Profound yet confusing

Rating: 10/10 (25 October 2001)

For those who compare this to Saving Private Ryan, I will tell you that although they are both WWII movies, they have little in common. Saving Private Ryan was a gritty, gory, intense action war movie. The Thin Red Line is more like Apocalypse Now, as it is more psychological than violent, with a more beautiful backdrop to it than Ryan. Terence Malick does a fine job directing a strong cast of men through their personal conflicts. James Caviezel is wonderful as a subtle, peaceful man dragged into a useless conflict. Nick Nolte is also superb as the typical disgruntled colonel who wants all the Japs dead. The stunning cinematography is a sharp contrast to the brutal battle scenes that occur throughout the film, and Hans Zimmer again proves he is the king of war movie composers. With all this praise, the Thin Red Line should not go bad. But it sours a little. Malick drags the film out heavily with voice-over narration that could've made more sense, especially after the raid on the Japanese camp. The film picks itself back up for the denouement, and I was overall very impressed by this thinking man's war movie. 1-10 Overall--7.5 Direction--7.5 Photography--8.5 Acting--8 Story--5 Music score--8