In 1980, Samuel Fuller shot his almost autobiographic (Pvt. Zab is the alter ego of Sam Fuller) war movie. Unfortunately, only a heavily cut version made it into the cinemas. Until his death in 1997 he had the intention of making his experiences from the war into a movie that was true to historical facts as well as his personal philosophy. In order to save what could be saved he never distanced himself from the shorter unauthorized version. Thanks to film critic and -historian Richard Schickel "The Big Red One" has been reconstructed as good as it was possible after over twenty-five years and features now nearly 50 minutes longer than the old Theatrical Version.
