12-19-2016, 09:47 PM
Not having seen Mark Hamill in ages, I've been itching to watch him in something, only I'd rather not be retina-raped by that damned Nissan Rogue anymore. You know, the red one. So instead of zipping into outer space I climbed into a trench and watched The Big Red One, considered one of Fuller's best, and arguably one of the greatest war films of all time.
It's a very good movie. A sergeant (Lee Marvin in perhaps his best role) leads soldiers of the First Infantry Division through the European theater during WWII. The focus is on a handful of his men, including Mark Hamill as a conflicted marksman and Robert Carradine as a pulp novel writer. Only it's not the Robert Carradine. It's the one from Revenge of the Nerds. WTF? How can an actor get away with having the same name as Grasshopper!
The movie was released in 1980, the same year as the 2nd Star Wars movie, The Empire Strikes Back. I think Hamill was trying to avoid being typecast. Anyway, perhaps it's grim of me, but I'm always trying to put a timeline on his facial scars. The car accident happened in January of 1977, while filming was still underway for Star Wars. Lucas had to use a double for some long shots to finish it. Apparently Mark Hamill got distracted while driving his Nissan Rouge, not to be confused with the Nissan Rogue (an easy mistake to make, because they're both red). He claims that he just broke his nose and rumors of major cosmetic surgery are ridiculous. But I don't know. His face has gone on a journey somewhere. Maybe too much exposure to the vacuum of space.
Anyway, The Big Red One (not to be confused with any of Nissan's vehicles) is well worth a gander. It has some strong emotional scenes, which Fuller is known for, though it's not as insanely intense as Shock Corridor, to my mind. I watched this on Filmstruck.com, which you might want to check out if you're getting tired of your streamer. But oddly Filmstruck only has the theatrical release version (1 hour 43 minutes), instead of the reconstructed version (2 hours 38 minutes), which is much closer to Fuller's original version before the fucking studio chopped it all to hell).
Wish I'd known about the reconstructed version before watching this. It's supposed to be much better. I need to write Filmstruck, ask why the fuck they, as film lovers, don't honor Fuller's original vision.
That sort of thing always makes me see red.
It's a very good movie. A sergeant (Lee Marvin in perhaps his best role) leads soldiers of the First Infantry Division through the European theater during WWII. The focus is on a handful of his men, including Mark Hamill as a conflicted marksman and Robert Carradine as a pulp novel writer. Only it's not the Robert Carradine. It's the one from Revenge of the Nerds. WTF? How can an actor get away with having the same name as Grasshopper!
The movie was released in 1980, the same year as the 2nd Star Wars movie, The Empire Strikes Back. I think Hamill was trying to avoid being typecast. Anyway, perhaps it's grim of me, but I'm always trying to put a timeline on his facial scars. The car accident happened in January of 1977, while filming was still underway for Star Wars. Lucas had to use a double for some long shots to finish it. Apparently Mark Hamill got distracted while driving his Nissan Rouge, not to be confused with the Nissan Rogue (an easy mistake to make, because they're both red). He claims that he just broke his nose and rumors of major cosmetic surgery are ridiculous. But I don't know. His face has gone on a journey somewhere. Maybe too much exposure to the vacuum of space.
Anyway, The Big Red One (not to be confused with any of Nissan's vehicles) is well worth a gander. It has some strong emotional scenes, which Fuller is known for, though it's not as insanely intense as Shock Corridor, to my mind. I watched this on Filmstruck.com, which you might want to check out if you're getting tired of your streamer. But oddly Filmstruck only has the theatrical release version (1 hour 43 minutes), instead of the reconstructed version (2 hours 38 minutes), which is much closer to Fuller's original version before the fucking studio chopped it all to hell).
Wish I'd known about the reconstructed version before watching this. It's supposed to be much better. I need to write Filmstruck, ask why the fuck they, as film lovers, don't honor Fuller's original vision.
That sort of thing always makes me see red.
I'm nobody's pony.
