The Thin Red Line

Rating:
Summary: an amazing picture
Review: first time i saw this i thought it was a boring, overblown pretensious film. second viewing was very different though. i loved every minute of it. it is one of the most beautiful films i have every seen, and it captures both the horror and the boredom of war. a true classic with a massive cast of talent. terrence mallick is a true visionary, let's hope it doesn't take him another 20 years till his next movie.

Rating:
Summary: A thin, Bad, Plot
Review: I couldn't even watch the whole thing, I can't believe this got a four star rating, it's a terrible movie, I know SOOOOO many people who walked out of the theater on this one. It's a waste of your time and money to see this one! There's good scenery but trees and pygmies can only distract you for so long...

Rating:
Summary: I FINALLY GOT IT !!!!
Review: I gave it 1 star, because I thought it was a terrible, dreadfully long and boring film filled with sophomoric philosophising. In the meantime I have read all the reviews and want to add some notes to the general discussion.

1. This movie can and should not be compared to Saving Private Ryan. SPR was an amusing movie, but didn't have much depth. So comparing these two is like comparing "American Beauty" to "American Pie".

2. Liking this movie has nothing to do with intelligence. I actually get quite upset from people saying that the people who reviewed this movie as a bad one are unintelligent and should go back to watching stuff like "Die hard". Actually I think it goes the other way. People who find this movie containing deep philosophical questions, do not understand philosophy. This is the kind of philosophy that a stoner would think up.

CONCLUSION : This movie does work, but should have been much better. What the movie tries to and accomplishes, is making us feel bad and confused. At least I hope for Malick's sake that that is what he is trying to do. If not, he is the most overrated director of all times. The fact that characters don't get enough airtime to make you care about them is actually a good thing. I could believe that in the midst of a batlle you don't have time to get to know everybody personally. That the characters aren't likable also speaks for the movie. A lot of people on this planet aren't likable.

Maybe if this movie is ever re-edited, they could trim it down about 1 hour, remove the voice-over et voila : you do have a good thinking man's war-movie.

Rating:
Summary: Gets better with repeated viewings....
Review: The first time I watched the "The Thin Red Line" I was not entirely pleased with the movie. It was too long (and I usually love long movies) and a little confusing. Still, after the watching it, I realized that there was something more to it and I decided to watch it again at a later date.

The movie was much better the second time--it's one of those movies that grows on you. The visuals are amoung the best I've ever seen and the battles are very well done for a movie that really isn't an action movie, it's battle scenes not withstanding.

The movie is about God, nature, and man for the most part. There is a fair amount of narration in it and to appreciate the movie as a whole, it must be closely listened to and watched. This is an intellectual movie and deserves your close attention.

Some have said that this is an anti-war movie. This just isn't true. Unlike most Hollywood films, this isn't in that category. It's more about nature and God, and how there is "war" in nature and it inquires as to what causes it and why.

If you watched the film only once and it ended with you thinking that it was okay, but you had the sense that you missed something important, view it again. It's a smart movie and not the kind that you just sit back and watch on a Saturday night.

Rating:
Summary: misunderstood
Review: People are so stuipid. How can you not like this movie, it's great.

Rating:
Summary: Not just about characters...
Review: I read a lot of reviews here about this film, many people complaining that they can't relate to the characters, or that it wasn't a realistic depiction of WWII. Listen, if you can't get beyond the conventional idea that a film must focus on characters or explosions, you probably won't enjoy this film. As in Malick's other films, the most powerful force in The Thin Red Line is actually the scenery, the land itself, placed in juxtaposition to the men who inhabit it. Does this film have a simple message? No, it is simply a work of art.

I saw this film in New York City, and I was surprised that when the violence finally came, people actually applauded. Americans are so hungry for violence. It's no wonder Europeans think we are barbarians...

Rating:
Summary: It's pretty, anyway.
Review: I'm glad that I saw this on a big screen, since the cinematography (worth two stars) is really the only reason to see this movie.

I suspect that this film was praised by a lot of people who were reacting to the awfulness of "Private Ryan." However, "Red Line" is guilty of it's own kind of pretension and bald sentimentalism.

I have nothing against poetry - just bad poetry. The fact that every character shares a deeply-spiritual-and-introspective-inner-voice that drones away on the soundtrack for the film's length is a grave miscalculation. It's not just a continuation, but a magnification of the cliche-modern-war-movie-bad-voiceover - amusingly silly in "Apocalypse Now," unspeakable in "Platoon," and here taking over the entire film with all gravity. Plus, these inner musings (for EVERY CHARACTER) are written in the manner of the very worst sort of navel-gazing. It's ridiculous, and you could laugh at it - but it goes on and on . . . It's also sad - representing, as it does, yet another wasted opportunity.

