Just as good as Saving Private Ryan, but completely different.

Rating: 10/10 (20 January 1999)

Almost every review for The Thin Red Line which I have read has compared it to another recently released WW2 movie, Saving Private Ryan. I feel it is unfair to compare the two movies, both are about the second World War that is about the only connection they share. Besides Ryan's horrific first 20 minutes (a brutal and realistic recreation of D-Day), Ryan was more of a conventional film with the set storyline (find a missing soldier). The Thin Red Line has it's battle scenes (the whole middle), but goes more for imagery and symbolism. There is no set story line just a team of soldiers you follow around. If you have looked at the papers or seen the previews for The Thin Red Line you have probably been amazed at the cast it has. This is misleading since only two of the big names have big roles, Sean Penn (Dead Man Walking, At Close Range) and Nick Nolte (Affliction, Blue Chips). Although these two have big roles, the main two roles are given to newcomers Jim Caviezel and Ben Chaplin. Both are superb, Caviezel playing a soldier who has gone AWOl a couple of times, but seems to have something special about him and Chaplin as a soldier who has an incredible devotion to his wife back home. Penn plays a tough soldier who seems to like Caviezel despite his tough attitude toward him. Penn is one of the best actors in Hollywood and continues that with another strong performance. Nolte is extremely good as a Patton-type leader who wants his military glory no matter the cost. John Travolta (Get Shorty, Pulp Fiction) and George Clooney (Out of Sight, One Fine Day) both appear briefly (less than a minute each) and leave no effect, except for the poor timing of Clooney's cameo. Woody Harrelson (The Cowboy Way, Indecent Proposal) has a slightly bigger part as one of the leaders during a battle and has a fairly powerful scene. John Cusack also has a small role, but plsys it perfectly. Also, Elias Koteas (Fallen, The Prophecy) beautifully plays the role of a leader who has to make a difficult decision during the battle. John C. Reilly (The River Wild, Out on a Limb) and Adrien Brody (Solo, Angels in the Outfield) are in the whole movie but have little to do, but do it well. Not a standard war film, but still a powerful and outstanding film from writer and director Terrence Malick.