A Thinking Man's War Masterpiece

Rating: Null/10 (1 December 2001)

`The Thin Red Line' came out around the same time that `Saving Private Ryan' did, and it is a strikingly different film. Without taking anything away from the great `Ryan', `Red Line' works on almost the polar opposite. Taking place during some of the most brutal battles of World War II in The Pacific, this film mixes as many points of view as it has characters, which is a lot. The all star cast is great, Terrence Malick's direction is superb, and the messages are complex and thought-provoking. While not necessarily examining the pro's and con's of WW II specifically (which would be a hard case to make in my opinion), this film intends to explore the nature of war itself, and man's continuing need to partake in it.
I thought Nick Nolte, Sean Penn and Elias Koteas were especially great in this movie. The contrasting of images of machines, guns, blood, men, wildlife, nature, flowers, etcwas not heavy-handed and quite effective. There have been many great war films, and I am a fan of a lot of them, but this one ranks among my favorites because of its originality and beauty. I haven't read the book yet, but I plan to. I'd give this film an A.