Rating: 
Summary: Fantastic
Review: If I read the words 'Saving Private Ryan' anywhere but in the SPR comments anymore I'll just go 'arghh' quietly to myself. It wasn't that great, overlong and dreary. But that's all beside the point.I found The Big Red One a real little gem of an (anti)war movie. Fast moving, emotionally detached but still sympathetic. The style really surprised me, kind of a quirky black humour thing happening, similar to 'Catch 22'. Personally, with all things taken into context, I found The Big Red One to be a better movie than Spielbergs recent effort, though nowhere near the excellence of Platoon, The Thin Red Line and Stalingrad. Its very good though.
Rating: 
Summary: OVERRATED
Review: In late 2001, Time Magazine in their review of Ridley Scott's "Black Hawk Down," also selected other films to represent other wars. For Vietnam, they picked "Full Metal Jacket." No problem there. But for World War II they selected this movie.
Huh? I thought. Ah, then I remembered, Time Magazine, Time-Warner, so it was no surprise that they would select one of their own.
But let's face facts. This is one of the most innacurate films ever made. You can tell it shot somewhere OTHER than Europe (or Africa or Sicily for that matter), and in this case, that somewhere was Israel.
I don't fault Sam Fuller, or Lee Marvin or the other members of the cast. Rather, I fault Warner Brothers. They should have given this movie the financial backing it needed.
I'm sorry, but I can't watch this film and see T-62s and Shermans stand in for German armor and suspend my disbelief. I also hated to see the Battle of the Bulge reduced to "they pushed into France, then we pushed them back into Germany." The Bulge was much worse than that simple summation.
Had Fuller been given the proper budget he might have made one of the greatest war films of all time. But instead, this is what was released.
On a side note, I recall quite vividly waiting for this movie in the summer of 1980. I left the theater, quiet. Something didn't settle right with me. I thought the movie wanting for something. I thought that then and I still do now.
What a shame. It could have achieved so much.
Rating:
Summary: Awe Inspiring Title, Segmented Movie
Review: In World War Two the US 1st Infantry Division earned its colors in constant battle from North Africa, Sicily and Northern Europe. Because of its distictive shoulder patch the division became known as The Big Red One. Samuel Fuller's motion picture of the same name does not quite hit the mark with respect to conveying the battle scars endured by the division. Fuller focuses on a squad of soldiers, led by Lee Marvin (The Dirty Dozen), in a story told by one of the squad members, Robert Carradine (Revenge of the Nerds). The picture has potential. Indeed there is information to suggest that there is a longer uncut version of the movie mouldering away someplace. The film currently available on VHS and DVD -- the same version that was projected in movie theaters -- seems more like a television movie than major motion picture. Granted, the special effects were good for their day, but you do not have to look too far to see the obvious shortcomings. For the most part the dialogue is contrived and somewhat phony. Lee Marvin, a magnificent actor, was too old to play the part of a junior noncommissioned officer. In two of the beach invasion landing scenes (North Africa and Normandy) and despite a downward camera angle there is a total absence of ships to be seen anywhere on the water except for one token landing craft lingering in the distance. The greatest shortcoming of the film is that it is composed of a series of disjointed vignettes sewn together into one story. The most powerful part of the movie are the last minutes of the film when the squad liberates a concentration camp in Czechoslovakia. This scene alone could have been flushed out and served as the backdrop for a whole movie; or possibly been a vehicle for flashbacks of the what the squad had endured leading up to the end of the war. Filmed primarily in Israel THE BIG RED ONE reflects what appears to be a reflective personal journey designed to entertain the storyteller alone. With the exception of this film's stars, I found this movie very similar to A MIDNIGHT CLEAR. If you are a fan of war movies then this movie will probably find its way into your collection.
