The Thin Red Line

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The Thin Red Line

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The Thin Red Line

Sean Penn, Adrien Brody, Nick Nolte, James Caviezel, John Cusack

One of the cinema's great disappearing acts came to a close with the release of The Thin Red Line in late 1998. Terrence Malick, the cryptic recluse who withdrew from Hollywood visibility after...( read more  read more... ) the release of his visually enthralling masterpiece Days of Heaven (1978), returned to the director's chair after a 20-year coffee break. Malick's comeback vehicle is a fascinating choice: a wide-ranging adaptation of a World War II novel (filmed once before, in 1964) by James Jones. The battle for Guadalcanal Island gives Malick an opportunity to explore nothing less than the nature of life, death, God, and courage. Let that be a warning to anyone expecting a conventional war flick; Malick proves himself quite capable of mounting an exciting action sequence, but he's just as likely to meander into pure philosophical noodling--or simply let the camera contemplate the first steps of a newly birthed tropical bird, the sinister skulk of a crocodile. This is not especially an actors' movie--some faces go by so quickly they barely register--but the standouts are bold: Nick Nolte as a career-minded colonel, Elias Koteas as a deeply spiritual captain who tries to protect his men, Ben Chaplin as a G.I. haunted by lyrical memories of his wife. The backbone of the film is the ongoing discussion between a wry sergeant (Sean Penn) and an ethereal, almost holy private (newcomer Jim Caviezel). The picture's sprawl may be a result of Malick's method of "finding" a film during shooting and editing, and in some ways The Thin Red Line seems vaguely, intriguingly incomplete. Yet it casts a spell like almost nothing else of its time, and Malick's visionary images are a challenge and a signpost to the rest of his filmmaking generation. --Robert Horton

Some other actors that should be listed but cannot because of lack of room in our database: Dash Mihok,Adrien Brody,Paul Gleeson,Thomas Jane,John Dee Smith,and Will Wallace.

Id: 10902009

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The Thin Red Line Recent Reviews
  • SirPant
    September 24, 2009
    SirPant
    The long awaited return of Terrence Malick and it was well worth the wait! This is an excellent war film!
  • columbiatch
    August 18, 2009
    columbiatch
    I think this may be better shot than The New World (Malick sure loves his underwater shots). The technical aspects are quite impressive, featuring some great handheld and tracking shots. Unlike DoH or tNW there's a ton of characters all sharing a similar narration pondering the n...( read more)ature of things, which sounds too vague and cheesy most of the time, as if they were uttered by the Christ figure played by Caviezel. While there is an attempt to give a face to the Japanese side of the war, it would have been more consistent with the film's goals if there is actually a character from that side as in Pocahontas in tNW.
  • MovieGeek13
    March 19, 2009
    MovieGeek13
    After a 20 year absence, I don't think Terrence Mallick could ever have lived up to the hype surrounding this film, but even still, I expected better. It's a good film, no doubt, and it has some interesting things to say about how the psychologically destructive effects of war, ...( read more)but it's not in the league of Saving Private Ryan.
  • danperry17
    January 22, 2009
    danperry17
    A grimly beautiful and unconventional war film that, though it features some great acting from a lot of big stars, doesn't really feature anyone long enough for you to get attached to them. I'm not really a Nick Nolte fan, but he was very good in this one, and I thought that Adri...( read more)en Brody was excellent as well (despite having most of his scenes cut from the movie before its release). Elias Koteas too.

    The movie's best and worst feature is that it's incredibly artisitc: best because it is an unorthodox way to tell a war story (framed by the inner monologues of nearly all characters and overcoming seemingly interminable silences), and worst because this narration-heavy, long interlude approach slipped too often into melodrama and lulls that didn't help the story along at all. I'm all for the artsy film, but this was just unnecessarily long.

    A middling script (or maybe a brilliant one, but I shouldn't have to watch a movie over and over to be sure) is saved by the acting and great effects, and the men in the film are very real... in the end, thoguh, I just couldn't empathize with any of them. Perhaps this is the most realistic way to tell a war story, but it's not so audience-friendly.

    All in all, it was a bit of a let down considering all the hype it received this time of year a decade ago.
  • mrpopcorn
    December 3, 2008
    mrpopcorn
    "Every man fights his own war."

    James Caviezel stars as Private Witt, a deserter living in peace and harmony with the natives of a Pacific island paradise. Captured by the Navy, Witt is debriefed by a senior officer (Sean Penn) and returned to an active duty unit prepa...( read more)ring for what will be the Battle of Guadalcanal. As Witt goes ashore in the company of his fellow soldiers, they meet diverse fates. Sergeant Keck (Woody Harrelson) is killed by an exploding grenade. Captain John Gaff (John Cusack) is an intelligent, sober leader facing the destruction of his command because his commanding officer Colonel Tall (Nick Nolte) is bucking for a general's star. Sergeant McCron (John Savage) loses his mind. Private Bell (Ben Chaplin) gets a "Dear John" letter from his beloved wife. However, as the U.S. troops advance up grassy slopes toward entrenched Japanese positions, it is Witt's voiced-over ruminations on life, death, and nature that are the real heart and soul of The Thin Red Line (1998).

    Review
    There are many aspect that make up a great war film. It is not enough to simply sit an audience down in a cinema and blast them with shells and death. War has never been black and white, you must alway strive to show the human aspects of war. The way in which it affects the solders and the villagers involved. " The Thin Red Line " captures all aspects perfectly, showing you the personalities of all the cast and delving into the mental aspects of both the front line troops and the commanders safely unfolding the battle from a distance. If you want to see war as it truly is then this is a film you want to see.
  • sebastian771
    December 9, 2009
    sebastian771
    visually stunning, good cast and the music fits well at all stages
  • pulpspy
    December 7, 2009
    pulpspy
    Excellent contemporary war film. Reflective, devastating, and realistic.
  • rpederson1
    December 7, 2009
    rpederson1
    Well crafted masterpiece.
  • AC1991
    November 30, 2009
    AC1991
    Partly watched when I was doing another task and looked very good. Will try to watch fully as soon as possible.
  • doglover000000
    November 24, 2009
    doglover000000
    I've been wanting to watch this for a long time. I had read good reviews about it, saw that theres an amazing cast and although, i've not seen any other Terrence Malick films, i had high expectations for this movie but i was totally bored through this film! It admittingly, had gr...( read more)eat Cinematography but i feel that, thats all the film was about! To produce some art work into film. It was very slow, and bounced backwards and forwards between Ben Chaplins flashbacks which were irrelevant. However, the cast were good in the scenes your saw them in other than that, a pretty forgettable film.
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