X
  • 1980
  • R
  • United Artists
  • 1 h 53 m
  • 1980
  • R
  • United Artists
  • 1 h 53 m

Summary World War I veteran Sergeant Possum (Lee Marvin) wants to get the job done and to get himself and his squad of green recruits out alive. It's just a job: Kill the enemy before they kill you. And through the seemingly endless bloodshed from North Africa, to Sicily, the Normandy Invasion and the push into Germany, his now-veteran squad—Gr...

Directed By: Samuel Fuller

Written By: Samuel Fuller

  • 1980
  • R
  • United Artists
  • 1 h 53 m
  • 1980
  • R
  • United Artists
  • 1 h 53 m

The Big Red One

Metascore Generally Favorable Based on 19 Critic Reviews
77
User Score Generally Favorable Based on 6 User Ratings
7.5
My Score
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Where to Watch

Summary World War I veteran Sergeant Possum (Lee Marvin) wants to get the job done and to get himself and his squad of green recruits out alive. It's just a job: Kill the enemy before they kill you. And through the seemingly endless bloodshed from North Africa, to Sicily, the Normandy Invasion and the push into Germany, his now-veteran squad—Gr...

Directed By: Samuel Fuller

Written By: Samuel Fuller

Where to Watch

Top Cast

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Critic Reviews

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Metascore
Generally Favorable Based on 19 Critic Reviews
77
84% Positive
16 Reviews
16% Mixed
3 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews

Critic Reviews

 View All
Metascore
Generally Favorable Based on 19 Critic Reviews
77
84% Positive
16 Reviews
16% Mixed
3 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews
100
To see this seamless "reconstruction" - consisting of some 15 entirely new sequences as well as augmentations to 23 others - is to behold a masterpiece revealed.
FULL REVIEW
90
Marvin's performance, much enhanced by "The Reconstruction," is a marvel.
By Kevin Crust FULL REVIEW
88
The combination of old-time Hollywood valor and ahead-of-its-time surprises makes this restoration a big event.
By Jami Bernard FULL REVIEW
80
Fuller was never a poetic director, but in The Big Red One he finds what in himself was closest to lyricism. Fuller's movie is like flowers thrown on a battlefield in remembrance, and it makes the overblown war movies that have followed seem like cheap and tatty Veteran's Day poppies.
By Charles Taylor FULL REVIEW
75
There are sequences in The Big Red One that you can't forget, and every one of them could have been made better with a bigger budget and a realism that was beyond Fuller's grasp at the time.
By Ty Burr FULL REVIEW
70
Its kitschy grabs at the surreal--the scene in a lunatic asylum, where German troops are billeted, manages to be at once implausible and offensive--that blocks any close engagement with the drama. That said, you must see this film for one unstoppable reason, and that is Lee Marvin.
By Anthony Lane FULL REVIEW
40
Though 45 minutes longer than the original release, still feels thinner, less complex, more mythic and far less compelling.
By Stephen Hunter FULL REVIEW

User Reviews

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User Score
Generally Favorable Based on 6 User Ratings
7.5
83% Positive
5 Ratings
17% Mixed
1 Rating
0% Negative
0 Ratings

User Reviews

 View All
User Score
Generally Favorable Based on 6 User Ratings
7.5
83% Positive
5 Ratings
17% Mixed
1 Rating
0% Negative
0 Ratings

There are no user reviews yet. Be the first to add a review.

Details

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Production Company Lorimar Productions, Lorac Productions
Release Date Jul 18, 1980
Duration 1 h 53 m
Rating R
Genres
Tagline The real glory of war is surviving.
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Awards

Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
Seattle Film Critics Awards
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
Cannes Film Festival
• 1 Nomination

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