The Thin Red Line

Rating:
Summary: A boring, cliche-ridden film
Review: I first saw "The Thin Red Line" in early 1999 at the movie theater. I was very disappointed in what I saw. Recently, I decided to give this film a second chance, as I often do when I find myself not liking a movie the first time I see it. So, last weekend, I rented a VHS copy, plugged it into my VCR with a completely open mind, and settled back to view it again.

I was equally dismayed by "The Thin Red Line" the second time around. For me, this movie begged the question: exactly how many clichés about war can you stuff into three hours? Apparently a lot, judging from what I saw!

Without giving away anything in the way of "spoilers," here's a brief summary of the plot: a hard-nosed but fair general (John Travolta) orders a hard-nosed but obsessed lieutenant colonel (Nick Nolte) to order a hard-nosed but compassionate sergeant major (Sean Penn) to take his platoon full of misfits up an enemy infested hill...where they promptly get their rear ends kicked, but ultimately prevail.

All this is spread out over a relentless, three-hour long tattoo of unnecessary and gratuitously bloody battle scenes, interspersed with artsy-schmartsy dream sequences and beautiful shots of South Pacific real estate.

So much for second chances!

Rating:
Summary: A thin red line indeed
Review: Malick made an unparalled classic in "Badlands" which I saw when I was nine. It followed two naive teenagers who go on a crime spree throughout the country. The film which has the atmosphere of real people portrays these two teenagers as just lost souls. It also gave the public a glimpse of future stars Martin Sheen and Sissy Spacek. Unfortunately, Malick's "The Thin Red Line does not even go near the word "classic". Quite literally one of the worst films of 1998, Malick's incoherent film is three hours of nothing but philosophical crap. I saw this movie with my father and after we saw the film, I've never a man spew so many obscenities in his life. Everyone I talked to hated this film because, first off, it is not a conventional war film. It's really a "meditation" but to be honest, this film isn't even a meditation. Due to poor editing on their part, the film is just boring as all hell. John Cusack, George Clooney, Woody Harrelson, Sean Penn, John Travolta, Nick Nolte, they're all in the film and then they just disappear, some come back, but for the most, don't. A lot of rising stars make appearances that are shorter than cameos. All of Bill Pullman's scenes were cut from the film as well as Martin Sheen, Billy Bob Thornton, and Gary Oldman (whom I heard had a role written for him by Malick, but was then told not to show up) I heard the director's cut is six hours and I can only imagine the other three hours are like this film. People praise this film for it's poetry, but it really isn't poetic. It's just dragged out. Sympathy for the characters is on a zilch level because you don't care about them. It's just so dragged out. "The Thin Red Line" is like one of those films you had to watch in college that you wish would just end because of it's unnecessary length. Definitely not a film to put in your library.

Rating:
Summary: A Great War Film
Review: Unlike Saving Private Ryan, this film does not pander to audiences by throwing in cheap entertainment. Although The Thin Red Line does not have a deficiency of action, it is a very visual movie. The cinematography is breathtaking and extremely poetic. The war sequences are emotionally driven and two-sided with equal amounts of sympathy given to both sides of the conflict. The contrasts between the island peoples of the South Pacific and soldiers are also well conveyed. As far as acting, Nick Nolte and Elias Koteas are the standouts. The rest of the cast are well chosen, but the cameos do take away something from the movie. The only major drawback is that some parts tend to drag and are not as fluid. This is definitely a love/hate film, but I think that every one should at least give it a try as there is much to be gotten from it.

Rating:
Summary: A great film, but are you Witt or Welsh?
Review: Whether you like this film really depends very much what type of person you are... Because as I see it all the reviews so far fall into two catergories, loved it or hated/feared it.

Quite simply... Your either Private Witt, or Sergent Welsh!;)

If your like Private Witt: a believer, a dreamer, you'll revel in the beauty of this film, and indeed it is beautiful, John Toll did a marvellous job on the cinematography, Malick's direction is perfectly paced. Like the nightime sky this film is best enjoyed just sitting back and soaking it all in...

Those of you like Sergent Welsh, however, well!... You guys will see straight past the beauty, and just see a pointless overlong film that you'd wish was over soon. You'll analyse TRL, dissect it, try to figure out what's happening, how on earth people can like this dribble. You'll think there's just boredom there and miserable time of it all no doubt.

You will be Sergent Welsh.

...But I sense a spark in you guys who don't like the film yet!;)

Anyway, the actual DVD is a simple enough package, the film, trailer and a few songs, no commentary (right, like that was going to happen with a Malick film!;)) It's just the film with a really, great transfer... no artifacts, great 2.35:1 picture. In the end, this approach befits the film, what more do you need afterall!

