| Photos (See all 24 | slideshow) |
| Lee Marvin | ... | The Sergeant | |
| Mark Hamill | ... | Pvt. Griff, 1st Squad | |
| Robert Carradine | ... | Pvt. Zab, 1st Squad | |
| Bobby Di Cicco | ... | Pvt. Vinci, 1st Squad | |
| Kelly Ward | ... | Pvt. Johnson, 1st Squad | |
| Stéphane Audran | ... | Underground Walloon fighter at asylum (as Stephane Audran) | |
| Siegfried Rauch | ... | Schroeder (German sergeant) | |
| Serge Marquand | ... | Rensonnet | |
| Charles Macaulay | ... | General / captain | |
| Alain Doutey | ... | Broban (Vichy sergeant) | |
| Maurice Marsac | ... | Vichy colonel | |
| Colin Gilbert | ... | Dog Face POW | |
| Joseph Clark | ... | Pvt. Shep (soldier on troop transport) | |
| Ken Campbell | ... | Pvt. Lemchek (#2 on Bangalore torpedo) | |
| Doug Werner | ... | Switolski | |
| Perry Lang | ... | Pvt. Kaiser, 1st Squad | |
| Howard Delman | ... | Pvt. Smitty (soldier who trips mine) | |
| Marthe Villalonga | ... | Madame Marbaise | |
| Giovanna Galletti | ... | Woman in Sicilian village (as Giovanna Galetti) | |
| Gregori Buimistre | ... | The Hun (German soldier killed by The Sergeant in WWI sequence) | |
| Shimon Barr | ... | German male nurse in Tunisian hospital | |
| Matteo Zoffoli | ... | Sicilian boy - Matteo | |
| Abraham Ronai | ... | German Field Marshall | |
| Galit Rotman | ... | Pregnant Frenchwoman | |
| rest of cast listed alphabetically: | |||
| Samuel Fuller | ... | War Correspondent (as Sam Fuller) | |
| Pascal Breuer | ... | Hitler Youth (uncredited) | |
| Luther Fear | ... | German standing in tank in snow (uncredited) | |
| Walter Flesch | ... | Colonel (uncredited) | |
| Anat Harel | ... | Graziella (uncredited) | |
| Ulli Kinalzik | ... | Gerd (uncredited) | |
| Christa Lang | ... | German Countess (extended edition) (uncredited) | |
| Guy Marchand | ... | Captain Chapier (uncredited) | |
| Steve Moriarty | ... | Staff Sgt at Kasserine Pass (uncredited) | |
| Yossi Pollak | ... | Herr Green Shirt (uncredited) | |
Directed by | |||
| Samuel Fuller | |||
Writing credits(in alphabetical order) | ||
| Samuel Fuller | written by | |
Produced by | |||
| Gene Corman | .... | producer | |
| Douglas Freeman | .... | producer (reconstruction, 2004) | |
| Brian Jamieson | .... | executive producer in charge of production (reconstruction, 2004) | |
| Richard Schickel | .... | producer (reconstruction, 2004) | |
Original Music by | |||
| Dana Kaproff | |||
Cinematography by | |||
| Adam Greenberg | (director of photography) | ||
Film Editing by | |||
| Bryan McKenzie | (2004 reconstruction) | ||
| Morton Tubor | |||
Art Direction by | |||
| Peter Jamison | |||
Makeup Department | |||
| Blanche Shuler | .... | hair stylist | |
| Blanche Shuler | .... | makeup artist | |
Production Management | |||
| Peter Cornberg | .... | unit production manager | |
| Brian Hamblin | .... | post-production supervisor (reconstruction) | |
| Rony Yacov | .... | production manager: Israel | |
| Avner Orshalimy | .... | production manager: second unit (uncredited) | |
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director | |||
| Todd Corman | .... | second assistant director | |
| Arne Schmidt | .... | assistant director (as Arne L. Schmidt) | |
| Lewis Teague | .... | second unit director | |
| Avner Orshalimy | .... | second assistant director (uncredited) | |
| Gary Zembow | .... | second second assistant director (uncredited) | |
| Leo Zisman | .... | second assistant director (uncredited) | |
Art Department | |||
| William Hankins | .... | property master | |
| Ladislav Wilheim | .... | props (uncredited) | |
Sound Department | |||
| Cyril Collick | .... | sound mixer | |
| David Dockendorf | .... | sound re-recording mixer | |
| Jack A. Finlay | .... | sound editor | |
| Robert L. Harman | .... | sound re-recording mixer | |
| Mark Linden | .... | sound designer: 2004 reconstruction | |
| William L. McCaughey | .... | sound re-recording mixer | |
| Tara Paul | .... | sound designer: 2004 reconstruction | |
| Harry E. Snodgrass | .... | sound designer: 2004 reconstruction | |
| Ken Dufva | .... | foley artist (uncredited) | |
Special Effects by | |||
| Jeff Clifford | .... | special effects | |
| Peter Dawson | .... | special effects | |
| Kit West | .... | special effects | |
Visual Effects by | |||
| Arn Campero | .... | digital paint (reconstruction, 2004) | |
| John Falchi | .... | digital paint (reconstruction, 2004) | |
| Gary Forbes | .... | digital paint (reconstruction, 2004) | |
Stunts | |||
| Roy Street | .... | stunt coordinator: horse stunt | |
| Waldo | .... | stunts: free fall (uncredited) | |
Camera and Electrical Department | |||
| Jim Dunn | .... | key grip | |
| Skip Karnas | .... | best boy (as Albert Karnas) | |
