The Thin Red Line

Rating:
Summary: The home video version of this film is incomplete
Review: Over 30 minutes have been cut from the theatrical version of this film (for its home video release)and as usual, the moron who made the cut, did it with total disregard to pacing, rhythm and narrative cohesion. I was already at wits' end with hollywood--but this just about put me over the edge. I wouldn't blame Terrence Malick if he never did another film--why put years of one's life into a project just so that some gutless studio exec. can arbitrarily turn around and bastardize it? Apparently, 20th century fox was hoping to make the film more accessible for "the masses"--but what they've done by cutting it so savagely and illogically is make an already difficult film impossible--they've guaranteed that , as a rental, the film will do even worse than it did at the box office.

"Go along to get along"

Rating:
Summary: a stunning recreation of battle
Review: The Thin Red Line is in many ways a fine film which just falls short of greatness. In its portrayal of battle, it is as intense and brutal as any war film, and the action is plentiful and gripping. The slow pace at the start is effective in setting the mood, and heightening anticipation of what is to follow. While appreciating what the film is trying to achieve, the flashback sequences are still unnecessary and irritating, while some of the voice-overs are pointless. The appealing performance of Caviezel, however, makes the low-key ending one of the most moving in any film. Beautifully filmed and with a great soundtrack, the negatives aspects should not overshadow an otherwise superb film.

Rating:
Summary: Simply put: The best film of the past 5 years.
Review: Want to be spoon-fed a guide to the nature of war? Don't see this film. However, if you want to see a beautifully-filmed, brilliantly-acted, and hauntingly-poetic analysis of the nature of man, then take the time to watch this movie several times. Sure, it is not for everyone -- it is much too cerebral to appeal to the mass market of American moviegoers who made Titanic the highest-grossing film of all time. But if you like to think and enjoy fantastic filmmaking, don't miss this one.

Rating:
Summary: I would give it zero stars if I could.
Review: Anyone who has been in the military will look at this movie as a slanderous piece of garbage. Aside from the inaccurate technical aspects of the movie, it portrays the soldiers as a bunch of quaking cowards. The great majority of our soldiers were/are highly trained professionals who understand the risks of combat and will zealously carry out their missions with little or no whining and sniveling. Obviously this movie was made and hyped by the Hollywood bleeding liberal crowd.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent, visually stunning...emotionally fulfilling.
Review: This is not your conventional war flick, but even conventional war is not conventional. Most who have been in combat, would agree that this film has the emotional impact of a 7.62 mm round in the gut. It is on target in so many ways. It has a poetic soul and an artistic spirit which, some will complain, is tedious or even unrealistic. War is just that. Yes it is an "art film", but that doesn't detract from the fact that at it's core, it shows the reality of war. People will compare it to Saving Private Ryan...it's closer to Apocalypse Now, yet I feel, a better film. I was also reminded of A Walk In The Sun. Too personal, some will say. Perhaps, but so is the nature of war. Even one who has not experienced combat, can sense that Malick's vision is real, you know there is truth here. My favorite symbolism/realism touch...the serpent gliding through the battlefield...even it seemed somewhat indecisive midst the chaos.

Rating:
Summary: You get it or you don't get it. I got it.
Review: The Thin Red Line (1998) is one of the strangest and most beautiful movies I've ever seen. Very little else in the world of cinema comes close. Like "Fail Safe" and "Jezebel," this is a brilliant movie that was eclipsed by a similarly-themed masterpiece released at around the same time -- "Dr. Strangelove" and "Gone with the Wind" for those two films, and of course "Saving Private Ryan" for this one. This is especially unfortunate for "The Thin Red Line," since it is such a different experience from Spielberg's movie: where "Saving Private Ryan" relied on devastating war footage and a high-tension plot, Malick's film uses spectacular scenery, gorgeous music, and soaring poetic monologue to grab and hold you for nearly three hours; in fact, the nearest literary equivalent I can think of is reading the religious verses of T.S. Eliot. If you're looking for action, skip this movie, but if you appreciate the aesthetic and emotional possibilities that a great director can bring to the cinema, check out "The Thin Red Line."

Rating:
Summary: A different experience than "Saving Private Ryan"
Review: Those who disliked this film seem to have a problem with the fact that this is not a typical linear three act Hollywood picture. Spielberg always hits the big time with his formula filmmaking that caters to those who don't understand and appreciate the endless possibilities of film as a medium. Saving Private Ryan scores extremely well on the realism scale (we guess) but his cross section of America represented doesn't score well in originality. Malick's film offers a totally different look at the war. The battleground is a tropical paradise, whereas Private Ryan is cold and steely grey, provoking an obvious feeling of dread. Malick uses the background of the battlefield to suggest the ability of man to destroy nature despite it's obvious beauty. His film is an expansion on similar themes explored in his near-perfect 'Days of Heaven', a film which also uses the technique of inner monologue to pull the narrative together. The casting of familiar Hollywood faces only seems to emphasize the role of the less important characters, as if to pay tribute to all who fought in the war.

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Summary: And to those of you who are addressing those who hated this:
Review: I HATED this movie, and no, I'm far from thick-headed and "too dumb to get the message." I'm a card-carrying member of Mensa and I have a PhD in molecular biology. This movie was pure drivel and a complete joke. It was full of nothing but "war is pretty" imagery and pretentious dialogue. I got the message, alright.

Rating:
Summary: The 2nd best movie ever filmed!!
Review: From the music to the cinemetography, this movie is unbelievable. The movie in my mind is a little long, but that made me enjoy and have more of the film to sink in. I ran out and bought the soundtrack. I saw it at the movie theatre and rented it on VHS which allowed me to watch the fighting scene halfway through the movie over and over again, where the village is overtaken. Simply amazing! Its up there with Braveheart's fighting sequence. This movie deserves every bit of $$ that was put into it. The Thin Red Line or Saving Private Ryan?? That's up to the viewer, but my opinion is what counts here. This is the one. WATCH THIS FILM!

Rating:
Summary: Beats the hell out of Saving Private Ryan
Review: When you view "The Thin Red Line" you detect poetry, originality, and destruction. Saving Private Ryan just had brutality going for it, with the same old fact: war is hell. Thin Red Line looked at war into a new level: how it affects nature. Nothing has ever been so effective, and what can I say? Terrence Malick's Days of Heaven was just a pure joy to watch.