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Sam Fuller's "The Big Red One, Reconstruction" (long)

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mishmashmusic

Recently viewed this one, starring Lee Marvin and Mark Hamill. Basically a WWII epic that follows a small band of US Army riflemen in various settings of the European campaign.

This is apparently the posthumous "re-edit" that Fuller wanted to make that's a little less than 3 hours long. I spread the viewing over 2 nights, so it wasn't tedious to watch. I never saw the original theatrical edit, so I'm not sure what's been added/changed.

It's an interesting film, although it flirts with greatness, it never quite reaches its potential. There are some great scenes, especially the opening b&w sequence from WWI, where Marvin kills a German soldier after the war had ended. The storyline with the later German soldier that's followed through to the end feels forced and contrived, trying to tie it all together. It doesn't really work for me. The acting is spotty at times, although there are a few moments where it all comes together. Marvin is definitely the strongest actor in the bunch, a perfect fit to play the aging sergeant, although he at times appears to wonder exactly what he's supposed to do with his role. Much like the film, he strives for greatness, but never completely finds it.

Worth a watch if you're into WWII/war films, but that's about it...

Follow Ups:

RE: Sam Fuller's "The Big Red One, Reconstruction" (long) - powermatic 12:11:49 07/13/07 (0)
I saw this fairly recently, and I could only get through the first half. Poor acting, writing that would be bested by an average high school essay, absurd plot development-I could go on and on.

That whole first b/w scene might have been good, but the metaphorical pretensions were destroyed by the absurdity! For instance, a far truer scene with Marvin's commander would have gone like this:

C.O. "Where's your rifle"?

Lee: "Got kicked to shit by a wild horse".

C.O. "WTF"?

Lee: "Yeah, I know, it was really weird".

C.O. "So why didn't you just pick one up off one of the hundreds of dead
guys out there?"

Lee: "Oh-guess I didn't really think of that. Hey-there's a dead guy right
outside-I'll grab his".

etc.

And then, of course, Marvin looks exactly the same in WW2 as he did in WW1. I thought war was hell-didn't seem to age him in the least.

Anyway, went downhill from there. At least for me.
RE: Sam Fuller's "The Big Red One, Reconstruction" (long) - patrickU 05:13:02 07/12/07 (0)
A highly praised film at the Cannes film festival....

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