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The Thin Red Line
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Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 9786305207764
Format: Color, EP, Letterboxed, NTSC
ISBN: 6305207763
Label: Simitar Ent.
Manufacturer: Simitar Ent.
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Simitar Ent.
Release Date: November 10, 1998
Running Time: 100 minutes
Studio: Simitar Ent.
Theatrical Release Date: May 02, 1964
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Editorial Review:
One of the cinema's great disappearing acts came to a close with the release of The Thin Red Line in late 1998. Terrence Malick, the cryptic recluse who withdrew from Hollywood visibility after the release of his visually enthralling masterpiece Days of Heaven (1978), returned to the director's chair after a 20-year coffee break. Malick's comeback vehicle is a fascinating choice: a wide-ranging adaptation of a World War II novel (filmed once before, in 1964) by James Jones. The battle for Guadalcanal Island gives Malick an opportunity to explore nothing less than the nature of life, death, God, and courage. Let that be a warning to anyone expecting a conventional war flick; Malick proves himself quite capable of mounting an exciting action sequence, but he's just as likely to meander into pure philosophical noodling--or simply let the camera contemplate the first steps of a newly birthed tropical bird, the sinister skulk of a crocodile. This is not especially an actors' movie--some faces go by so quickly they barely register--but the standouts are bold: Nick Nolte as a career-minded colonel, Elias Koteas as a deeply spiritual captain who tries to protect his men, Ben Chaplin as a G.I. haunted by lyrical memories of his wife. The backbone of the film is the ongoing discussion between a wry sergeant (Sean Penn) and an ethereal, almost holy private (newcomer Jim Caviezel). The picture's sprawl may be a result of Malick's method of "finding" a film during shooting and editing, and in some ways The Thin Red Line seems vaguely, intriguingly incomplete. Yet it casts a spell like almost nothing else of its time, and Malick's visionary images are a challenge and a signpost to the rest of his filmmaking generation. --Robert Horton
This serious-minded but flawed effort at bringing James Jones's later World War II novel to the screen might have languished in film vaults had reclusive director Terence Malick not resurfaced with a newer version, the likely spur to this video release. This first attempt, lensed in 1964, offers glimpses of what may have attracted Malick to the project.
Jones's story focuses on two American soldiers during the Guadalcanal campaign, the newlywed draftee Private Doll (Keir Dullea) and Sergeant Welch (Jack Warden), the hardened veteran. Doll is determined to survive whatever the cost, disobeying orders if it will improve his chances; Welch is dutiful yet calculating, resorting to deliberate acts of madness to toughen up his troops by showing them war's own absurdity by example. The clash between the private and the sergeant thus becomes the core to the film, focusing on the "thin red line" between sanity and insanity and depicting how that line blurs for both protagonists.
As directed by veteran Andrew Marton (55 Days in Peking), the film is at its best during sweeping battle sequences capturing the gritty horror of hand-to-hand combat, as the Americans try to take an impregnable wall of caves held by the Japanese enemy. Less successful are portentous scenes and dialogue that underscore this evident parable with a heavy hand; there's a self-conscious art film spin that misfires.The original black-and-white Cinemascope negative shows wear and tear, and early copies betray serious problems in their optical transfers. --Sam Sutherland
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Boring, Boring, Boring
As a 24-year military veteran, this movie was a complete miss and bore for me. I couldn't wait for this slow paced movie to end! A weak storyline and none existent plot further plagued this attempt to personalize war. The overacting of Nolte and barely noticeable Penn do nothing to overcome the poor directing. I still can't grasp why some people give Penn so much credit for this and other performances. His acting skills are simplistic and unbelievable, unless the part includes a drunk or drug ... Read More
Rating:  - A Disappointing Film
I had high hopes for this film with its inherently courageous material based upon the Guadalcanal campaign. However, the movie itself has a relentless boredom, much more like a Benneton commercial than a feature film. Malick, despite his Days of Heaven classic, lost touch with audiences and maybe even filmmaking over his 20 year absence. The art of conveying ideas and powerful visual metaphors within a story worked with David Lean. With Malick's work here, it's a whimsical, uncertain philosophical ... Read More
Rating: - Somehow, it did not engage me.
Somehow, it did not engage me. It might be because it did not focus to a few people.
I prefer other WWII movies such as The longest day, Saving Private Ryan, U571, Midway.
Rating:  - Here's the Real Scoop on This Movie ...
I'm going to tell it like is.
First so you know where I'm coming from. I vote Republican, I like war movies and I can't stand celebrities preaching anti war propaganda.
It's true, "The Thin Red Line" is very different from "Saving Private Ryan". With SPR, you have a small group of guys that you follow from point A to point B. Real simple. Plus a lot of the film is focused on war images. I think that it could even be argued that some scenes in SPR do not represent ... Read More
Rating: - Nothing but antiwar propaganda
Know a hardcore anti-war nut? This movie is for them. Thin Red Line is definitely not a movie that honors men like my neighbor who lied about his age to join the military in WWII. It tries the disguise of being artsy in order to brand the men who fought for our freedoms as cowards and psychopaths. This movie was a waste of my time, a waste of my money, and a waste of resources. I should have known what the result of movie would be, considering the cast. So, to the director, quit having your actors emote ... Read More
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