Rating: 
Summary: Confusing...difficult to follow...but...
Review: I can't imagine anyone viewing this film for the first time, without a thorough introduction, being able to follow and keep the characters straight -- although the basic plot is quite simple: attack the Japanese position on the ridge. I don't know what possessed the producers (filmmakers) to break the flow of the story with the repetitive scenes of women (girlfriends & wives) back home. Where are the mothers? The DVD package includes a photo album of actors/characters which is helpful in following the story and should be thoroughly read and consulted both before during the viewing of the film. I rate the film as one of the best war films primarily because of its depiction of fear, courage and the brutality of war. It's cynical tone is also interesting, but hardly original. First Sgt. Welsh (Sean Penn) carries the burden of providing the structure for the story's (film's) theme -- "thin red line" that separates life from death, fear from courage, dreams from reality, sanity from maddness... As you listen to the dialogue and voice-over narration, you may want to hit the rewind button or obtain a copy of the script. The dialogue/narration is crammed with thought-provoking quotable quotes, often easily missed, smothered by the sounds of squwaking and squeaking birds, exploding shells and blarring background music. (Maybe I need a hearing aid - but I could certainly hear the birds.) Nick Nolte gives an excellent performance as the hard-driving manic Lt. Col. Tall. The rest of the cast does splendid work and the cinematography is exceptional. This film will always be compared with "Saving Private Ryan." To me "Thin Red Line" doesn't quite measure up to the impact of "Ryan," never-the-less it's very good and worthy of inclusion in all DVD war film collections.
Rating:
Summary: Hypnotic
Review: Thoughtful, intimate and engaging. Probably the best war movie ever made. Those expecting a gung ho slugfest will be disappointed. I hesitated to see it because of all the bad reviews, don't make the same mistake.
Rating: 
Summary: Line thick on cinematography & score, thin everywhere else
Review: The opening few minutes are lush and full of imagery and feeling. The haunted look on Private Witt's (James Caviezel) face, the eerie chanting of the villagers, the trepidation that the girl had for soldiers and what they represented, the sheer joy Witt got out of simply being able to share in the normal village life, and the dread that he showed when realizing that his AWOL jaunt was up - with the arrival of the US ship. I felt all that and got the mood - brooding, surreal, something about to happen. I appreciated the symbolism too - the beauty of the scenery with sun and shadow playing across the fields of shimmering tropical grasses and the beautiful birds in the trees - the incongruity of it all in a battle zone. My problem is that after all this - setting the mood, creating anticipation, hinting at deeper things to be...the movie teased me and finally left me with a huge sense of what could have been. After the opening scenes with Witt and his return to the ship for Sgt Welsh (Sean Penn) to ponder over what to do with him, we lose track of Witt entirely, and everything seems to drift. The problem is not the storyline. It's very basic. They're on Guadalcanal and Charlie company needs to take a series of Japanese held ridges. I recently watched 'The Big Red One' again. This 1980's era war movie used a similar technique like 'Thin Red Line' - the voice over to narrate elements such as background, setting and what was going on in the soldiers mind (though not quite as much, nor as effectively as in 'The Thin Red Line'). There is something else that that older movie did, and did well, in contrast with this movie. There are only 5 characters to focus on in 'Big Red One'. Sure, there are others that play parts but we are always led back to caring about what happens to these 5. In 'The Thin Red Line' the character we feel that we are supposed to care about - Witt - disappears. Others are introduced but none are really sufficiently developed before they are either gone or someone else is introduced and the focus shifts. For me, this is THE problem with 'The Thin Red Line'. Wheras killing off characters is par for the course in a war movie, you better make sure you're not also removing the one thing your viewers can hold on to; otherwise you've killed off the interest. Unfortunately this is a case of so said...so done.
Rating:
Summary: A film that only gets better with each viewing
Review: The Thin Red Line is definitely one of the best if not the best war movie ever made. It shows a different side of the people fighting the war, not the war itself, and that is why I think it succeeds. The movie seems like a lot of disjointed storys with no meaning, but that is exactly what war must feel like. This was never supposed to be a realistic depiction of war as a horrifying physical experience. Rather, I believe that it was made to make war look surreal, with all the inherent beauty all around, and yet man still fights. This is all sounding very pretentious, I must admit, but it is a nice counterpoint to Saving Private Ryan which is a great movie in its own right. The cinematography by John Toll should have won the oscar, there is no doubt in my mind, but Janusz winning for Saving Private Ryan wasn't at all surprising, since he had won before for Schinders List. This was never going to win an oscar, I'm just thankful it got nominated. Miramax and Weinstein's minions sought out the oscar and got it for Shakespeare in Love, which was sick and perverse, considering all of the movies that so richly deserved it. With this movie, Terence Malick really shows that he is a thought-provoking great filmmaker capable of tackling a wide variety of subjects. I think people will grow to love this film as I have, as a very poetic beautiful film, on a truly horrifying experience.
Rating:
Summary: Different
Review: First of all, many people seem to hate this film. The reason why? They first saw "Saving Private Ryan" and loved it. Then when they saw previews of "The Thin Red Line", they got excited because it looked like the same thing. But when it finally came out, people were horrified that it wasn't anything at all like "Saving Private Ryan". I feel "Saving Private Ryan" is a great film and is perhaps greater than "The Thin Red Line", but one of the reasons I admired this film was because it wasn't like "Saving Private Ryan". People just hate things that are different.
