The Thin Red Line

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Summary: War of the combat film: Private Ryan v The Thin Red Line
Review: Inevitably, 'Saving Private Ryan' and 'The Thin Red Line' will always be compared. It's a curse that can be a good and a bad thing. For starters, each film shows what the other is not - but what one musn't forget is how the film speaks on its own terms. Since each film is so different they require different readings. However, because they share the same moral goal, that is, to convey the horrors of war - it is useful to compare them.

'Saving Private Ryan' for the most part has a linear narrative with straighforward goals. It is much more visceral and aims to convey the horrors of war through excesses of blood, guts and artillery.

'The Thin Red Line' on the other hand, conveys its moral message by showing how soldiers react AFTER each battle scene. Thus, its drive comes from emotional power.

Having said that, 'The Thin Red Line' takes you one step further. It won't be everyone's cup of tea as it breaks conventions of time and space - forcing the viewer to work hard at making logic of the film. However, once you can accept this cinematic device then the journey is an unforgettable one that will etch a shadow in your memory and haunt you over time.

Here, Terrence Malick worked on instinct that allowed him to free himself of a constraining storyboard (which is not to suggest he didn't use one). The multi-voice over narration can be very confusing and I would suggest multiple viewings. Maybe it doesn't really matter that much if you don't fully recognise who is 'speaking' because the soldiers (American and Japanese) are all in the same boat. For instance, in one scene you see Witt (Jim Caviezel) look down upon a dead Japanese soldier's face buried in the dirt. The narration is heard from the dead man's perspective -"were you loved...know that I was too".

I said earlier, that the function of the battle scenes were to show emotional reactions. Malick achieves this with an impact that is frightening. The main battle scene is super intense with changes from slo-mo to regular pace and exchanges in foregrounded/backgrounded music and sound - all to convey the chaos of the scene.

However, the reaction from this scene is even better with sweeping camera fluidity, a touching score, and poetic narration that it virtually transcends the physical world. They are dealing with emotions after all. I can understand that many people don't buy into the poetic narration but hey James Jones whose book the film was adapted from was there at the Battle of Guadacanal - and that's good enough for me!

After repeated viewings on video, I finally got to see the film on the big screen last week and was as moved (if not more) as the first time I saw it. Once again, I cannot stop playing the soundtrack. It was interesting that at the end of the film nobody left the theatre as all watched the film's credits spellbound and leaning forward. If you can't see it on the big screen then watch it at home and be spellbound as many others have. But to be true to the film is to watch it from start to end and most of all be prepared for something different.

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Summary: this film is all heart crafted by a masterful director
Review: thin red line is one of those films that employs the viewers brain rather than forcefeeding meaning. simply put this film comes straight from the heart - it is poetic and ignores many film structures that many mainstream film-going audiences feel rewarded for recognizing. it is truly something special when a talented artist is given the resources to explore a project like this. the sheer beauty of it and highest of production values are on equal par with the best ever filmed which is very rare considering the potential of alienating mainstream audiences. don't watch thin red line in a confrontational or competitive way but rather internalize and interpret it. enjoy your journey!

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Summary: Tedious, incomprehensible, unexciting
Review: From the opening shot, which simply tracks an alligator submerging itself in the water, you realize this is going to be one of those movies with gratuitous scenery shots. Well, not gratuitous, per se, because Malick uses them to "propel" his theme of Nature. There are a number of things I did not like about this movie.

A) If there was a semblance of a plot, Malick sure didn't care whether the audience could follow it. Venues change without notice, and begun potential subplots are begun and never resolved.

B) Every half an hour, I wanted the movie to end. There is no driving force, no incentive to continue watching, yet I forced myself to at least finish it.

C) Characters spout philosophical questions that are poetic on the surface, but are utterly out of place. They don't make sense in relation to the state of events at the time. Okay, sure, he notes that Nature is cruel. Yay. There is never any *real* continuation of that theme. There is man to man battle, and shots of the calm, peaceful side of nature.

D) There is no cohesion. The entire movie feels like a jumbled mish mash of images and scenes, like Eliot's "The Waste Land", except that I kind of liked "The Waste Land."

Well, that's that. I found this film boring and nearly pointless. Perhaps I just "don't get it", I'm sorry. It definitely is not a movie I'd return to for a long time, if ever.

