With Much Competition; The Best Film of 1998

Rating: Null/10 (24 June 2000)

1998 was easily one of the greatest years ever for movies and "The Thin Red Line" was the best film of that year. Terrence Malick came out of a 20-year directorial hibernation to write and direct one of the best films I have ever seen. The story follows the C for Charlie Company through their nightmarish experience at Guadalcanal in 1942. They are sent to the South Pacific island to overtake an area that is going to be used as an airspace for the Japanese army. From the strange landing on the island, where there seems to be no Japanese army on the land at all, to the final frames, "The Thin Red Line" is crafted perfectly by the eclectic Malick. Every 30-second frame of this film could be dissected and analyzed by the finest of film students and even then one would not likely be able to get to the heart of this film. It's that well-crafted and complicated. Every noise, camera shot, and reaction from an actor has a meaning in this film. This film is not for those easily distracted, the squeamish, or those with short attention spans. All 2 hours and 50 minutes of this film are imperative, missing even the smallest of scenes could destroy the whole point of the picture. Many critics and most of the mainstream audience misinterpreted this film in some way. If one is not careful it is easy to do that. The fact that "Saving Private Ryan" came out during the same year stole much of this film's thunder when it became available to both the critics and the audience. Is this film better than "Saving Private Ryan"? In my opinion it is by the smallest of margins. True they are both great films but "The Thin Red Line" is a film that, if you really sit down and absorb it, will stick with you for a very long time. It's one of those films that you can see 12 times and you will still see something new the 13th time you see it. It did not win any of the seven Oscars it was nominated for (even though it probably deserved to for Malick's Adapted Screenplay at the very least), but I think the effect of "The Thin Red Line" will make it the most memorable film of 1998 when we look back at it 20 years from now.