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The Big Red One (re-release)
User Score
8.3 out of 10

Universal acclaim- based on 4 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 4
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 4
  3. Negative: 0 out of 4

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  1. VinceH.
    Jan 24, 2005
    9
    I agreed with everything Yoon C. said until he stated that Fuller wasn't a true maverick with real talent like Norman Mailer. Mailer was a wanna-be intellectual who wrote at best 2 or 3 great works, and the rest of his output is as unforgettable as say the last 10 John Updike or Joyce Carol Oates books. I do agree that Fuller is overrated. Fuller was a brilliant, iconoclastic director who made subversive, well-crafted and personal movies in the studio era, but he was not a great film artist like the aforementioned filmmakers Yoon C wrote of near the bottom of his review. The Big Red One is also overrated. Like J Hoberman says, this isn't even Fuller's best war movie, forget about being one of the best of all time. China Gate, The Steel Helmet, Fixed Bayonets, and others are all better war films that TBRO. The first film Fuller made after this, the long unavailable White Dog, is also superior. How my fav critic, Jonathan Rosenbaum, could list this as best film of the year is disheartening. Obviously it is worth seeing mainly for Lee Marvin's excellent performance and to see the film somewhat more of the way Fuller intended.… Expand
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  2. YoonC.
    Dec 5, 2004
    7
    'When legend becomes fact, print the legend.' one of the silliest legends in the film community is that fuller was a great artist. at best, he was a decent filmmaker. but, left-leaning critics are enamoured of the usefulness of fuller just as stalinists were with maxim gorky. fuller's image as the rebel, maverick, and iconolast is just too juicy to pass up for wanna-be-rebels and intellectual cranks who want to be badass thru association with rascally grampy; how we love to bypass the discipline of parents and be doted by grandparents. and you gotta give the man some credit; he was a war veteran, a toughguy, a no-nonsense man of action. however, mavericks like norman mailer and sam peckinpah had real talent. this just wasn't true with fuller. ultimately, his signifcance to cinema is hardly more than that of stanley kramer; he made movies that were controversial and daring for their time. fuller's much hyped films of the 50s have dated badly. they mean something to the 50s generation for whom they once may have been shocking and now have nostalgic value. or, fuller's films may mean something to younger generation of film geeks for whom esoteric knowledge of cinema is a great badge of honor. but, let's be real, and only by being real can we truly honor fuller the artist. in big red one, marvin is no great hero but a man who does what he must do. he's a good man, not a great man. fuller was, at best, a good director who made the films to the best of his limited abilities. that's something worth honoring. but, seriously, fuller belongs nowhere near the likes of welles, hitchcock, rossellini, or even peckinpah, walsh, or cassavettes. we can credit his example for having inspired personal filmmaking but we cannot honestly treat his films as serious art. of course, if you're an academic geek and wanna play games with subtext and whatever, have it your way at burgerking. … Expand
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Critic Reviews

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Metascore
77 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 20 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 17 out of 20
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 20
  3. Negative: 0 out of 20
  1. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: Jonathan Rosenbaum
    100
    A grand-style, idiosyncratic war epic, with wonderful poetic ideas, intense emotions, and haunting images rich in metaphysical portent.
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  2. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Roger Ebert
    75
    Hard-boiled, filled with action, held together by male camaraderie, directed with a lean economy of action. It's one of the most expensive B-pictures ever made, and I think that helps it fit the subject. "A" war movies are about War, but "B" war movies are about soldiers. (Review of Original Release)
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  3. Newsweek
    Reviewed by: David Ansen
    90
    Marvin's taciturn performance--a moving demonstration of masculine grace under pressure--may be his finest.
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