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Summary: The Thin Red Line:Is There An Avenging Power to Nature?
Review: Put this to rest. "The Thin Red Line" and Saving Private Ryan" are different movies. Both are masterpieces and comparing them is kind of ridicuous, yet most reviewers fall into one camp or another. "The Thin Red Line's" director, Terrence Malick, has made two previous films. both masterpieces, "Badlands' and "Days of Heaven." Both are visually opulent and so is"The Thin Red Line." Should war be portrayed in such beauty? Why not? It takes great courage to show these Arcadian spendors of the Solomon islands being turned into killing fields. Malick gives most of the screen time to unknown actors and they are uniformly excellent, like Ben Chaplin and Jim Caviezel. Sometimes they seem like brothers and that is what it takes to survive, to establish a brotherhood in battle. Caviezel seems like the soul of this movie, compassionate to all, even the enemy he must kill, and his quietly harsh Sergeant Welsh, who can not quite bring himself to feel fully for his men. John Toll's cinematography is wondrous, showing us the many shades of emerald green in the jungle grasses, the mountains that take on animal shapes, a silently malevolent crocodile silently slipping into the jungle algae. And we see the suffering of the Japanese, their gaunt bodies, their silent screams of suffering and madness. Hans Zimmer's musical score is great. His use of native chants is inspired, as in the opening segment, young native boys swimming in a paradise lagoon. The battle scenes are unusual for their perpective; the camera is always a little to the side of the advancing soldiers or at eye level, barely able to look over the sea of grasses. The bigger name actors are good or used sparingly.John Travolta and George Clooney are wasted, while Woody Harrelson, Elias Koteas, Sean Penn are strong.Nick Nolte is all bursting, bulging neck veins of anger and terror as the Commander of C Company, a powerhouse performance. We see alternate scenes of beauty and terror, fierce firefights, then quiet, and powerful images of vultures cicling a dying bunch of Japanese soldiers, multi-colored parrots, fogs hiding exhausted men with fixed bayonets. Many have complained about the multi-voiced narrations, usually in southern accents, somewhat vague yet as the movie moves along, we feel these voices as a necessary part of the story. This is film poetry of the highest order and let us hope that Terrence Malick doen't wait another twenty years to make another film. We need his great visual eye and phisophical sensibility that infuses every frame of "The Thin Red Line."

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Summary: A Stunning Experience
Review: First, a few words about the wild difference of opinion about this film. This is a film that will greatly reward the viewer who is willing to give their full attention. I suspect a lot of people were disappointed because they were not able to do so. Also, while there are some thrilling battle scenes, this is for the most part a contemplative story. If you enjoyed Apocalypse Now and Full Metal Jacket, for instance, you will likely be very moved by The Thin Red Line. I also feel that the release timing of this film was unfortunate because it forced comparisons with Saving Private Ryan. The two are very different approaches at storytelling and filmmaking.

That aside, I found this film to be a deeply moving experience. The music, scenery, and cinematography are absolutely beautiful and strangely complement the tension and anguish that unfolds. The cast is for the most part outstanding. Jim Caviezel is perfectly cast, as is Nick Nolte. However, the two leads look so much alike that I had a hard time telling them apart the first time I watched the film. I also thought the cameos by big-name stars was distracting as only a few really make a difference in the story. Some have found the use of voiceover narration bothersome, but I don't agree. It allows us to see into the characters' motives and fears, as effective here as in the aforementioned Apocalypse Now and Full Metal Jacket. The combat scenes are among the most gripping I've seen, perhaps seeming even more so due to the quiet sequences elsewhere.

This is not a film that will win over casual viewers. Those that are interested and willing to surrender themselves to the experience are likely to be richly rewarded.

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Summary: Poetry in motion - This film is a work of Art!
Review: What a profound and moving film. It's difficult to write a review for this film, it's almost a spiritual cinematic experience so how does one put that into words, guess I can't really but those of you who saw what I saw in this film, who saw past the explosions, will know what I'm talking about.

Mallick is an artist, a true film maker, most certainly not a 'movie maker'. He asks questions, doesn't give answers, some people say lines like 'what is love, who lit this fire inside us?' are sappy and corny, to them I say, how so? Are there any more deep questions than this? This film is the essence of life, it didn't even need to be about war, guess most people miss that.

