The Big Red One (1980) Blu-ray

This version of 'The Big Red One' contains 40 minutes of extra footage that was removed prior to the original release.

Lee Marvin stars in this episodic retelling of the exploits of the American First Infantry Division during World War II, focusing on the squad's sergeant and four of the teenage soldiers. They struggle to survive campaigns from North Africa in November, 1942, to Czechoslovakia in May, 1945: along the way they participate in the invasion of Sicily, the D-Day invasion, free a lunatic asylum and a concentration camp.

Fuller had served with the Big Red One, the U.S. First Infantry Division, and the autobiographical content of his film kept it close to his heart. This full-length version, which is close to the late director's original cut, is one of American cinema's great war movies. Working with 70,000 feet of vault materials and Fuller's shooting script, critic/filmmaker Richard Schickel heads a reconstruction that adds over 40 minutes and transforms a truncated but admired war film into an epic masterwork!