I WANTED to like this film, but I just wasn't able to talk myself into believing that it was good - even though every frame of it screams "QUALITY." I know that I hold this opinion at the risk of being branded an insensitive philistine, that it will be assumed that I didn't UNDERSTAND the thing . . . whatever. I found it embarassingly pretentious and way too self-consciously beautiful to convey anything of the reality of war as I understand it - in spiritual terms or any other. The film's defenders tend to hold it dear and react in a very personal way, however. Fine. Call me names. This movie still sucks.

Good trash is better than bad art any day of the week.

Ultimately, i found it depressing - but not for the reasons the fimmakers would want. I really hope that we aren't depending on the movies for history, and a sense of what war is really like or about.

It DOES look good, though. (Maybe TOO good.) There are some striking moments, and the meditative quality of the imagery could have been mesmerizing if we didn't have to listen to all that twaddle on the soundtrack. The cast that is wasted is a fine one, too. Malick is actually a talented filmmaker, and with the right material he can display a great deal of power and grace. I still have high hopes for him.

Rating:
Summary: An Intellectual and Emotional Experience
Review: I know that a lot of people will compare this to Saving Private Ryan but it is completely different. Whereas SPR is about the grandeur of American heros going to save one single private from the atrocities of war to return him to his mother, it is simply a shallow war film that tried to draw viewers in the beginning scenes on the beach. TRL subtlely draws its viewers by concentrating not on the heroism of each characters but allowing these characters to examine their own roles in the war and simply, the ethics of war itself. There really are no heros in this movie but that's okay b/c what they say and think is much more important. Some reviewers (and critics) claimed that it is unreal that a soldier would question such philosophical matters. But is it that unreal? Remember one of the greatest minds of the 20th century (Time), L. Wittengstein wrote one of the most powerful philosophical texts when he was in the trenches of WWI. So maybe soldiers can question the ethics of war even in battle?

Rating:
Summary: A Thin Red Line of truth
Review: I have watched this film three times. The 1st time in the theather with 10 friends. Only one liked it. In my opinion this movie is a slap in the face of OUR American Vets who were there!! Penn was the only person in the movie I liked. He tryed to save it but gave up. So many historical mess ups that this 1000 words can't describe, like fresh fruit for the soldiers?? NOT, only officers got fresh fruit. The soldier ate out of cans, Surrendering Jap Soldiers. Not many surrendered anywhere. Surrender was not in their code. Americans did not hang out with the Natives,ect. My advice don't waste the time with this movie. As a WW 2 Reenactor I am talking to many Vets and this movie is nothing about them or what they did. Maybe the next Hollywood movie on the Pacific Theather will be better, can't get any worse then Thin Red Line!!

Rating:
Summary: Video Poetry
Review: The same week I saw 'Saving Private Ryan', I saw 'The Thin Red Line'. I left the theater both times with the same reflective shock; silent for the drive home despite the questioning of my friends. In hindsight, I could have told you who would say what about these two films. 'Ryan' would attain wide commercial success, and 'Line' would be missed. Most, including anyone who reviews this film poorly, did not get it. This film is Video Poetry. In the same way that e.e. cummings would capitalize the letters R O U N and D through that wonderful poem about the round moon, the director laces the obvious bits of typical film (dialogue, acting) with constant thematic visual reinforcement. Man and nature are compared and contrasted. Just watch as the sun catches the blowing grasses in spectacular fashion before the field becomes a massacre. Our aims as a socitey are impeached. See the change in attitude between the native people and the formerly AWOL soldiers. There is an ugliness about it that you cannot help but feel. Something is intuitively wrong with everything going on, and the subtle suggestion of this fact is presented with difinitive dilligence. The sleeper of this film is the masterfully placed musical score- seamlessly woven through the fabric of tension and release- sometimes a backdrop, sometimes running thick over the dramatic action for reinforcement. Go buy the CDs- both are fantastic! I cannot believe that every soldier hazards the thoughts expressed in this film. Nor would I suppose it impossible that some in fact did. The war, however, is simply a device for the expression of some very valid points. If it makes you reconsider your preconceptions of what goes on in GI Joe's mind, all the better. If you are after an easily accessable night in front of the boob tube, go for Private Ryan. If you'd like something to think about for months to come, spend a few hours with The Thin Red Line.