Big Red One (Special Edition) DVD

Disc One:

• Commentary by Reconstruction Producer Richard Schickel

Disc Two:

• Alternate Scenes
• Anatomy of a Scene: Examine Before/After Restoration Comparisons
• New Documentary The Real Glory: Reconstructing The Big Red One
• Profile The Men Who Made the Movies: Samuel Fuller
• War Department Film The Fighting First
• 1980 Promo Reel, Theatrical Trailer and TV Radio Spots
• 2004 Reconstruction Trailer
• Stills Gallery

Lee Marvin, Mark Hamill, Robert Carradine, Bobby Di Cicco, Stéphane Audran

Samuel Fuller's valedictory war picture, The Big Red One follows the First Infantry Division from Africa to Europe during the years 1942 through 1945. Lee Marvin portrays the division sergeant; he's tough and experienced, to be sure, but he takes on his job with cool professionalism rather than Hollywood bravado. Based on Fuller's own experiences, the film is a loosely constructed series of anecdotes. Among them are an insane asylum under bombardment while the inmates applaud and a climactic vignette in which a very young concentration camp internee dies while a friendly soldier plays piggy-back with the boy.