I've never been so much impressed by a war movie!

Rating: 10/10 (12 April 2005)

When I first saw this movie I knew from the first minutes that it wasn't like any other war movie I've ever seen. Terence Malick does not primarily show the violence and destroying of war, he combines it with wonderful pictures of nature and by moving deep into the soldiers thoughts. I saw films like "Platoon", "Apocalypse Now" and "Full Metal Jacket", too (no doubt, they are quite good), but mostly they only focus the human and his negative declinations during the war. In contrast to that "The Thin Red Line" has kinds of philosophic undertones. It goes deeper and asks questions like "How can the world create two such different things - the destroyable human being opposite the tranquil beauty of nature".
In this film there are so many quotations I keep in my mind. My favorite is: 'One man looks at a dying bird, and thinks there's nothing but unrelenting pain. But death got the last word. It's laughing at him. Another man sees at the same bird - feels the glory, feels something is laughing through him.' That is the language the film is written of. It isn't this typical war language, it is a language that hides its content and meaning. Maybe this is one reason why the film isn't as popular as (e.g.) "Apocalypse Now"; but here you have to concentrate on the (well-written) monologues & dialogs and be open for them. Then you can feel that it goes deeper than other war movies. And that makes it unique. A unique masterpiece of art.
It always makes me cry when I see Witt (marvelous performed by Jim Caviezel) dying. First you feel like you lost your guide who lead you through the movie, then you have a soothe feeling when his voice comes over again but nevertheless I keep crying - not because he's dead, but because of this overwhelming feeling he delivers despite the fact that he's dead.
The atmosphere - when you see one of the characters dying or during one of the fight scenes - is put into action with an emotional soundtrack composed by Hans Zimmer. Also the songs of the native singers seem to match perfectly to the atmosphere. At the beginning they reflect the usual peace out there in the jungle and in the end they reflect the peace Private Witt has found.
I don't think these sentences can express how this film really is, but I hope they make it accessible to reality. But the best will be when you watch the film and find out yourself. Of course that's always a matter of opinion, and naturally there will be people who'll find that there's too little action in it and find it soporific and monotonous. But I think it is worth watching and after you've seen it, you keep preoccupied with it and its messages. It will always be one of my favorite films. I give it 10 out of 10.