bigredone

When Steven Spielberg’s “Saving Private Ryan” was released in 1998, all the critics and
moviegoers were under the impression that Spielberg’s World War II tale was the most anti-war and
authentic cinematic statement to ever be made about the battle against Hitler’s Third Reich.

My brother and I knew better sitting in that theatre. Sure, the opening D-Day sequence was
impressive, but the story afterwards was fictional and syrupy. On top of those creative criticisms,
there was already a film about the fighting men of World War II that showed all of war’s horrors and
randomness. Samuel Fuller’s “The Big Red One,” released in 1980, was that film, and we had
seen it years before Tom Hanks and Matt Damon played soldier.

Unlike “Private Ryan,” Fuller’s film captures war’s episodic quality. Fuller was himself a soldier in
the 1st Infantry Division during World War II, which makes “Big Red One” part autobiography.
Fuller was there. Spielberg was not, and neither were his advisors, Dale Dye and Stephen
Ambrose, and while their authority and talent cannot be debated, Fuller’s experiences lend him the
upper hand.

Originally released at less than two hours in length, the film was not a blockbuster in theatres. It
was Fuller’s pet project, the film he’d wanted to make his entire career, and he cut it at around
three hours in length, but production executives at Lorimar had the final say and truncated the film
considerably.

Even in its original incarnation, and no one watching was the wiser, “The Big Red One” was a
unique war film experience. Starring Lee Marvin as the Sergeant, the film tells the story of a
grizzled veteran, Marvin, and the four privates in his rifle squad that survive World War II together.
The movie is a chronicle of their misadventures, revelations, shared horrors and battles. Fuller’s
work stands out from other World War II films in that his story is almost nonlinear. While
chronologically linear, the pacing is protracted in some places in moments of calm and rapid in
switching locations and during battles.

Unlike other war films, including “Private Ryan,” the story is not a comfortable arc. There isn’t a
beginning, middle, and ending for soldiers in war. It is a series of tiny arcs of high drama and
tension, before moving onto another. Fuller’s film captures this perfectly, though many viewers
might find it off-putting to watch.

Recently, the film underwent a major restoration and a whole hour of the movie has been returned to audiences. Now much closer to Fuller’s original cut, “The
Big Red One” has risen from merely a great yet forgotten war film into the antiwar masterpiece it always has been. This is the real cinematic chronicle of the
dogface’s experience in World War II, complete with those random moments of laughter, sadness, pain and confusion.

The added hour fills story holes, bridges gaps, and brings the overall experience into a more fully realized vision. Some subplots change, but for the better.
For example, Griff, played by Mark Hamill, can’t bring himself to kill people. In the original version, he finally shoots a German when liberating a death camp, his
anger having boiled over. Dramatically interesting, but unrealistic as he would have been forced to function as a solider in combat or been court-martialed. In
the restored cut, Griff does throw grenades and pop off rounds, much to his distaste and when he kills the German in the death camp it is not his first kill, but a
realization to him as to why he is killing and why he should kill.

“The Big Red One” is one of the very best modern World War II films, even though it’s 15 years old and few people have ever seen it. Watch it please, so I can
stop having to explain to “Private Ryan” fans why they don’t know what they’re talking about.