Hans-Inge Langø’s review published on Letterboxd:
I watched The Big Red One when the restoration came out nearly twenty years ago, but this kinda feels like my first Fuller joint. It’s mean, lean, and perfectly cynical in all the parts that matter. Sure, it has ridiculously shallow Cold War politics, but there’s a lot more going on here under the surface.
It also has a phenomenal cast, with Thelma Ritter and Richard Widmark (in that order) the standouts. Ritter’s final scene is achingly vulnerable and brutal, and I was frankly kind of shocked at the level of violence in this movie.
The movie has a fairly austere look to it, but it’s not without some cinematic grandeur. Widmark’s character lives in a stilted shack on the river and there’s something so captivating about how it looks and what it says about the man. It might be a small touch, but it gives the movie the space to feel big, if that makes sense.
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