443:, the American squad crosses the former WWI battlefield on which the sergeant killed the surrendering German, where a memorial now stands to the earlier war. Schroeder has sprinkled his own living men among the German dead from a recent battle at this location, but the sergeant senses a trap and checks out the bodies in a burned-out tank. Noticing that the piping on the German uniforms is not consistent, he silently kills the living Germans in the tank. Feigning orders from his commander on the radio, the sergeant begins leading his men away, quietly telling them that living Germans are about. One of his new recruits sees a German move and shoots him, setting off a skirmish in which the Americans wipe out the Germans with only minor injuries in their own ranks. While the sergeant's squad are patching up their wounded, a French couple arrives on a motorcycle and sidecar. The husband dies of his previous wounds, but not before begging the sergeant to help his pregnant wife. The squad clears the tank and puts the woman, who is in active labor, in the tank. After a somewhat comical series of attempts to help the mother give birth, a child is born. Schroeder takes advantage of all of this excitement to sneak away unharmed.
457:, during which the American soldiers are shocked by what they witness. The sergeant befriends a young boy he finds in the concentration camp, but the boy dies that same afternoon. Shortly after this, the sergeant is in a forest at night when Schroeder approaches him, attempting to surrender. The sergeant stabs Schroeder and then his squad arrives and informs him that
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is still a B-movie – hard-boiled, filled with action, held together by male camaraderie, directed with a lean economy of action. It's one of the most expensive B-pictures ever made, and I think that helps it fit the subject. "A" war movies are about war, but "B" war movies are about
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While this is an expensive epic, he hasn't fallen to the temptations of the epic form. He doesn't give us a lot of phony meaning, as if to justify the scope of the production. There aren't a lot of deep, significant speeches. In the ways that count,
427:
counterpart, Schroeder, participates in many of these same battles, and at different times both he and the sergeant express the same sentiment that soldiers are killers, but not murderers, though
Schroeder also displays a ruthless loyalty to
466:, remarks that he and his fellow American troops have more in common with this Nazi soldier, because they have all been through the war and survived, than they do with all of the replacements they fought alongside, but who are dead.
602:
The restored version, dubbed "the
Reconstruction" and completed in 2004, adds 47 minutes to the film's running time, bringing it much closer to the form Fuller imagined before the studio took it away from him. Film critic
461:
four hours earlier. This time, as the squad walks away, Private Griff notices that
Schroeder is still alive; the sergeant and his men work frantically to save his life as they return to their encampment. Private Zab, in
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when it was released — took the lead on the restoration, which relied on locating footage allegedly stashed in the Warner Bros. vault in Kansas City. He was aided by editor Bryan McKenzie and
Bogdanovich.
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590:. It shifted over to Lorimar with Bogdanovich to produce (he says Fuller wanted him to play the Robert Carradine part), but then Bogdanovich pulled out and brought in
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helped set up the film at
Paramount Pictures, which paid Fuller to write a script. When Paramount head Frank Yablans left the studio, though, the project was put in
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reported a 90% approval rating with an average rating of 7.8/10, based on 48 reviews. For "the
Reconstruction" cut,
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384:: In November 1942, the US soldier, now a sergeant in the "Big Red One", leads his squad of infantrymen through
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In
November 2004, Ebert gave the film four out of four stars, and added it to his list of "great movies".
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assigned a score of 77 out of 100, based on 19 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
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as a cost-saving measure. It was heavily cut on its original release, but a restored version,
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in the late 1950s, sending Fuller on a trip to Europe to scout locations. Fuller directed
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was lined up to play the sergeant, but Fuller felt that he was not right for the role.
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888:"The Big Red One Movie Review & Film Summary (1980) | Roger Ebert"
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961:(novel version) by Samuel Fuller – 1980; republished in 2004.
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The
Fighting First: The Untold Story of The Big Red One on D-Day
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In his review of the original, theatrical version of the film,
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during his service. He was present at the liberation of the
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In the project's early stages, at Jack L. Warner's urging,
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The squad's final action in the war is the liberation of
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and are fed by grateful
Sicilian women; the landing on
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Patch of the United States Army's 1st
Infantry Division
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John Gallagher, "Between Action and Cut", August 2004
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681:called it the greatest war movie of all time.
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773:"Reconstructing Sam Fuller's The Big Red One"
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913:"Empire's 500 Greatest Movies Of All Time"
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1098:The Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel
439:During the advance across northern
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919:. December 5, 2006. Archived from
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756:"'Big Red' given epic reworking,"
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771:Schickel, Richard (July 2004).
