Big Red One, The (Samuel Fuller's) - The Reconstruction

"The real glory of war", Samuel Fuller said, "is surviving". A decorated combatant with the famed U.S. First Infantry in World War 2, Fuller survived. His 1980 version of his war experiences did not...until now. 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. Lee Marvin, in a richy layered performance now revealed as one of his finest, stars as the sergeant of peach-fuzzed riflemen fighting from North Africa Normandy and across Europe. The film is the squad's combat diary, war as it's fought and sweated and bled and maybe, survived.