| Melton Maxwell | .... | gaffer (as Mel Maxwell) | |
| Laurel Moore | .... | still photographer | |
| Yoni Hamenachem | .... | still photographer (uncredited) | |
Casting Department | |||
| Edith Cottrell | .... | casting: France | |
| Barbara Miller | .... | casting | |
Editorial Department | |||
| David Bretherton | .... | supervising editor | |
| Erica Flaum | .... | assistant editor | |
Music Department | |||
| Bodie Chandler | .... | music supervisor | |
| Gene Feldman | .... | music editor | |
| Dana Kaproff | .... | conductor | |
| Alfred J. Carranza | .... | first assistant music editor (uncredited) | |
| Dan Wallin | .... | music scoring mixer (uncredited) | |
Other crew | |||
| Lynn A. Aber | .... | script supervisor (as Lynn Aber) | |
| Craig Corman | .... | production assistant | |
| Vic Heutschy | .... | unit publicist | |
| Lori Steiner | .... | continuity: second unit | |
| Alan Weisman | .... | gunsmith | |
| Elizabeth Yanoska | .... | location auditor | |
| Sherrie Bradshaw | .... | assistant production accountant (uncredited) | |
| Michael Davenport | .... | assistant: Sam Fuller (uncredited) | |
| Rick Schmidlin | .... | consultant (uncredited) | |
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| Days of Glory | Cross of Iron | Miracle at St. Anna | Empire of the Sun | Coup de grâce |
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| Full cast and crew | Company credits | External reviews |
| News articles | IMDb Action section | IMDb USA section |
A lot of people hate The Big Red One. They call it farcical, uneven, clichéd. They find it farcical, I believe, because the film revels in the absurdity of war rather than gloss over it. They would rather watch a film, like Saving Private Ryan, which ignores absurdity in favor of violence. These people find it uneven because the "important scenes" (like the D-Day and North African invasion) take only a minute or two to conclude, while other scenes, less typical of a war movie, spread out before us. They call it clichéd because the movie is unsubtle in its treatment of character development and plot.
I cannot agree with these beliefs. The Big Red One is not only one of the greatest WWII films, it is also one of the greatest war movies.
Sam Fuller's film, which was butchered by the studio, is the picaresque tale of 5 members of the First Infantry, known, because of their shoulder patch, as the Big Red One. The film moves from one story to the next without spending too much time on any particular tale.
The individual vignettes, as they must, vary in quality, but on the whole are excellent. The Big Red One stirs within you a desire to run right out and tell your friends about this amazing scene or that.
There's the soldier who loses his testicle, the birthing scene in the belly of a tank, Lee Marvin, in Middle Eastern garb, traipsing across a beach, soldiers dug into holes over which a Panzer tank division travels, the entire Mad House segment... The list goes on.
Some people dislike the absurdest nature of several of this film's stories, but, for me, those surreal touches make this film great.
Without them (and there are a lot), you would be left with a very normal and very boring film. Using bandoleers as stirrups is genius, as is the woman faking crazy as she whirls through a monastery, slicing German throats.
The performances are solid, for this type of film, but if you are looking for subtlety, go elsewhere. Each character is drawn in broad strokes; you never learn too much about them, but you learn enough to understand who they are and why. Lee Marvin, as usual, is amazing. He is one of the great, gruff actors of our time, bringing a special, intangible quality to every film in which I've seen him. He makes every movie he's in better just by showing up. There are too few actors about whom you can say that.
Like the acting, the direction is masculine, but, for a war movie, that's a compliment. In some ways, Fuller's direction here and in his other films reminds me of Hemmingway's writing - terse and effective. Both men believe in an economy of shots or words, depending on their medium, but, through that economy, they attain a muscular sort of poetry akin to the beauty of a horse's rippling muscles as it races on a plain. Fuller's direction here, though not his best when compared to Underworld USA or Shock Corridor, is still better than most, especially considering that this was his first film in several years.
All in all, I find the Big Red One to be an exemplary war movie, even in its emasculated format (I cannot wait to see the restored, 140 minute print, which should improve upon scenes that feel to brief in this version). It's certainly no Apocalypse Now, but it puts to shame most World War II epics before or since.