This five-film set is headlined by the newly restored edition of Samuel Fuller's The Big Red One, and also includes Battle of the Bulge (first time on DVD), The Dirty Dozen, Where Eagles Dare and Battleground.
The Big Red One (Dir. Samuel Fuller, 1980): 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!
Battle Of The Bulge (Dir. Ken Annakin, 1965): For this epic recreation of one of World War II's most crucial confrontations, director Ken Annakin (The Longest Day) captures the explosive action of massive forces squaring off as well as the brave, individual ingenuity of weary GIs trying to survive a cruel European winter. The cast is a juggernaut of stars: Henry Fonda, Robert Shaw, Robert Ryan, Charles Bronson, Telly Savalas and more.
The Dirty Dozen (Dir. Robert Aldrich, 1967): Nominated for four Academy Awards and boasting a rigged all-star cast that includes Lee Marvin, Charles Bronson, Donald Sutherland and Telly Savalas. The Dirty Dozen set new standards in cinematic thrills and exitement. Filled with rousing special effects and pulse-pounding adventure, it remains it remains one of the greatest action films of all time.
They were the dregs of the US Army: twelve violent psychopaths sentenced to either hang or rot in a Military Prison. Until, that is, a maverick Army Major ( Marvin) offered them redemption - a pardon in exchange for a suicide mission. Accepting the challenge, The Dirty Dozen parachute deep into occupied France. Their orders: to destroy everything they can to ensure the Invasions success - even if it costs them their lives.
Where Eagles Dare (Dir. Brian G. Hutton, 1968) : Richard Burton stars as Major John Smith, a British agent during WWII who is in charge a group of six Allied soldiers given the task of rescuing an American general--who is reportedly in possession of the plans for D-Day--from a seemingly impregnable German fortress located high in the Bavarian Alps. Assisting Smith is the sole American in the operative, Lieutenant Morris Schaffer (Clint Eastwood), a fierce soldier skilled with an array of deadly weapons. As the men penetrate the fortress, facing an endless supply of German soldiers, it becomes apparent that some members of the small Allied team may not be who them seem to be. Full of thrilling action set pieces, the screenplay was written by Alistair MacLean, adapted from his own best selling novel.
Battleground (Dir. William Wellman, 1949): Van Johnson, Ricardo Montalban and George Murphy star in this dramatic historic film directed by William Wellman which tells the story of a U.S. Army division in the European theater near the end of World War II. In a last-ditch effort to turn the tide of the war, the Germans launch a final attack that became known as the Battle of the Bulge
