BIG RED ONE, THE

(July 1980, U.S.)

When you've watched a good amount of World War II films, after a while you find yourself in the position of asking yourself, "What makes this one different from all the others?" On the surface, THE BIG RED ONE is no different than all the other World War II films I've seen with the traditional excitement of blood, guts, action and explosions. The privates are also the usual bunch of boys who do not possess any special character that a viewer would want to get close to or come to care about.

THE BIG RED ONE is a World War II tale, yes, but in a way, the film seems very 1980. In fact, there are things about Sam Fuller's style of filmmaking, the dialogue and even the musical score that almost give the film the flavor of a 1980 CBS-TV movie of the week. To be perfectly honest with you, the one real thing that first attracted me to want to see this film was the fact that it starred Mark Hamil (yes, Luke Skywalker himself!). Sometimes I have to remind myself that the man did actually do some work that wasn't STAR WARS related. And is it just me, or does Lee Marvin seem like the most effeminate tough guy that ever lived? I mean, have you ever really listened to the guy's voice??

So, to do a brief recap, everything I've written so far seems quite negative, doesn't it? Despite it all, though, THE BIG RED ONE doesn't fail to entertain as a war film. It doesn't fail to remind the viewer of who the real heroes and enemies of World War II were and what the spirit of the American soldier has always meant to this country. That is probably the most important element that any war film can hope to achieve. I should also point out that this film has what I would consider to be the SECOND best filmed sequence of the Battle of Normandy on Omaha Beach (the first being, of course, Steven Spielberg's SAVING PRIVATE RYAN).

Favorite line or dialogue:

Griff: "I can't murder anybody."
Sergeant: "We don't murder; we kill."
Griff: "It's the same thing."
Sergeant: "The hell it is, Griff. You don't murder animals; you kill 'em."