Masterpiece of Cinema Comes To Blu-ray Today

Rating: 10/10 (27 September 2010)

THE THIN RED LINE, directed by Terrence Malick and co-directed by God, will be released on Blu-ray from Criterion in all its HD glory and with extras today. When I saw it the first time in a theatre back in 1998, I knew that it was one of the greatest films ever made - a spiritual work of art that has no equals. A great war film about peace (an oxymoron?) and a celebration of all forms of life on earth - humans, animals, and plants. Beautiful cinematography, haunting music, creative editing, and the most original use of multiple narrators ever used in cinema. The fact that the great company Criterion is releasing it on Blu-ray is icing on the cake and I will cherish the extras even though (not surprisingly) there will be no audio commentary from Malick, which would have ruined the mythos of the film anyway. Malick, like Kubrick before him, lets his films do the talking and leaves them open to interpretation by the viewer. If all world leaders, heck, if all people on our planet would watch and absorb this film, the world would be a better place. From 1998 on, every time I have watched THE THIN RED LINE, I have been given proof that God exists and through Him, art like this can be made and appreciated by all of us.