The Big Red One (1980)

"I can't murder anybody." "We don't murder; we kill." 'The Big Red One' (1980), was made particularly in order to show people what the 1st Infantry Division entering WWII were truly like and how ordinary men fought, bled, and died for our great nation throughout the many hellish war zones and situations some narrowly survived for a few fatal years. The director, Samuel Fuller (Pickup on South Street, Shock Corridor), known for his low-budget genre movies with controversial themes, here wanted to capture the true essence of what these ordinary men had to do to survive extraordinary circumstances: the German artillery, D-Day on Omaha Beach in Normandy, a massive counterattack resulting in what became known as the Battle of the Bulge and other famous historical battles. Dodging gunfire and clinging to survival amidst dangerous war zones therein this gritty, gripping war flick, 'Big Red' is a loosely constructed epic account for reconstructing his Fuller's own days in Europe and North Africa between the years 1942 and 1945, displaying both raw power and a rough edge, all the while maintaining a cool and personal perspective that echoes his war-torn trials as they bleed from various moments throughout the picture as we sit there and witness it. So, did Fuller's version of what he personally experienced during the war truly capture the essence of it? Let's take a look.In October 1918, the patch as it is known, a red "1" on a solid olive green background, was officially approved for wear by members of the Division. Worn with pride, the patch symbolizes the legacy and tradition that binds all generations of those who have worn the Big Red One. On August 1, 1942, the first Division was recognized and redesignated as the 1st Infantry Division. The 1st Infantry Division entered combat in World War II as part of "Operation Torch", the invasion of North Africa, the first American campaign against the Axis powers that marched and combated through Algiers, Tunisia, Sicily, France, Belgium and then pushed into the German border. The Division continued its push into Germany, crossing the Rhine River. On December 16, twenty-four enemy divisions, ten of which were armored, launched a massive counterattack in the Ardennes sector, resulting in what became known as the Battle of the Bulge. The Big Red One held the critical shoulder of the "Bulge" at Bullingen, destroying hundreds of German tanks in the process. On Easter Sunday, April 1, 1945, the Division marched one-hundred fifty miles to the east of Siegen. On April 8, the Division crossed the Weser River into Czechoslovakia. The war was over May 8, 1945. Tragically at the end of WWII, there were over twenty-thousand casualties and over one hundred thousand prisoners of war had been taken. Forty-three thousand plus men had served in the ranks, winning a total of twenty-thousand plus medals and awards, including sixteen Congressional Medals of Honor. Nonetheless, the actors on the screen reflected just a glimpse of how the real soldiers back in the day fought for our great nation to the fullest extent. One of the main characters, Pvt. Griff (Mark Hamill), causes to violate his pacifist views because even amidst the chaos and utter destruction around him, he does not believe in and refuses to "murder". He values life to the fullest extent. He lives in believing and even states that the true glory of war is actually surviving it. Griff's position in the infantry is a marksman, and a skilled one at that. Nonetheless, the horrors of his war years have finally caught up with him. He is finally stripped of his pacifist views in one scene as he fires every one of his last bullets into a lone German hiding in one of the ovens in a concentration camp used to exterminate the Jews. His face contorting into agony and despair as he does so, it is revealed to him and to the audience that WWII had finally wreaked a psychological toll on Griff, regardless of his heroism and bravery for his country. The horrors of war have finally gripped him into a reality where his pacifist views have come to a grinding halt in his mentality, knowing that his aspects will never again be the same from here on out.I do believe there is a difference between killing and murder. Even though The Sergeant (Lee Marvin) explained the difference in the beginning of the film, I had to agree with what he said. However, my thoughts on the certain matter is that killing is what you have to do in war or in dangerous life-threatening situations where you have to shoot the enemy in order to defend and protect something big or meaningful, their case being the United States and the people of America. Murder has no rational thought, such as randomly stabbing someone with a knife for example. Some people murder only to save themselves or if they are convicted criminals, not for something heroic like fighting for their homeland or for victory. The plot was all about surviving WWII, along with the many horrors that encompassed it as well. This was a wonderful picture altogether, with a glorious display of historical battles given as torn pages from a found war journal for us to relive, recount and remember.

From director Samuel Fuller (Pickup on South Street, Shock Corridor), this was a war film that I may have heard the title of once, and certainly I was only reminded again by it featuring in the 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die book. Basically this story sees an anonymous Sergeant (Lee Marvin), who went through the First World War, leading a company of four surviving soldiers through various combats and dangerous scenarios. The rifle squad in the First Division are Pvt. Griff (Mark Hamill), Pvt. Zab (Robert Carradine), Pvt. Vinci (Bobby Di Cicco) and Pvt. Johnson (Kelly Ward), all of whom have experienced dangerous missions and managed to get out of them, but manage to find themselves in more of them. The squad wind up storming Vichy French Africa into the long siege of Sicily and Italy, participating in D-Day at Omaha Beach, going through Belgium and France, and ending up in a concentration camp in Czechoslovakia. The Sergeant tries to keep them all together and on his side as they go through these scenes, and there are also the small incidents, such as helping a woman give birth, with Private Zab narrating most of the story, and the end sees them save a German soldier's life. Marvin gives a good gruff performance as the leader of the squad, and post-Star Wars Hamill gets his small moments sounding intelligent, I will confess I did not follow a full story, there was no specific plot, but it didn't matter, the best sequences were indeed the battles full of plenty of blood, guns and explosions, making it a rather worthwhile Second World War drama. It was number 98 on The 100 Greatest War Films. Very good!

So many good reviews here, can only be a lot of people with the most casual, limited knowledge of WWII confusing this movie with some other, well done picture. First, what was the budget for this thing? Must have been very very low. The entire movie seems to involve six guys (total on both sides), who are sharing maybe three weapons. There are no planes, no ships, two incorrect tanks (one just had a hole where the driver's machine gun should have been). Just about any made for TV series or movie about WWII comes off more convincing than this turkey. This was a "major" motion picture, wasn't it?? It simply defies credulity that there could be a single good review of this travesty on here.

The Big Red One is very naive try to show us how real battles look like. The most of the time there are nobody other in the battle except that four soldiers with their sergeant. It seems they are completely alone in the war... Also, it is totally unreal and impossible situation that sergeant is assigned command of a squad unit of four of five soldiers. Situation like this never happens in a war. When German tanks coming from a 1 km distance, soldiers dig the two-meters-deep-holes in rocky terrain in less than 10 minutes... in real situation, that work needs few hours... and they dig that holes in the middle of the road - just on the way of the tanks, with illogical intention that tanks drive over their heads. Why??? When they hide themselves in a cave, they kill i-don't-know-how-many Germans, entering one by one into cave... When the soldiers land on the beach in Africa, there are no transports anywhere around - like they just come swimming from America... There are many more situation like that... whole movie is very boring and fake.