Rent The Thin Red Line (1998)

A masterful dreamlike meditation of the soul, natures beauty and ambivalence to human horrors. - The Thin Red Line review by Piehawker

This film is definitely not for everyone. There's no real narrative, it's almost 3 hours, has mixed voice overs from often unknown sources and many lingering shots of nature amongst battle. I think it's a masterwork from Terrance Malick and one of my favourites almost because of the reasons I addressed. It's a film I can just soak into, the pacing, cinematography and Hans Zimmer score makes for a dreamlike poetry and cinematic experience.

The cast is all excellent, but Jim Caviziel in particular stands out as a soulful presence gliding in and out of the lives of others. He seems to be observing the world and the war and the nature all with a detachment and also a spiritual awareness. A moral centre to the violence and war. The scenes of him and Sean Penn's character (who shares the opposite world view) are especially strong.

John Toll's cinematography is incredible, long grass blowing in the wind and smoke amongst trees has never looked so cinematic. The build up to the journey to the line sequence is also outstanding with a flowing steadi-cam or crane moving through the chaos accompanied by the Hans Zimmer score building and building to an emotional climax. Very powerful.

I do have to be in the right mood for this classic though. But the blu ray is an excellent transfer and looks and sounds brilliant. Highly recommended.

The horrors of war.... - The Thin Red Line review by TB

This is a lengthy but well filmed story of the horrors of war and the testing of human morals. It has all the action and scenes associated with most war films but has an overriding story of human faith and morals being challenged throughout and playing out in parallel with the atrocities of war. The voice over highlights this with such well chosen and emotive words. For the very few that come out the other side, it gives a renewed strength and appreciation of life but for so many war takes their lives in some shape or form. For the fortunate they die in battle. However, those who do survive are in the main left numb and stripped of their faith and souls.

This isn’t a spectacular film and it’s not an all action film, if that’s what you’re after. However, what it is, is a film that questions all of our morals and appreciation of life and death.

A Mystical Study Of Man's Desire For Self Destruction - The Thin Red Line review by GI

This is director Terrence Malick's third feature film and it had been twenty years since his previous one. So it says something about his reputation and the respect he's given by the sheer number of top actors who wanted to appear in this film. Hailed as a maverick genius many of Malick's films however can leave viewers perplexed and disconcerted. The Thin Red Line is no exception. Yes it's a war film set during the Second World War and covering the battle for the island of Guadalcanal. But it's a war film that goes completely against the conventions of the genre and whilst it has some very realistic combat scenes it shuns action, patriotism and even narrative to bring a film that takes an exquisite look at nature. It's a film that is about seeking knowledge and truth and whilst it condemns the stupidity of man's relentless need for war it also celebrates the beauty of the Earth even while bloody death is all around. So this is a tragedy really, a reflection of our co-existence with nature and the rest of the world and our apparent commitment to destroy ourselves. The film follows an American army company as it lands on the island and their attempts to root out the wily Japanese soldiers. The central section of the film is a cautious battle to destroy enemy machine gun bunkers sited on the top of swaying grasslands. There's a serene beauty to this even when the soldiers are being killed. There is no real central character, the closest being Private Witt (Jim Caviezel), a deserter, caught and returned to his unit who sees the futility of the war but is forced to take part. The cast is stellar and large and includes Sean Penn, Nick Nolte, John Travolta, John Cusack, Woody Harrelson, George Clooney and Jared Leto. There's no doubt this is an important piece of cinema and it certainly requires several viewings to really get to the depths of the film and appreciate it fully but if you haven't seen this then I certainly recommend it.