Rating:
Summary: THE THIN RED LINE
Review: this is one of the few films i consider to be a "perfect 5 star" film. certainly its not perfect, but it deserves the 5 stars. some critics seem to say that this film is really a long string of individual scenes depicting an equivalent theme, that can be extracted from just a single 2 second shot of say, the coconut on the beach, or the soldier touching the recoiling plant. i am also told that the film is just an overdone poem. Now, I refuse these ideas. I believe these criticisms arise from the critics' reluctance to forfeit their entire attention to the film's development. I particularly think most people tune out the earlier statements made by Witt (hope thats his name indeed?). well, the opening scenes are setting up soemthign that the audience must be lulled into. The effect is essential to the film as a whole. Without losing yourself in the opening footage, as I am every time i watch this film, you cannot properly set foot into the melee to follow. Malick recombines the elements his toolbox to hoist above the mere human skirmish an image that, as a human witnessing the film unfolding, disrupts your inner mentality. Paste together the water, the human aspirations, the hardness of nature, the softness, the thousandfold conflicts, rebellion, duty, power... throw it all in a heap and lie there with these feelings in your poor brain - then allow Zimmer (composer) to blend it through the lens and what you get is the focus of The Thin Red Line. (maybe not necessarily in that order, or in those exact words, but thats the idea). if some of the soldiers are gonna pass out, well they'll just have to pass out! you're wrong there, i've seen another world.

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful Filmmaking
Review: The Thin Red Line is one of the most beautiful and most haunting films ever. John Toll's cinematography is some of the best ever. The images stick with you for weeks after seeing the film. Once again Terrence Malick delivers a deeply philosophical film that is haunting yet immensly beautiful just like his two previous film Badlands, and Days of Heaven (both also amongst the greatest films ever). The DVD of the spectacular film does not dissapoint. The transfer is near perfect preserving the cinematographer and directors vision, while the sound bombards you from all directions, besides the lack of extras this is a near flawless disc. Maybe a rental before buying would be a good idea because this is one of those films you either love or hate. I for one love it.

Rating:
Summary: One of the Greatest War Films Ever
Review: I'm pretty sure that I didn't blink once in the entire three hours of Saving Private Ryan. From about the first frame of the film, it grabs you by the neck and doesn't let go. The Thin Red Line is an entirely different experience. It is a very slow and deliberately paced movie. While the opening of Saving Private Ryan thrusts the viewer right into the landing at Normandy, The Thin Red Line takes place entirely in remote regions of the Japanese war.

If Saving Private Ryan is an examination of what war does to men, The Thin Red Line is an examination of what war does to man's mind. This is the truest antiwar film I've ever seen. Enclosed in anonymous lush Japanese jungles, teeming with life and death, a small regiment of men are sent on an apparently pointless mission. Their leader is a career soldier, hell bent on making the most of his war. Their ranking officers are disillusioned and broken men, and their fellow privates are in way over their heads. The film follows the thoughts of several key characters. At first the shifting narration is tough to get used to, but in the end it makes for a deep understanding of the film's themes.

Not much in the way of Saving-Private-Ryan-style grand action happens in the movie. That would negate the theme of emptiness and meaninglessness this movie conveys with respect to the state of war. There are intermittent bombings and Japanese attacks, including a fairly exciting river-chase scene toward the end of the movie, but more of the film is quiet contemplation, conversation, and exploration of the jungle. The real meat of the movie is in the emotions experienced by the characters. It's not important when the Japanese attack, it's important when one private receives a letter from his wife, his only reason for living, explaining that she has found someone else and wants a divorce. The moments like that are what make this film.

Another amazing aspect of the film is the visual presentation. Never before have I seen such amazing locations in any film. Rolling grassy hilltops for miles, shafts of light penetrating the jungle canopy, sunset on the mountain top, and other amazing images fill the screen from beginning to end. Every frame of this movie is a work of art. From the color to the framing, the visuals are nothing less than stunning.

Now the question remains... How is the DVD? Well, in short, it's great. This is not a so-called special edition release, and there are scant extras (only a few melanesian songs, which you might actually want to listen to after hearing them in the film), and silent still menus. The real beauty of the film is in the transfer, which is 2.35:1 in anamorphic widescreen. If losing any possible extras is the price we have to pay to have such a perfect transfer of this film, it is most certainly worth it. A large part of the enjoyment in the film is in the visuals, and Fox has done a great job in preserving them for the home release. I have a pretty scrutinizing eye, and I was only able to see a little bit of artifacting and mosaic at brief moments in the darker and more action-filled moments in the movie (viewed through S-video output from my Pioneer DV-525 player). That is actually amazing considering the length of the movie and the complexity of the visual information, which is ever-changing and not particularly MPEG-2 friendly (if you know anything about compression).

The sound is actually pretty impressive as well. Some believe the whizzing bullets and exciting explosions of Saving Private Ryan to be the quintessential Dolby Digital war film experience. However, The Thin Red Line, with its completely different soundtrack, certainly stands on its own two feet. The soundtrack is rich with the subtle sounds of jungle life, and it accurately represents the human voices in this largely quiet movie. The surround channels aren't used nearly as much as in Saving Private Ryan (or at least not as overtly), but when they are, you certainly know it. Same with the subwoofer. The movie has very quiet moments and thunderously loud ones, and both are represented in DD with excellent precision and balance. I have to note, though, that if you have a DTS capable system at home, you might want to pass on the initial release of The Thin Red Line and wait for the DTS version to hit shelves in December. DTS is always just that little bit better, and it can only enhance the depth of the sonic experience.

