tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7201660899514011402.post8433527957100278519..comments2024-03-25T06:50:31.379-05:00Comments on The War Movie Buff: #71 - The Big Red OneWar Movie Buffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05999735218343872013noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7201660899514011402.post-85698135913381572112019-11-12T08:49:11.509-06:002019-11-12T08:49:11.509-06:00Thanks. Now I have the dilemma of whether I shoul...Thanks. Now I have the dilemma of whether I should see the Reconstruction of one of my least favorite movies.War Movie Buffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05999735218343872013noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7201660899514011402.post-27523341175731028702019-11-10T08:09:23.565-06:002019-11-10T08:09:23.565-06:00I know I'm replying to an eight year old comme...I know I'm replying to an eight year old comment, but it interested me enough to want to do so. <br /><br />You pondered that the only way he could still be a sgt and still be in is if he kept getting demoted. There is a deleted scene that's available on the Reconstruction DVD that engages with this - in the landing at Gela, The Sergeant has a hostile interaction with two officers. It's made clear that he does not get along with the command element, and this sort of confrontational interaction he seems to have with officers on a regular basis is likely why he is still a Sgt, as fighting with superiors would have regularly gotten him busted back to corporal or private.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7201660899514011402.post-21095806308432107032019-11-06T22:16:02.751-06:002019-11-06T22:16:02.751-06:00Agree. I have trouble with movies that are anecdo...Agree. I have trouble with movies that are anecdotal and try to make us think all those stories happened to the same man or men.War Movie Buffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05999735218343872013noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7201660899514011402.post-34112240762861248202019-11-04T13:23:50.945-06:002019-11-04T13:23:50.945-06:00I also think you nailed this review. I don't k...I also think you nailed this review. I don't know which version I watched but it reminded me of listening to an elderly veteran talk about the war: the stories are sometimes slow and meandering and there are things that are hard to understand but you are willing to listen patiently because you feel there is an underlying message about a human experience that is good for you to hear and you want to give the old man the pleasure and the respect of having a attentive audience.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7201660899514011402.post-54465331828212222502016-08-07T08:07:29.933-05:002016-08-07T08:07:29.933-05:00Good point about it being female friendly. It was...Good point about it being female friendly. It was one of my favorites too, until I viewed it a second and third times. Each time I watched it I picked up more flaws. I like the Trump analogy.War Movie Buffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05999735218343872013noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7201660899514011402.post-39244082285756526372016-08-01T21:25:39.435-05:002016-08-01T21:25:39.435-05:00I would say It is my favorite war film (at least a...I would say It is my favorite war film (at least american/historical) But I don't really care for the genera, so I guess that's light praise. <br /><br />From my experience it is NOT a chick flick. The kid hauling around his dead mother and the frozen butt joke are 2 exit points for the women i've tried to show it to. <br /><br />Also the “I am one of you, I am sane” guy (while possible a bit overhanded) is my picture of Donald Trump Tim Ohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01577700778291479321noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7201660899514011402.post-24986451881825660112016-02-17T00:24:26.116-06:002016-02-17T00:24:26.116-06:00I like your take on this movie. I saw it in theatr...I like your take on this movie. I saw it in theatres when it came out and was very impressed (Also inexperienced with WWII movies). I own copies of both the reconstruction and the theatrical release. Prefer the original on principle. Fuller wasn't around to supervise the reconstruction and iron out the rough edges. The worst one is the Hurtgen forest vignette with the German infiltrator. Doesn't fit with anything else.André7https://www.blogger.com/profile/04529840090218454738noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7201660899514011402.post-78755587538823807032014-07-24T01:17:21.044-05:002014-07-24T01:17:21.044-05:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.Reading For Hot Girlshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18254192859522998875noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7201660899514011402.post-21402347875106346162014-06-26T22:37:07.063-05:002014-06-26T22:37:07.063-05:00A