Malick's meditative film is about much more than war.

Rating: Null/10 (27 December 1999)

"The Thin Red Line" is very much like Malick's two previous films: a quiet meditation on human cruelty and nature's ambivalence to it. This is Malick's best film to date (it is just as beautiful as "Days of Heaven", but less detached).
On the surface, the film explores the philosophy of war and love. On a deeper level, it is also Malick's portrayal of Hollywood filmmaking and his relationship to it. Malick inserts himself as private Witt, the soldier who wanders off to look around at nature and natives; and as Fife, the corporal too thoughtful for the brutality that surrounds him.
A dreamlike and beautiful film.