The Big Red One (1980)

Note des utilisateurs:

7.3/10   

Réalisateur:

Samuel Fuller

Scénariste:

Samuel Fuller (written by)

Release Date:

28 mai 1980 (France)

Genre:

Action | Drame | War

Accroche:

The real glory of war is surviving.

Plot:

The story of a sergeant and the inner core members of his unit as they try to serve in and survive World War II.

Plot Keywords:

Sergeant | French | D Day | Omaha Beach | Sicily

Awards:

2 wins & 1 nomination

Avis des utilisateurs:

The emasculation of a potentially great film

Ensemble

Lee Marvin	...	The Sergeant
Mark Hamill	...	Pvt. Griff, 1st Squad
Robert Carradine	...	Pvt. Zab, 1st Squad
Bobby Di Cicco	...	Pvt. Vinci, 1st Squad
Kelly Ward	...	Pvt. Johnson, 1st Squad
Stéphane Audran	...	Underground Walloon fighter at asylum (as Stephane Audran)
Siegfried Rauch	...	Schroeder (German sergeant)
Serge Marquand	...	Rensonnet
Charles Macaulay	...	General / captain
Alain Doutey	...	Broban (Vichy sergeant)
Maurice Marsac	...	Vichy colonel
Colin Gilbert	...	Dog Face POW
Joseph Clark	...	Pvt. Shep (soldier on troop transport)
Ken Campbell	...	Pvt. Lemchek (#2 on Bangalore torpedo)
Doug Werner	...	Switolski

Autre(s) titre(s):

The Big Red One - The Reconstuction (USA) (DVD box title)
Au-delà de la gloire (France) [fr]

MPAA:

Rated R for war violence and some language. (2004 reconstruction)

Durée:

113 min | 162 min (reconstructed version)

Pays:

USA

Langue:

Anglais | Français | Italien | Allemand

Couleur:

Noir et Blanc | Couleur (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Son:

Dolby Digital (reconstruction) | Dolby (original release)

Classification:

Canada:PG (Ontario) | Canada:14A | West Germany:16 (f) | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 (1980) | Singapore:PG | Sweden:15 | UK:15 (video rating) (1987) | UK:AA (original rating) | USA:PG (original rating) | USA:R (2004 reconstruction) | Iceland:16

Emplacements De Pelliculage:

Big Bear, San Bernardino National Forest, California, USA

Company:

Lorac Productions

Anecdotes:

Director Trademark: [Samuel Fuller] [Lemchek]A recurring character name in Fuller's films; also, uncredited, in Merrill's Marauders (1962), The Tanks Are Coming (1951) and The Steel Helmet (1951).

Goofs:

Miscellaneous: When the sergeant and his unit are in Sicily, they walk in front of a wall with the portrait of Mussolini and a sentence in big capital letters written in Italian. The writing is incorrect. It reads "Se avanzo, Se guitmi! Se indietreggio, uccidetemi! Se muoiu, vendicatemi! Mussolini". It should be "Se avanzo, Seguitemi! Se indietreggio, uccidetemi! Se muoio, vendicatemi! Mussolini". It means "If I move forward, follow me! If I move back, kill me! If I die, avenge me!"

Guillemet:

Zab: [narrating] By now we'd come to look at all replacements as dead men who temporarily had the use of the arms and legs. The came and went so fast and so regularly that sometimes we didn't even learn their names. Truth is, after a while, we sort of avoided gettin' to know them.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 100 Greatest War Films (2005) (TV)

The emasculation of a potentially great film

I have seen this film quite a few times and have always been somewhat puzzled about it. There was no doubt that it had some of the most emotive scenes of any war film but seemed fractured. At times there seemed to be far more realism in it's morality than other films which was understandable since Sam Fuller actually served with The Big Red One at this time so much of it is a first hand account of events and attitudes. I have now read some of the background to the making of the film,I think in the L.A. Times,which now makes sense of the flaws in the film. Apparently Sam Fuller's budget was cut to the minimum by the studios after a regime change and the original screenplay as shot was hacked to death by the same studio against Fuller's wishes. This was not the film he wanted to make but he made it. And it was not the film that he shot as is indicated by the very complete screenplay notes he made. I think it is Richard Schickel, the noted reviewer of Time magazine, who has laboured to find the missing outtakes and to put the film together in its complete form with over 40 minutes added to the length. Apparently this more complete cut significantly improves the film and adheres to Sam Fullers screenplay more accurately. This new cut is now playing to limited audiences and, hopefully, will be available on DVD. It must be emphasized that this is not the film that Fuller originally wanted to make as the budget was cut by 75%. Some of the comments made by other reviewers on these pages are valid as to authenticity specifically in battle scenes. But Fuller did not have the budget that both the Longest Day and Saving Private Ryan had. It will be interesting to see the new cut. Hopefully it will flesh out what could have been one of the greatest Second World War films.