"The Big Red One" could easily be considered the consummate war movie in that it juggles issues of pro-war and anti-war themes while remaining at heart entertaining and spectacular, allowing it's characters to struggle with what they're doing while allowing the action to titillate. It embraces such dialog as, "We don't murder, we kill--you do not murder meat you eat," and "Killing insane people is poor for public relations... killing sane people is okay." Also, if it's any worth to you, Samuel Fuller is a WWII veteran and this movie comes out of some of his personal experience.
However, one regrettable thing about this film, an aspect that is admittedly entirely out of its control, is the fact that it sags under the weight of so many other war films out there. I cannot speak of the unseen movie that Fuller intended--perhaps that version would stand out more. What I can say is that it's extant version basically fits so smoothly into its history its almost invisible: everything it does has been done both before and since. There is really nothing in this movie that stands out. Even the scenes in the insane asylum match similar scenes in an earlier film called "King of Hearts", and the whole thing on Normandy beach involving the watch was subsequently taken by Spielberg in "Saving Private Ryan."
The biggest reason for this is straight-forward: studio control turned it from a personal essay of a person's experiences of war into a salable genre creation. It is no longer "Samuel Fuller's film," it is "a WWII film." Until (and if) Fuller's original intention comes out, The Big Red One basically exists as "that other movie with Mark Hamill in it." --PolarisDiB
However, one regrettable thing about this film, an aspect that is admittedly entirely out of its control, is the fact that it sags under the weight of so many other war films out there. I cannot speak of the unseen movie that Fuller intended--perhaps that version would stand out more. What I can say is that it's extant version basically fits so smoothly into its history its almost invisible: everything it does has been done both before and since. There is really nothing in this movie that stands out. Even the scenes in the insane asylum match similar scenes in an earlier film called "King of Hearts", and the whole thing on Normandy beach involving the watch was subsequently taken by Spielberg in "Saving Private Ryan."
The biggest reason for this is straight-forward: studio control turned it from a personal essay of a person's experiences of war into a salable genre creation. It is no longer "Samuel Fuller's film," it is "a WWII film." Until (and if) Fuller's original intention comes out, The Big Red One basically exists as "that other movie with Mark Hamill in it." --PolarisDiB