The film doesn't follow any kind of rigid plot, in that lies it's beauty. Like the nature is portrays, this film is free, chaotic, dreamy, beautiful and in the end very touching. I for one am tired of the rehashed plot lines of current hollywood flicks, I need films like this to loosen the shackles on my mind and soul that normal films create.

Sure, there are segments of society who aren't into these types of films, either because they don't get them or they just don't like them (not everyone who dislikes it is unintelligent) but I for one will cherish this movie. I love that line as they board the plane, goes something like 'you're all are my sons, my precious sons' I like to think that is the Earth talking to them.

On a final note, before I sound like a total hippy, the DVD transfer is superb, great artifact free picture. Of course the cinema is where this film should really be experienced. Hans Zimmer pulls out the best score he's ever written, it's kind of derivative of Henyrk Gorecki but we'll let that one fly this time. The theme that plays as they raid the Japanese camp is just haunting, it stuck in my head for days afterwards.

In summary, a rare breed of film from Hollywood, please Mr. Mallick make some more, the world needs more directors like you.

Rating:
Summary: Good Exploring!
Review: Always a big fan of WWII films I went and saw this film with great things in mind. What I got was great things. First of all the acting was great. Nolte and Caviezel were great men in a bad place. Sean Penn really was the one who put the light on the screen. The film also had a great music score, editing, directing and of course acting. It's great to see Terrence Malick back doing what he does best. And most of all seeing a strong film explain a great conflict that America was wrapped up in. Grade:A-

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Summary: Beautiful-Looking DVD!
Review: THE THIN RED LINE * * * The first movie I've ever seen that I'd recommend solely for the cinematography. It's definitely not something you watch while while you're ironing or doing a crossword puzzle, since it doesn't give you a straight-forward story. The performances by Sean Penn and Jim Caveizel ("Frequency") are very good, but the star cameos (John Travolta, George Clooney, Woody Harrelson, etc) are distracting.

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Summary: the best film about war ever
Review: First of all I must say that all reviewers that gives that film less than 5 stars are stupid jerks.Terrence Malick with this film become one of the most profound directors of our time. Spielberg's Private Ryan in comprasion with this film is peace of banal trash. In our country second world war theme always were serios subject in cinematography.But I must say that Malik made something unbelievable.Such intense drama without any compromise in USA? Yes! It is TRIUMPH.God bless you Terrence Malick !

Rating:
Summary: Hint: This isn't really a war film
Review: I can see why many of the people who enjoyed "Saving Private Ryan" detested this movie. The former begins with intense and unforgetable realism, while the latter is surreal from start to finish.

I think Terrence Malick was trying to accomplish the opposite of what Spielberg did in "Saving Private Ryan". Instead of portraying the chaos and violence of war with intense realism, Malick focussed on its bizarre, disjointed qualities. These included scenes such as the beach landing in which no shots are fired, and the march through the jungle in which an aboriginee strolls past the troops with complete indifference. Malik also tried to show how war is puncuated by gaps in which there is no fighting, no sign of an enemy and no logic. More than anything else, Malick attemptepted to get us into the minds of the individual soldiers and officers. Tall is in command but he is vulnerable and desparate to accomplish something worthy of promotion. Bell focuses on the erotic memories of his wife, and Wit absorbs everything that is obscure and noteworthy around him.

I admire Malick's project but I'm not so sure he pulled it off successfully. The film is too disjointed, and some of the dialogue (such as Sean Penn saying "What makes you think you can make a difference in this crazy world?") is stereotypical war movie stuff.

Deep down, I wonder if this is even a World War II movie at all? I suspect that Malick wanted to make a metaphysical film and simply chose the Pacific theatre of World War II for the background. Could it be that this movie isn't supposed to grab us the way "Saving Private Ryan" did? Is it possible that the filmmaker wasn't trying to wow us with battlefield realism but wanted to engage us in a different mode of thought?

I enjoyed this film and "Saving Private Ryan" albeit for different reasons. Despite the flaws of "Thin Red Line" I rate it a little higher than "Saving Private Ryan" which doesn't have much to offer after the first fifteen minuts. This film, at least is original and doesn't try to moralize with the audience.