The Thin Red Line

The Thin Red Line is a 1998 American epic war film written and directed by Terrence Malick. It is the second screen adaptation of the 1962 novel of the same name by James Jones, following the 1964 film; however, this film is not considered a remake. Telling a fictionalized version of the Battle of Mount Austen, which was part of the Guadalcanal Campaign in the Pacific Theater of World War II, it portrays soldiers of C Company, 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division, played by Sean Penn, Jim Caviezel, Nick Nolte, Elias Koteas and Ben Chaplin. The novel's title alludes to a line from Rudyard Kipling's poem "Tommy", from Barrack-Room Ballads, in which he calls British foot soldiers "the thin red line of heroes", referring to the stand of the 93rd Regiment in the Battle of Balaclava of the Crimean War.

Plot
During World War II, A group of soldiers faces an unlikely battle at the Guadalcanal, where they fight all odds in order to survive. As the war progresses, they lose out on each other while still hoping to win the war.

Why It Rocks

 * 1) It stays very faithful to 1962's novel of the same name, while it does follow the differences to the book.
 * 2) Terrence Malick still gives an amazing direction, and he makes a welcome return of filming movies after 20 years of absence, since Days of Heaven in 1978.
 * 3) It is almost pretty much historically accurate of the Pacific War in World War II, compared to Saving Private Ryan's.
 * 4) Much like any other World War II movie, most of the uniforms used are almost as authentic for most of the time.
 * 5) The setting of Vietnam, and most of East Asia during World War II is well done.
 * 6) The film has some good pacing throughout the movie.
 * 7) Amazing cinematography.
 * 8) It does stay true to the events of what really happened during the Second World War in East Asia, including the Japanese occupied Vietnam.
 * 9) Although Saving Private Ryan has an amazing story, the story is different, making both movies well-executive.
 * 10) The acting, and its performances are excellent, especially for the casts of George Clooney, John Travolta, Woody Harrelson, and John C. Reilly.
 * 11) Fabulous soundtrack that was performed by Hans Zimmer.

Reception
The film received positive to critical acclaim upon release, and the film currently holds an 81% with a Certified Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 103 reviews, and an average rating of 7.30/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "The Thin Red Line is a daringly philosophical World War II film with an enormous cast of eager stars." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 78/100, based on 32 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Gene Siskel described it as the "finest contemporary war film I've seen, supplanting Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan from earlier this year, or even Oliver Stone's Platoon from 1986." A more subdued Roger Ebert gave it 3/4 stars, saying that it felt confused and unfinished. He wrote, "The movie's schizophrenia keeps it from greatness (this film has no firm idea of what it is about), but doesn't make it bad. It is, in fact, sort of fascinating... The battle scenes themselves are masterful, in creating a sense of the geography of a particular hill, the way it is defended by Japanese bunkers, the ways in which the American soldiers attempt to take it ... Actors like Sean Penn, John Cusack, Jim Caviezel, and Ben Chaplin find the perfect tone for scenes of a few seconds or a minute, and then are dropped before a rhythm can be established".

Trivia

 * The film marked Malick's return to filmmaking after a 20-year absence.

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