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Even in the studio-truncated version, there was no shortage of astonishing moments and sequences: the squad choking on dust in a bat-filled cave in North Africa as German tanks clatter past the entrance; Fuller's cold-blooded distillation of the D-Day slaughter on Omaha Beach, with a wrist watch on a dead arm in the surf marking time as the water slopping over it grows redder; the rifle squad delivering a Frenchwoman's baby in a German tank on a battlefield full of corpses; a commando-like raid on Nazi troops bivouacked in a Belgian insane asylum. A quarter-century later, film critic Richard Schickel and Warner Bros. executive Brian Jamieson succeeded in restoring 15 never-seen sequences and fleshing out 23 others to create The Big Red One: The Reconstruction, a "new" film nearly an hour longer.
Above all, BR1: The Reconstruction has a rhythm the 1980 cut lacked. The arc of years, battles, and battlegrounds is so much more satisfying. Greater play is given to Fuller's feeling for children caught up in the sidewash of history and atrocity. And the 2004 cut puts sex back into the movie, not orgiastically but as a fact of life and a rarely forgotten driving force. We can see now that Fuller touched, bluntly and shockingly, on the phenomenon of infiltrators--English-speaking German warriors who donned GI khaki and moved among their enemies waiting for a chance to strike.
It's also apparent, as it was not in 1980, that Lee Marvin as the eternal Sergeant leading the young squad is magnificent. This was Marvin's greatest role, rivaled only by his walking dead man in John Boorman's Point Blank. Just beneath the masterly implacability, we glimpse the tenderness, rage, dark humor, experience, and wisdom beyond guilt that have enabled him to survive, to preserve others and to soldier on. His performance, like Fuller's film, is a masterpiece. --Richard T. Jameson
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Most helpful customer reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good but not Great...,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Big Red One: The Reconstruction (Two-Disc Special Edition) (DVD)
One of my all time favourite war movies. Unfortunately, the re-edit seems a little choppy with scenes that were cut out of the original for a reason (they took away from the pace or the acting was just plain bad) being added back in for no apparent reason other than to lengthen the movie. Still, a must have for the war movie collector.
4.0 out of 5 stars
OVERALL SCORE: (B+),
By Pequegnat (USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Big Red One (Widescreen/Full Screen) (DVD)
This is one of the more stunning and profound cinematic portraits of the Second World War. It is an unflinching window into the surrealistic exploits of warriors in combat. This is by far a more worthwhile movie then many later attempts, that fail to emotionally grip you, instead relying on computer effects for drama. OVERALL SCORE: (B+) PLOT: (B), ACTING: (B-), DIALOGUE: (B-), SETTING: (C), ACTION/COMBAT: (B), ANTAGONISTS: (B), ROMANCE: (n/a), AGE LEVEL: (PG) Other great war movies; The Longest Day (1962), We Were Soldiers (2002), Gallipoli (1981), Attack Force Z (1982), Cross of Iron (1976), A Bridge Too Far (1977), or The Dirty Dozen (1967).
1.0 out of 5 stars
The "Definitive" Bad Review,
By
This review is from: The Big Red One (Widescreen/Full Screen) (DVD)
This is one of those movies that you either love or hate. I'm guessing the lovers like the interesting combat action and episodic nature of the movie, which keeps up a fast pace and allows for multiple locations and perspectives on the war.Unfortunately, this movie is ruined by the Voice Narrator - none other than future star of "Revenge of the Nerds." Whether it's the actor chosen or bad direction, it is easily the most annoying voice over in "A-movie" history. Particularly since we have all seen this done much more effectively in war movies released since this picture was made in 1980. I have no doubt that these movies owe a debt to the Big Red One, with the directors saying, "Stop, you sound like the nerd in the Big Red One. Try it again." My "favorite" scene: The squad delivers a baby during D-Day (you can't make this crap up folks-oh wait, I guess they did). Dialogue of soldier delivering baby: "Lady, I'm a hell of a lot more scared than you are...just take it easy." (uh, Hello, this film was robbed of an Oscar for screenwriting) My "favorite" voice over narration line: My all time "favorite" dialogue: My "favorite" cowboy moment as the soldier's creep through enemy lines. Lee Marvin: "It's a bushwack." (not related to the labor scene folks) My "favorite" movie message, from this actual dialogue at an insane assylum the GIs comes across in France: Marvin: "Killing insane people is not good for public relations." Wow, that's powerful stuff. In summary, the acting is sophomoric (gotta love the off-screen screams when someone gets it - no, it's not your little brother playing in the other room--it's the movie), the writing and dialogue is stilted and corny and the tone/direction awkwardly switches from whimsical to melodramatic and back again. Still, it's not bad Sunday afternoon viewing if you like war action and enjoy making fun of old movies - the best thing to do, though, is watch it with a remote control and hit mute every time the annoying/cloying narrator speaks. For added interest, print off a script of the movie and read the narration at the appropriate points, since on rare occassions the narrator does say something interesting.
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