The Thin Red Line

Rating:
Summary: mixed feelings...
Review: Well, I have mixed feelings about this movie. The cinematography was in my opinion superior to that of oscar winning Saving Private Ryan, but over all this was clearly the inferior film. Whereas SPR engagued the audience emotionally and tested thier endurance, The Thin Red Line takes a more detached and cerebral approach that at times does get monontonous. I thought that Malick could have cut about 30 mins from this movie and improved it considerably. Frankly, I find it unrealistic that soldiers facing death would stop to ponder thier surroundings in such poetic fashion. The voice overs were at times confusing and annoying, and thier ever bearing commentary seemed uneccesary in the cinematic format. Why does Malick need to TELL us that war is madness? Isnt it enough that he SHOWS us that war is madness? I am not trying to say that I did not like this movie because it is a DVD that I plan to purchase; however, after seeing Saving Private Ryan only months earlier I couldnt help but be disappointed with this artistic but convoluted attempt. In my humble opinion, The Truman Show was a more deserving nominee for best picture of last year.

Rating:
Summary: Spectacular!!!
Review: In my opinion, this was easily the best film of 1998 ("Shakespeare in Love" - are you kidding me!!!). Malick has again created a magnificent visual canvas upon which to tell his story about man's humanity and inhumanity. For those who say the film is boring, I would remind them that Malick, like Kubrick, has it right - film is a VISUAL medium.

Rating:
Summary: someone should have been fired
Review: The worst movie I think I have ever seen. And the first movie I saw people get up and leave. I would have, but I keep thinking something was going to happen. A waste of money and time. I should have ask for my money back. Those people that gave it four stars, I am worried about you.

Rating:
Summary: And one other thing...
Review: I have written a review of the widescreen version of this film, but after reading some of the reviews here, I felt inclined to warn viewers. This is the most challenging and beautiful motion picture ever made. It is about thoughts, which (unfortunately) not many find as entertaining as I do. I feel really sorry that Malick's masterwork does not grip the majority's ever shrinking attention span. You want to feel, not think. But how then, can art teach about our feelings without thought? Without our own thoughts challenged and enlightened by those of the brilliant artists among us? I'm always one for great entertainment, but not one at the price of intelligence(Star Wars is the potential pure entertainment has, Armageddon is the lowest.) When I want to go into a movie theatre, I want to see a piece of art, be it a brilliant painting or poem (Thin Red Line), raw emotion and imagery (Saving Private Ryan; Schindler's List), or escapism (Star Wars). But not a two hour action sequence that cannot afford to let us think for fear it may lose us. That is society's problem today. So many things, signs, ads, commercials, competing for our attention all at once, and the easiest, fastest, and most exciting one wins. We need to slow down and look around. Art is there as the expression of the thoughts we may miss so we may criticise goverment (Oliver Stone), think about our nature and life(Terrence Malick), remember the past(Spielburg), view our future(Kubrick), see our faults(Scorcese) and escape daily life (George Lucas). We need these art works, some need to make these art works, but most of us need to think. Boring is no way to criticise a poem or painting, or even a film. That is but a testiment to whether or not your ADD level is high or low.

Rating:
Summary: "Only the boring are bored" THE BEST OF THE DECADE
Review: This is not a film for everyone. Many thought that it was mind-numbingly boring, but there were slow parts, because no one is ever put into battle with no preparation, and war isn't a constant battle. It may take multiple viewings to appreciate, but it is an excellent film. I was immediately caught up in the film, and its reputation can only grow over time. If the Oscars were held in 2018, The Thin Red Line would have won. This is brilliant moviemaking

Rating:
Summary: This film should have got best picture.
Review: This film is an outstanding achievment in the art of film making.It captures the spiritual side of the horror of war and was quite simply the best film of last year.A fatastic comeback of a monumental talent.

Rating:
Summary: Haunting
Review: A meditation on the stark contrasts and illogic of war. This is a film as filled with contradictions as its subject matter. For instance, it is a film of so many different textures -- part 1960s-era WWII action film, part Platoonesque melodrama, part Full Metal Jacket hyperrealism, part Twelve O'Clock High morality play. I think what Malick is up to here is an attempt to comment on the impossibility of capturing the true experience of war (as if there is a single such experience) by presenting us with a pastiche of the different parts of the cinema's war vocabulary. It's not everyone's cup of tea, but if you like to buy films that invite contemplation (and thus re-watching -- otherwise, why not just rent?) this is one of them. Its also interesting how some of the negative comments on this film assume that anyone who likes it must have been "duped". For myself, if I find myself thinking that, I seriously condsider the possibility that I just didn't get it.

Rating:
Summary: A nice adaptation of the novel to the screen.
Review: A very haunting and moving movie told by Terrence Malick. Whereas "Private Ryan" was realistic, "Line" went more into the characters. Even though we do not know what happens to the characters afterwards, we know what they are feeling and thinking before, during, and after the battles. From the wait on the ships, to the landing, and then finally onto the battle, we see glimpes of each of the characters. The cinematography by John Toll is mezmerizing and beautiful, one of the best shot films in many years. Superbly acted by both the new and veteran actors. A very good movie. I highly recommend this movie to all true lovers of cinema.

Rating:
Summary: Great
Review: Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great

Rating:
Summary: This was a collosal wasted effort
Review: After I saw Thin Red Line on opening day, I was so disappointed with the lousy directing and character acting, I decided to never again see any movie hyped and directed by an unknown director. This was commercially hyped to attract the Saving Private Ryan market, then thinly (and poorly) attempted to appear deep, mysterious and profound. It missed the mark on all accounts. This is just a waste of time. Failure, big time!