The 1st infantry division has a distinguished place in United States military history and folklore. It is a division of heroes, having seen continuous service ever since it was organized in 1917. Its nickname is "The Big Red One," for the giant red "1" on the green patch worn on the sleeves.
Filmmaker Sam Fuller paid homage to the 1st infantry division in his 1980 film "The Big Red One" that starred, among others, the legendary Lee Marvin and Star Wars' Mark Hamill, better known as Luke Skywalker.
The film itself is underappreciated, and covers the struggle to survive in the face of what seems like almost certain death. I'd venture a guess that the reason it is underappreciated is because World War II, which "The Big Red One" chronicles, is considered the "good" war, one about which there was no ambiguity or confusion. The whole world united in the face of Nazi atrocity and Japanese despotism, so films showing that there was a not-so-glorious side to war even in those conditions are generally ignored.
Contrast that to films about the Vietnam war, for example. In many ways most people consider the Vietnam War to be the first post-modern war, a war that really wasn't a war at all. In part this is because it was never officially declared a war by the united states congress, and as a result unrestricted war was never the order of the day. This confusion and ambiguity reached not only the congress and soldiers, but the citizens of the united states as well. To this day the Vietnam war is a touchy subject among the 50-and-over set, and films about Vietnam tend to illustrate this ambiguity.
Fuller's chronicling of the 1st infantry division's exploits from that humanist point of view, then, is a work of directorial genius. A review on IMDB.com describes the film this way:
Made up of a number of short vignettes, the main characters experience everything from delivering a baby (in a tank!) to D-Day on Omaha Beach to liberating a death camp as they fight their way through Africa, Sicily, and Western Europe. I understand that it is semi-autobiographical, and boy, does it pack a wallop. From the opening scene to history repeating (almost) itself at the end, it is well-crafted, says a lot and leaves the viewer changed. When the voice-over at the end says that the only glory in war is surviving, you KNOW why. Watch in particular for how Lee Marvin leads his squad, in particular when he gives an extra clip of M-1 ammunition to one of his soldiers at the Death Camp to help the soldier process, in a unique way, the horror of what they have discovered. It is unforgettable.
Clearly Fuller made a film worthy of the 1st infantry division and its distinguished history.
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