lot of the critical love has to be because of th...A lot of the critical love has to be because of the esteem for Fuller. It reminds me of the unreserved love for Peckinpah.War Movie Buffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05999735218343872013noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7201660899514011402.post-82095959799832171962014-06-25T23:31:28.325-05:002014-06-25T23:31:28.325-05:00So many people blindly defend this movie that I...So many people blindly defend this movie that I'm glad to see some people viewing it through a critical lens. It's shocking how overrated this movie is, especially among professional critics. Even at a 7 overall, I think you're giving it too much credit. I couldn't stomach it after the first half.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06158794823198271723noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7201660899514011402.post-17831708131655024892014-02-28T21:50:48.898-06:002014-02-28T21:50:48.898-06:00Cool story. Makes you wonder what Fuller could ha...Cool story. Makes you wonder what Fuller could have done with Speilberg's budgets and power. However, Fuller has to bear most of the blame for the ridiculous aspects of this script.War Movie Buffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05999735218343872013noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7201660899514011402.post-72619642378334578172014-02-26T02:38:29.043-06:002014-02-26T02:38:29.043-06:00As a sidebar, I read an interview with spielberg o...As a sidebar, I read an interview with spielberg once in which he spoke with admiration about Fuller. They were coming out of the premiere for BR1 and Spielberg congratulated Fuller who replied "It's bullshit. All my war movies are bullshit!" Shocked, Spielberg asked why. "The studios always made me compromise, and not one of my movies showed the real horror of war. If i had made one single movie that showed war the way it really is, people would throw up in the aisles and young men would refuse to wear the uniform". II am paraphrasing from memory, of course). So that one encounter was part of why Spielberg made the D-Day landing scene the way he did.André7https://www.blogger.com/profile/04529840090218454738noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7201660899514011402.post-83125232858889708352012-05-27T16:43:37.327-05:002012-05-27T16:43:37.327-05:00The story of the soldiers getting saved in combat,...The story of the soldiers getting saved in combat, then finding that their rescuer was dead before the rescue, is an old one. It seems to surface in every war, with minor variations. It is a military equivalent of an urban legend, like the college students' story of the phantom hitch hiker.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7201660899514011402.post-67947851916321479032012-05-26T18:14:24.390-05:002012-05-26T18:14:24.390-05:00I always assumed that Marvin's character was a...I always assumed that Marvin's character was a lifer and stayed in the Army through both wars. The Army, AFAIK, did not adopt an up-or-out system until after WWII, so it is possible that a private in 1918 could be a buck sergeant in 1942.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7201660899514011402.post-36153002078728805752011-02-28T21:23:01.409-06:002011-02-28T21:23:01.409-06:00Nicely done. Some cogent points. I agree especiall...Nicely done. Some cogent points. I agree especially about this being a showcase for Marvin. I wonder what his character did between the wars. In the opening, he is an elderly private (?) and then by 1942 (24 years later) he is a grizzled sergeant. He could not have stayed in the army between the wars unless he kept getting demoted. I cannot really complain about his being obviously too old for the role, not after seeing Harrison Ford movies lately. How old was Clint Eastwood when he made "Heartbreak Ridge"?........ I just looked it up and would you believe - 56. The same age as Marvin when he made BR1!!!<br /><br />I read where when Marvin met his co-stars he asked which was Carradine and proceeded to tell him "f*** you". Later, he explained to Carradine he did it because Carradine was the only one he had heard of. How cool is that?<br /><br />I did not like the Schroeder stuff. It was too implausible and too easy. I found the encounter at the end especially ridiculous. Schroeder would have fought to the end, unless all that other stuff was bullshit. I also find it a little disconcerting that the Sarge would make the same mistake again. He must be one crass individual to not have vowed to never do that again!