841:"The Big Red One (re-release)"
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1248:The World at War, Episode 17
1130:The Americanization of Emily
1013:Review of the Reconstruction
331:veteran and served with the
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869:"Review: The Big Red One"
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260:written and directed by
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1106:D-Day the Sixth of June
1025:Lawyers, Guns and Money
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459:the war in Europe ended
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190:July 18, 1980
1353:Pickup on South Street
1154:A Matter of Resistance
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362:: In November 1918, a
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1525:1980s war drama films
1082:I See a Dark Stranger
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333:1st Infantry Division
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1605:1980s American films
1560:United Artists films
1321:The Baron of Arizona
417:liberation of France
411:at the start of the
378:four hours earlier.
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1585:Films set in Sicily
1489:Street of No Return
1425:Merrill's Marauders
1361:Hell and High Water
1202:Saving Private Ryan
802:festival-cannes.com
761:(January 21, 2005).
567:Merrill's Marauders
554:Merrill's Marauders
303:, premièred at the
253:is a 1980 American
1481:Thieves After Dark
1409:The Crimson Kimono
1313:I Shot Jesse James
1299:Films directed by
1067:Operation Overlord
1008:on Rotten Tomatoes
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892:www.rogerebert.com
678:Detroit Free Press
630:Critical reception
598:The Reconstruction
525:as Walloon fighter
519:as Madame Marbaise
503:as Private Johnson
451:concentration camp
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1146:Up from the Beach
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873:Chicago Sun-Times
823:"The Big Red One"
759:Los Angeles Times
584:Peter Bogdanovich
531:as Private Kaiser
517:Marthe Villalonga
423:. The sergeant's
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1090:Breakthrough
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925:. Retrieved
921:the original
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782:November 17,
780:. Retrieved
777:www.dga.org/
776:
766:
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721:A Third Face
720:
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594:to produce.
582:
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552:
548:
545:Warner Bros.
543:
445:
438:
390:Vichy French
386:North Africa
382:World War II
380:
372:trench knife
358:
345:Purple Heart
329:World War II
326:
309:novelization
300:
293:World War II
290:
249:
248:
247:
206:Running time
183:Release date
145:Dana Kaproff
136:Morton Tubor
25:
927:December 9,
647:Roger Ebert
592:Gene Corman
483:Mark Hamill
425:German Army
409:Omaha Beach
394:Free France
368:German Army
360:World War I
341:Bronze Star
337:Silver Star
270:Mark Hamill
234:$ 4 million
210:113 minutes
88:Mark Hamill
70:Gene Corman
66:Produced by
48:Directed by
1520:1980 films
1514:Categories
1393:Forty Guns
1377:China Gate
1030:Sam Fuller
897:August 10,
852:August 12,
846:Metacritic
685:References
640:Metacritic
588:turnaround
578:John Wayne
540:Production
529:Perry Lang
501:Kelly Ward
477:Lee Marvin
464:voice-over
315:Background
286:Kelly Ward
266:Lee Marvin
239:Box office
194:1980-07-18
151:Production
103:Kelly Ward
83:Lee Marvin
58:Written by
1473:White Dog
1401:Verboten!
1240:TV series
659:soldiers.
513:Schroeder
511:Feldwebel
132:Edited by
1345:Park Row
1229:Pressure
1170:Overlord
1138:36 Hours
989:AllMovie
736:Archived
448:Falkenau
258:war film
223:Language
142:Music by
76:Starring
998:at the
807:May 25,
618:Release
559:dry run
434:Germany
402:Tiger I
226:English
215:Country
192: (
159:Lorimar
153:company
1500:(1990)
1492:(1989)
1484:(1984)
1476:(1982)
1468:(1980)
1460:(1972)
1452:(1969)
1449:Shark!
1444:(1964)
1436:(1963)
1428:(1962)
1420:(1961)
1412:(1959)
1404:(1959)
1396:(1957)
1388:(1957)
1380:(1957)
1372:(1955)
1364:(1954)
1356:(1953)
1348:(1952)
1340:(1951)
1332:(1951)
1324:(1950)
1316:(1949)
1259:(2001)
1251:(1974)
1232:(2014)
1213:(2004)
1205:(1998)
1197:(1994)
1189:(1981)
1181:(1980)
1173:(1975)
1165:(1968)
1157:(1966)
1149:(1965)
1141:(1964)
1133:(1964)
1125:(1962)
1117:(1956)
1109:(1956)
1101:(1951)
1093:(1950)
1085:(1946)
952:
672:Empire
441:France
430:Hitler
415:; the
343:, and
297:Israel
284:, and
231:Budget
1221:Plays
1074:Films
557:as a
978:IMDb
950:ISBN
929:2012
899:2017
854:2019
809:2009
784:2022
610:Time
470:Cast
432:and
405:tank
355:Plot
255:epic
177:(UK)
172:(US)
987:at
976:at
702:at
509:as
453:in
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23:.
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