Rating:
Summary: Awe Inspiring Title, Segmented Movie
Review: In World War Two the US 1st Infantry Division earned its colors in constant battle from North Africa, Sicily and Northern Europe. Because of its distictive shoulder patch the division became known as The Big Red One. Samuel Fuller's motion picture of the same name does not quite hit the mark with respect to conveying the battle scars endured by the division. Fuller focuses on a squad of soldiers, led by Lee Marvin (The Dirty Dozen), in a story told by one of the squad members, Robert Carradine (Revenge of the Nerds). The picture has potential. Indeed there is information to suggest that there is a longer uncut version of the movie mouldering away someplace. The film currently available on VHS and DVD -- the same version that was projected in movie theaters -- seems more like a television movie than major motion picture. Granted, the special effects were good for their day, but you do not have to look too far to see the obvious shortcomings. For the most part the dialogue is contrived and somewhat phony. Lee Marvin, a magnificent actor, was too old to play the part of a junior noncommissioned officer. In two of the beach invasion landing scenes (North Africa and Normandy) and despite a downward camera angle there is a total absence of ships to be seen anywhere on the water except for one token landing craft lingering in the distance. The greatest shortcoming of the film is that it is composed of a series of disjointed vignettes sewn together into one story. The most powerful part of the movie are the last minutes of the film when the squad liberates a concentration camp in Czechoslovakia. This scene alone could have been flushed out and served as the backdrop for a whole movie; or possibly been a vehicle for flashbacks of the what the squad had endured leading up to the end of the war. Filmed primarily in Israel THE BIG RED ONE reflects what appears to be a reflective personal journey designed to entertain the storyteller alone. With the exception of this film's stars, I found this movie very similar to A MIDNIGHT CLEAR. If you are a fan of war movies then this movie will probably find its way into your collection.
Rating:
Summary: This movie is awesome!!!
Review: It is most defininately better than "Saving Private Ryan." Don't get me wrong, I loved "Ryan", too, but this one is much better. Mark Hamill(my all time favorite actor)is at one of his awesomest performances(Grif) to date(second only to Luke Skywalker). However, if you really like the blood and guts movies, go somewhere else. But if you like the kind of movies that the whole family can sit down and watch together, then this is the movie for you!! I LOVE this movie!!!!!
Rating: 
Summary: The Only Glory...
Review: Lee Marvin and his Easter Island visage star in this Samuel Fuller-directed World War II story about a 1st Infantry Division rifle squad, hence the title. Robert Carradine narrates the story (he's the writer of the bunch, so we see the squad from his point of view) and Mark Hamill plays a soldier who just can't bring himself to fire a shot in anger until the war's final day. The troops experience the war as a day-to-day series of small triumphs and losses. Their ultimate victory, as Carradine's narration makes clear, is surviving the whole hellish mess. And Fuller, through Carradine's voice, dedicates this movie to the guys who came back. Lee Marvin is like a stone idol; at times, his craggy face bears the scars and seams of one who's done it all before (his character fought in the First World War), but his eyes express weariness, sadness and even tender affection for the soldier-boys under his care. Especially well played is a scene where a North African girl garlands Marvin's helmet with flowers. He gives her the slightest of smiles, says nothing, puts on the helmet and makes himself look ridiculous to please her. Full of moments like this, this movie is intimate and ultimately very moving, in a manly, unsentimental, tough guy sort of way. Well worth the time.
Rating:
Summary: Sam Fuller's First Division
Review: Movie about Fuller's WWII experiences in the First Division (infantry). From Africa to D-Day to the liberation of death camps. This was shot for an eighth of the budget of Saving Private Ryan and says more with the actor's eyes and absurd situations, Lee Marvin's weary presence and narration by Fuller standin (Robert Carradine) than anything in Spielberg's self-importnat movie could. This was orginally to be a three hour film and maybe one day it will be put together as intended and shown. The dead man's watch in the bloody waters at Normandy showing the passing of time says more than any amount of legs and guts flying.
Rating:
Summary: A great antiwar film
Review: Much better than 'Saving Private Ryan,' 'The Big Red One' is THE best antiwar film ever made, period. Of course, I'm assuming that you care most about the plot and the story here. If you're more interested in snazzy special effects, blood and gore, or so on, go elsewhere; but for pure old fashioned solid writing and filming, check this out. Spielberg should have watched this before filming his overly long piece of crap.
Rating:
Summary: Loved it - it made me so proud of my father
Review: My father was in the 1st infantry division in WWII. He stormed Omaha beach and was in North Africa with the Big Red One. This movie gave me some insight into the horrors of what it must have been like for him. Saving Private Ryan was a great movie,but I prefer this.The acting was excellent,the characters well developed,and the dark humor was so right for the situation.
Rating:
Summary: "For Fuller's honesty and verve"?
Review: Now that's funny. I'm quoting boydjt below of course. Looks like another one slipped through that pesky 'dont ask, dont tell' policy. But I feel better knowing that we're being defended by the new army where a good vocabulary is important, albeit a limp wristed one. Verve? hahahahaa Nobody is attacking Fuller's diary or his experiences. It's just a lousy movie. I'm not saying the man didnt serve his country gallantly, but he sure as hell didnt serve Hollywood in the same way. One of the most ill-conceived unwatchable films ever produced and probably thee worst WWII movie ever made. Unworthy of further comment. Just pathetic...you are forewarned. 2 cartridges, one for that Caradine guy and the other for Luke Skywalker. Ask the guys from Jackass what to do with them.
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