Well, I hope my meandering has been helpful. In short-- if you're a war movie fan, or even if you're just a fan of damn good movies, you definitely want to check this out. It provides a great counterpoint to Saving Private Ryan, and it's so engrossing that you won't notice the length much. A completely different take on the same war, and a completely differnt look and sound that are equally amazing. It's an emotionally and intellectually stimulating film, and on top of that its beautiful imagery and rich sound will give your system a real workout. And if you have anything resembling an attention span (MTV viewers: watch at your own risk), you won't mind the length at all. Definitely worth the price tag.

Rating:
Summary: War At Its Most Probing
Review: The Thin Red Line is an either/or movie. You will either love it, as I did, finding its meditative exploration of philosophical themes regarding man, nature and war resonating somewhere deep within you, or you will sigh at the end of its almost three-hour running time, as a friend of mine did, shaking your head and muttering, "What the heck was that all about, and how come George Clooney had only one scene?"

Based on a novel by James Jones (who wrote From Here to Eternity), The Thin Red Line follows an Army unit in 1942 as it fights the battle of Guadalcanal in the South Pacific. "There is only this world," one combat-weary soldier (Penn) tells another, but writer-director Terrence Malick is intent on showing that there are other worlds, those of animals, plants and indigenous peoples, all of which war disastrously disrupts.

This movie is the gifted Malick's first film since 1978's Days of Heaven. It's absolutely beautiful to look at (watch for a scene where soldiers rise from tall grass on a hill and then disappear back into it), but Malick too often sacrifices portions of characters and plot for flora and fauna. Nolte, Penn, Chaplin and Caviezel register strongly, while John Cusack, John Travolta and Clooney pop up all too briefly.

A remarkable piece of cinematography. An unforgettable story of war.

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding
Review: The Thin Red Line was better than Saving Private Ryan because it showed how war really is, the men didn't know all the reasons they were there, how they felt, what they feared and how they reacted to war.

Rating:
Summary: Thin Red Film
Review: Hmmm......."The Thin Red Line".....I waited for this one to come out, as I liked the original version, with Kier Dullea. I haven't read the novel though, so I can't really comment on that. But I wanted to see what Mallick would do with the material at hand and one of my favorite genres. His previous films "Badlands" and "Days of heaven" were both brilliant and ok in that order. "Badlands" I consider his best effort, but "Days of heaven" while beautifully shot is, at the same time, stark and extremely empty and manages to make 90 mins feel like twice the length. "Thin Red Line" though has elements of both former efforts. It is at times interesting, frightening and beautiful and has some good charaters like Sean Penn's, but it is also tedious, pretentious, annoying and cruelly boring at other times. It feels like Mallick was given too much rein on the film, which results in a sum of parts rather than a satisfying whole. Some of the things wrong with the film are, the length, it really could do with a half-hour cut out of it; one of the lead roles retains a terribly frustrating 'spaced out' look all the way through the movie; there are far too many scenes with a soldier remembering the good times with his wife before he joined up. We get the point the first showing and it is inter-cut at the most inappropriate times too; the voice-overs are utterly useless and they just irritate and are totally unrealistic. Also they don't sit with some of the movies characters on screen. Most of the grunts that served knew that war was crap, because they were in it. They did NOT wax lyrical about it, they just wanted to go home. However, among the pretentiousness, there are parts worth watching. Sift through the voiceovers and the distracting opening segment and some annoying characters and you will find a wonderful and genuinely frightening main sequence. The taking of the Japanese held bunker. This is breathtaking because it is shot an awful lot from the soldier's point of view. We see what they see. And what do we see...well...nothing. We see grass. Until the first shots are fired and bright orange tracers come flying towards the camera at you/the soldiers. Then all hell breaks out and suddenly we have an entertaining movie on our hands. Explosions go off, shells fly, people get hit and scream out and the war in this "war movie" makes its presence known. This is what we have been waiting for and this section of the film is the redeeming factor of the whole movie and is worth seeing alone. One other redemption is the movie's portrayal of the Japanese soldier. He is presented as human, as frail, as violent and as corrupt as the US soldiers on the same Island. This is a good move as is dispells any stupid propaganda type notions of the films of the past and some of the present which attempt to show the enemy as faceless atomatons doing the work of evil, like the presentation of the Germans in "Saving Private Ryan", which severely lets that film down. The humanisation of the Japanese in the "Thin Red Line" makes war seem all the more tragc and ultimately pointless. This is not the best war film you will ever see, it doesn't even come close, however there are great moments in the film, spoiled by pretensions and a needless need to try something 'new' with a genre which has been sadly neglected for too long.