The Thin Red Line Review
by "Neil Smith" (neil AT ytech DOT co DOT za)February 25th, 1999
The Thin Red Line
Rating: 80 %
Starring: Elias Kotias Nick Nolte Sean Penn
Director: Terrence Malick
With Saving Private Ryan being my candidate as the best movie so far for 1998, it was with some eagerness I was looking forward to seeing the other Second World War Two epic nominated in the Best Picture Oscar category. Having now seen both movies it is clear to me who the winner is going to be now that the canon smoke has cleared. Is it Steven Speilberg’s Normandy landing based movie or Terrence Malick’s jungle based movie.
And the winner is … Saving Private Ryan. And for many reasons which I will touch on as I continue my review. This is not to say The Thin Red Line is a bad movie. Far from it. The Thin Red Line is one of the best stream of consciousness movies I have ever seen. The lovely jungle scenery, the voice over narration contemplating what death might be like and the stresses of combat clearly etched in the faces of the combatants, gives this movie an otherworldly dreamlike experience unlike any other. I also read the James Jones based novel on which the movie is based only a scant few months ago. So for me the characters from this unforgettable novel is still very fresh in my mind. Whether this is an aide to enjoying the movie or not is hard to say. At least I had perhaps a clearer understanding about the soldiers’ journey of discovery they were going through. Obviously as with so many book-to-movies the whole books plot was almost thrown away, and only the bare basics survived. The main character in the movie had only a bit part in the book. In the book Cpl. Fife who we hardly see in the movie was more or less the books main voice. Also overlooked was Pvt. Jack Bell rapid rise from ex-lieutenant to private back up to lieutenant. Also strange was the exclusion of the final village battle after the walk along the river as Charlie Company becomes unstoppable in the forward advances. And we only get the mere mention of the word "property" which is the whole lifes philosophy of company First Sgt. Edward Welsh. For me the first two thirds of The Thin Red Line was the best. The hour long build up to the battle for the hill and then the battle itself. There is a superb building up period to the eventual test of fire these ordinary men have to go through after which their lives will never be the same again.
The battle scenes themselves don’t match the sheer raw power of Saving Private Ryan nor is it as gruesomely bloody and realistic. I think the main reason for this could have been because Terrence Mallick lacks Steven Speilbergs mastery of special effects. And obviously it has been twenty years since his last moive. With all of today’s digital technology at his disposal, Speilberg was able to make us truly believe we are in the midst of a war for ourselves. Saving Private Ryan also had more identifiable characters and a better plot, rudimentary as it was. The Thin Red line on the other hand has more name actors, who unfortunately are more an distraction than a help. John Travolta and George Clooneys two second speech at the end of the movie serves no real purpose. Nick Nolte is superb though, as the obsessed colonel who knows he is taking part in the last ever war he will have a chance to participate in. For him it is all about objectives taken and how many lives can be spent to accomplish this. It is all a numbers game to him, like for any good accountant as long as his gains outweighs his losses he is doing good business.
Pvt. Witt the movies main character is well played by James Caviezel. One has real empathy for his character. Here is someone who has gone AWOL a number of times but now that he is in the thick of things is willing to volunteer himself for the most suicidal of missions.
War of all about contradictions. We profess to be peace seeking individuals but when we are offered an excuse we will kill, maim and destroy to the fullest of our ability to place ourselves ahead of the enemy. With such inherent duality evident in all men, it is no wonder that wars are still being fought every day around the globe and fanatics will find any excuse to inflict their harmful will upon others for some misguided cause or the other. In the end it is about he who holds the biggest stick who will win. Look at the United States the worlds only remaining superpower. The US is supposed to be this huge peace loving nation but doesn’t hesitate to impose it will on others via smart bombs and Tomahawk missiles. I guess when you are the number one power in the world you have to flex your muscles from time to time as to discourage other from picking fights with you
unnecessarily.
Anyway, excuse main lapse of concentration. Go see The Thin Red Line if you like challenging movie experiences.
Neil Smith
Review courtesy of www.megavideo.co.za as well as www.dvdsa.co.za
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