<br /><br />I agree the part with the little boy was very well done. But it makes the movie seem bipolar since those two scenes occur back to back. <br /><br />My favorite Marvin movie is "The Professionals". Try comparing that cast with BR1 and see if your head does not explode.War Movie Buffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05999735218343872013noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7201660899514011402.post-51405914099772591532011-02-28T18:58:34.570-06:002011-02-28T18:58:34.570-06:00This was a spot on review. This is not a great mov...This was a spot on review. This is not a great movie (too weak in some areas) but it is a very good one. Time has been good to it critic-wise however. Leonard Maltin even gives it 3 1/2 stars and calls it "poetic". I think alot of that is due to the fact he is a Sam Fuller admirer. Fuller was a good, down to earth director that got alot out of his stars. Most of his movies (especially the early noir) are pretty low budget. I think BR1 was actually one of his higher budget affairs.<br />The reason this one is memorable is Lee Marvin. Plain and simple. Perfect role for him. He's one of my favorite actors. A tuff guy with a sense of humor. He grounds this movie among some weak younger actors and that is exactly what Fuller wanted i think. Hamill was just coming off Star Wars a few years earlier and his acting was still no better. Caradine, while a better actor, is a little too caracature with that cigar for me. The other boys are interchangable. But again I think Fuller didnt mind that. Afterall, in real war young soldiers become somewhat "interchangable" unfortunately. Fuller was shooting for the different experiences that occur in war and the reactions to it. Marvin is there for the "seen it all" figure.<br />I dont think this was Marvin's best acting job. Perhaps his most honest. Best would go to Point Blank (intensity)or Cat Ballou (variety). My favorite Marvin movie is still Emperor of the North which is a borders-on-great action movie about train riding hoboes. A historical piece also as its set during the Great Depression. Similar to BR1 in that Marvin plays a mentor to a younger hobo (Keith Caradine...Caradine connection alert!) A nice showcase for tuff guy actors too: Ernest Borgnine and Marvin. <br />What weakens BR1 the most is its episodic nature. Its really vignettes strung together with the framing device of the Schroeder/Sergaent. I actually liked the framing except for the fact that Marvin looks kinda silly trying to be a younger version of himself. He's too wrinkled, which was always part of his appeal anyway. But him saving his nemisis at the end, while a bit corny, works with the character. <br />The best scene in the movie by far to me is when Marvin carries the boy around on his shoulders. The boy is eating an apple and just slowly slumps over and dies. Marvin doesnt say a word, just feels for the boys pulse. Its all acting with the eyes. Beautifully done and perfectly captured the tragedy of war. <br />Was Fuller a B movie director. I dont think he would have minded people thinking so. I would view him as a grade A...B movie director.<br />Oddly enuff Spielburg took a similar approach to young men at war with an episode of Amazing Stories i saw once. I think it was even filmed in B/W. The plot was a bunch of young soldiers landing at D-Day and how they are saved by another soldier they were making fun of. The predicable hook was that he was already killed at the time. Up to that point the production values were great. Fuller never had Spielburg's budget of course so its nice to see they have "reconstructed" his movie. The only version i have seen so far is the original one which didnt get much notice when it first came out im sure. <br />Good review there brother.JHardyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12975399049775935074noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7201660899514011402.post-13906303214090618642011-02-28T16:16:53.596-06:002011-02-28T16:16:53.596-06:00I loved the movie when it first came out and was s...I loved the movie when it first came out and was surprised that when I watched it critically it was not nearly as good as I thought. As far as it being a B movie, I do not think it is. I was reflecting the attitudes of some critics. I do not think you will like it. You might enjoy the birth in the tank scene, however. It has some French in it.War Movie Buffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05999735218343872013noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7201660899514011402.post-31444346620595531522011-02-28T04:02:12.582-06:002011-02-28T04:02:12.582-06:00I somehow expected something different or let'...I somehow expected something different or let's rather say your review doesn't correspond with what I expected this movie to be. I thought it would be much more rounded and not as episodic. In any case I will watch it as it is a movie I am quite curious about. Never thought of it as a B movie either. But as said, I haven't watched it yet.allaboutwarmovieshttp://allaboutwarmovies.comnoreply@blogger.com