Rating:
Summary: Hard to enjoy, but easy to appreciate
Review: I'm goint to start out by admitting that this movie is boring. This is not a movie that you want to watch for fun. It wasn't made that way, and if you rent or buy this movie expecting to see Saving Private Ryan, then you are in for a surprise. The Thin Red Line is not for everyone. If you have a short attention span, don't even bother with this. However, if you can discipline yourself to sit through and watch the movie, then you should watch it. The reason this film excels is because it has value after more than one viewing. The message it is trying to send is subtle and hidden- you will have to think a little and then it will come. Another reason why this movie is so good is because you can find your own message in it. Here is what I got from the movie: During war, men not only destory each other and their minds, but destroy their environment as well. Therefore, war is not only devastating to individuals and nations, but to nature as well. This is proven through John Toll's excellent cinematography that captures the beautiful yet fragile flora and fauna that the war is slowly and sadly destroying. There are many other mesages hidden away in this movie; all you have to do is find them. Finally, the musical score by Hans Zimmer is a departure from his usual pulse-pounding scores (The Peacemaker, The Rock) and an entry into subtle background music. It compliments the film well, but it isn't something that you can listen to without the movie. Another strong point of this movie is that it is many stories in one- there are a number of actors that you can follow, all of whom the war affects in different and yet universally destructive ways. Please don't bother watching this movie if you don't like to think while watching. Not that there's anything wrong with liking mindless entertainment (Die Hard, The Rock, Speed, etc.- all of which I enjoy), but if that's all you're used to, and if you can't stand sitting through a movie while at the same time trying to analyze it, then you will not appreciate The Thin Red Line. It is truly a shame that this received 7 Academy Award Nominations and not one single award. Were it to win only one Oscar, it should have been for Best Cinemtography (John Toll)- Janusz Kaminski won it instead (for Saving Private Ryan). The performances- especially those of Jim Caviezel and Nick Nolte- deserved nominations. "Hard to enjoy, but easy to appreciate." That is perhaps the best description I can think of for The Thin Red Line. It is boring and tedious, but if you force yourself to sit through it you will truly appreciate and respect its deep messages and thematic qualities.
Rating: 
Summary: War as art
Review: Another reviewer summed this up in a similar way, but here's how to break this down. If you enjoy movies as high art, inflected with lots of hidden meaning and subtle flavors, you'll love it. However, if you love war movies for being *war movies*, pass on this flick. If you think movies like The Longest Day, SPR, Battleground, River Kwai, et.al., are among the greatest films ever made, you will really really hate this movie. Another reviewer had exactly the same reaction I did, which was about every 30 minutes asking myself out loud "why am I watching this?" This is really unfortunate too, because the infrequent battle scenes are *very* well done and show glimpses of how much better this movie could have been. Too bad the battle and directly related scenes take about 45 minutes of this 3 hour film. It's almost as if the director decided to film an analogy to the oft-quoted statment about war in general: "hours of boredom interspersed with moments of sheer terror". That quote about sums up this movie.
Rating:
Summary: Best war movie ever made
Review: I saw this movie for the first time when I was 14. Coming out of the cinema I couldn't say I had understood a lot of it. However, one thing I COULD say was that it was definitely awesome. Now, at the age of 16, I've seen it for about 6 times and it has become one of my all time favourites. It's absolutely poetic, stylish and never hysteric, not even during the battle scenes. The score (OF COURSE not only the score) should have won the oscar (not goddamn "Shakespeare in love"), the actors - especially Koteas and Caviezel, I think - are doing an outrageous job, and so does the rest of the crew, combining all to the best war movie ever made (in my opinion). Saving Private Ryan REALLY doesn't come close to this. ( I would have written more about it if my English was better...)
Rating: 
Summary: Thin Problem
Review: A powerful frontline cast - including Sean Penn, Nick Nolte, Woody Harrelson and George Clooney - explodes into action in this hauntingly realistic view of military and moral chaos in the Pacific during World War II. Nominated for seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director (Terrence Malick), The Thin Red Line is an unparalleled cinematic masterpiece that Gene Siskel called "brilliant...a terrific achievement...the finest contemporary war film!"
Rating:
Summary: The BEST telling of the battle of Guadalcanal.
Review: This is by far the best World War II movie Hollywood has produced. Unfortunately, it was overshadowed by the Spielberg Uberfilm, "Saving Private Ryan". But, with SPR you only see the invasion of Normandy(which was the best 30 minutes of film ever shot). After that, it became another WWII movie. "The Thin Red Line" tells the physcological, the emotional, and the physical tales of battle. The battle of Guadalcanal only lasted exactly six months(August 7, 1942, to February 8, 1943, resulting in an American victory), the emotional scars lasted longer. Guadalcanal can be compared to the battles during in Vietnam during the war. This is an excellent movie and I'm glad Terrence Malick came out of hiding to make it. The music by Hans Zimmer is fitting and haunting. My five year old son is now a fan of Melineasian choir music. The acting by Ben Chaplin, James Caviezel and Sean Penn is superb. The only flaw was the feeling that every working male actor in Hollywood was in this movie for a few minutes. Leonardo Di Caprio was supposed to be in this film and I'm glad that little deal fell through! George Clooney makes an appearance as an officer but he could have mailed his part in and still collected scale pay. All in all, this is what film making is all about: Having the heart.
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