The Big Red One (1980)
86%RT Audience Score: 78%
Awards & Nominations: 2 wins & 2 nominations
The reconstruction of Samuel Fuller’s epic account of his days in North Africa in World War II elevates the film into the pantheon of great war movies
The Big Red One is a war movie that will make you feel like you’re in the trenches with the soldiers. It’s got everything you want in a war movie: action, drama, and a cast of characters that you’ll root for until the very end. Sam Fuller’s direction is top-notch, and the personal touch he brings to the film makes it feel like a true story. Plus, it’s got Lee Marvin as the grizzled Sarge, and who doesn’t love Lee Marvin? If you’re a fan of war movies, or just looking for a great film to watch, The Big Red One is a must-see.
Production Company(ies)
Distributor
NA
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
King John’s Castle, Trim, County Meath, Ireland
MPAA / Certificate
Rated R for war violence and some language
Year of Release
1980
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Color:Color
Black and White -
Sound mix:Dolby (original release)
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Aspect ratio:1.85 : 1
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Runtime:NA
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Language(s):English, French, Italian, German
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Jul 18, 1980 Original
Release Date (Streaming): May 18, 2010
Genre(s)
War
Keyword(s)
Worldwide gross: $7,206,823
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $27,085,685
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,581
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 2,953,728
US/Canada gross: $7,206,220
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend:
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $4,500,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $16,912,526
Production budget ranking: 1,454
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $9,107,395
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $1,065,763
ROI to date (est.): 4%
ROI ranking: 1,378
Lee Marvin – The Sergeant
Mark Hamill – Pvt. Griff
Robert Carradine – Pvt. Zab
Bobby Di Cicco – Pvt. Vinci
Kelly Ward – Pvt. Johnson
Siegfried Rauch – Schroeder
Gene Corman – Producer
Samuel Fuller – Director, Writer
Director(s)
Samuel Fuller
Writer(s)
Samuel Fuller
Producer(s)
Gene Corman
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
2 wins & 2 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (49) | Top Critics (18) | Fresh (44) | Rotten (5)
It’s a terrific war yarn, a picture of palpable raw power which manages both Intense intimacy and great scope at the same time.
March 26, 2009
Variety Staff
Variety
TOP CRITIC
Although these are the stock characters of war drama – the sage, grizzled Sarge, the farm boy, the street kid, the nice guy who doesn’t want to kill anyone and the witness – Fuller’s are particularly credible ordinary people.
May 11, 2005 | Rating: 5/5
Angie Errigo
Empire Magazine
TOP CRITIC
‘The Reconstruction,’ which clocks in at 2 hours, 43 minutes, with not a single extraneous frame, elevates the work from a robust genre film to a full-blown epic.
January 20, 2005 | Rating: 5/5
Kevin Crust
Los Angeles Times
TOP CRITIC
Even though it has gained more than 45 minutes, it doesn’t feel longer. Scenes that were choppy or half-baked are now allowed to play out as Fuller intended.
December 10, 2004 | Rating: 3/4
John Hartl
Seattle Times
TOP CRITIC
The director’s gift for bare-knuckles lyricism rescues scene after scene.
December 3, 2004 | Rating: 3/4
Ty Burr
Boston Globe
TOP CRITIC
If you don’t elect to watch The Big Red One through the lens of Sam Fuller’s mystique … you’ll realize that it has been celebrated in ways that essentially make virtues of its flaws.
December 2, 2004 | Rating: C
Owen Gleiberman
Entertainment Weekly
TOP CRITIC
It’s an adventure film as refreshing in content and style as The Deer Hunter was horrifyingly realistic and Apocalypse Now was terrifyingly philosophical.
May 27, 2020 | Rating: 3.5/4
Larry Vitacco
Philadelphia Gay News
But in the end, for a film that pretends to be anti-war, it comes across as ambiguous, which isn’t anything new in the work of Samuel Fuller. [Full Review in Spanish]
August 15, 2019
Jesús Fernández Santos
El Pais (Spain)
… if you want a World War II story from a real vet’s perspective, Sam Fuller is still the man and The Big Red One, drawn from his own war experiences, is the film
April 12, 2009
Sean Axmaker
Seanax.com
Personal observation bleeds out of every scene, and somehow it feels like a true story in a way that most war movies can’t achieve.
September 12, 2007 | Rating: 9/10
Tim Brayton
Antagony & Ecstasy
October 22, 2006 | Rating: 4/5
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com
… displays both raw power and the hint of war’s brutality.
October 2, 2006 | Rating: B
Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews…
Plot
The story of a hardened army sergeant and four of his men, from their first fight at the Kasserine Pass after the invasion of North Africa through to the invasion of Sicily, D-Day, the Ardennes forest and the liberation of a concentration camp at the end of the war. As the five of them fight – and survive to fight yet again in the next battle – new recruits joining the squad are swatted down by the enemy on a regular basis. The four privates are naturally reluctant to get to know any of the new recruits joining the squad, who become just a series of nameless faces.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
NA
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