of the screen & start spraying the audience with gunfire and have the person sitting next to you shot to pieces. I think that I will stick with his films.
Rating:
Summary: Big acting by Marvin; Red Normandy beaches; One good ending
Review: Sarge (Lee Marvin), first saw combat near the end of WWI. Now, years later, in North Africa in WWII he is a grizzled, war weary, seen it all veteran. Nevertheless, he's still resolute in his duty and a proud wearer of the Red #1 arm patch insignia of the US 1st Infantry Division. He is leader, father, mother, coach and whatever else he needs to be to get his rifle squad through the war. The four principal characters of interest are Griff (Mark Hamill), an expert riflemen but one who can't shoot the enemy if he sees his eyes; he calls it murder, Sarge says otherwise. There is Zab (Robert Carradine) who's main purpose is narrator, his musings provide background and setting; the other two are Johnson and Vinci. We follow this group throughout the movie and the war from North Africa, Sicily, Normandy, Belgium and finally to a concentration camp in Czechoslovakia for a series of emotionally powerful concluding scenes. There is no glorification of war here; indeed the message is very clear - the only glory in war is surviving. The movie is very creative in introducing characters whose sole purpose, with their demise, is to underline this message. The short careers of both Lemchek and Kaiser are cases in point. The battle scenes are weak and unrealistic but that's not the emphasis. The action scenes that are memorable are the ones with a subtle message; the camera focusing in on the dead soldiers wristwatch in the surf of Normandy, the water turning red with the passing of time; the scene at the asylum in France and the concentration camp scene where Griff overcomes his compunction about shooting while seeing the whites of his enemies eyes. It's a well crafted movie, with some strong acting from Lee Marvin and Mark Hamill and a movie which delivers it's message in a well thought out and strong ending.
Rating:
Summary: An entertaining flick...
Review: Saving Private Ryan raised the bar on war movies now, but this was a great film in the early 1980s. A great cast: Lee Marvin, Mark Hamill (Between Star Wars and Empire), and Robert Carradine help to propel the action along. My only complaint are the Sherman tanks dressed up to look like Panzers. They look really silly compared to the detailed German panzers in Spielberg's film. Nonetheless, a very entertaining movie.
Rating: 
Summary: wonder ful,outstanding
Review: the big red one is a great movie.i stayed up until 3 0'clock in the morning just to see that movie twice.i even had my grandma go look for it for me.all i can say is its a great movie and its a wonderful movie fo hammil, not as good as the star wars movies , but much better than Time runner.
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