Full Movie Reviews
Rating of
3.5/4
A war movie that cares about its casualties.
memento_mori - wrote on 08/09/2013
War is not my favorite genre, for a number of reasons. Straight up war movies are usually constructed the same way, have the same soldiering characters and the story never changes. It's just… war. Plus, it's not pretty to look at.
But finally, with The Thin Red Line, we have a war movie that actually contemplates war and doesn't just show it to you. The Thin Red Line is a remarkable film that thinks about war, describes war and has its own take on war, even fictionalizing part of it to bring its point across.
I knew from the moment it started that I was going to dig it. The first ten minutes of this film are simply stunning. And so it eases into the rest of the movie with a great handle on its substance and what it is trying to say. I loved every second of it, from its excellent …
Rating of
4/4
The Thin Red Line review
Daniel Corleone - wrote on 09/25/2012
Viewing this movie again makes one appreciate the brilliance and intent of T. Malick. "There's just one. Just this rock...Are you loved by all?...Does our ruin benefit the earth?" The picture is not only about war, but also life in general. It's story revolves mainly on U.S. Army Private Witt (Jim Caviezel), First Sergeant, Welsh (Sean Penn), Lieutenant Colonel Tall (Nick Nolte) and Captain Staros (Elias Koteas). Sensational voice overs, electrifying performances, meaningful premise, a haunting score and elegant direction were present. The burning orange skies, colorful parrots, glimmering rays of the sun piercing thru trees of the jungle, water flowing from waterfalls are some of the picturesque scenery's that depicts nature's beauty against the horrors of a grotesque war. …
Rating of
4/4
"The Thin Red Line" by Yojimbo
Yojimbo - wrote on 05/11/2012
Terrence Malick's artful WWII movie actually feels more like a Vietnam film because of the jungle locations, and combined with voice-overs and a moving score it is very reminiscent of Platoon. It is rather more subtle than Stone's film though, Malick choosing to contrast the ugliness of conflict with the timeless beauty of nature and simplicity of the life of indigenous tribes who have not adopted the concepts of nation and politics. The battle sequences themselves show war not as glorious, but chaotic and terrifying, and acts of bravery are just as likely to be moments of madness as conscious decisions to be heroic. The sprawling cast packed with star names are uniformly excellent, and the characters well-written and 3 dimensional, from Elias Koteas' captain who feels such an attachment …
Rating of
2/4
A Different Tone for Warm Films
Franz Patrick - wrote on 02/19/2008
I liked this movie even though it was a half an hour too long because it offers a different feel for war films. Instead of just presenting its audiences plain hardcore explosions and shoot-outs, it takes its time to notice nature in such a way that it reflects what the characters are going through. For instance, during one of the battles, the camera focuses on a slowly dying bird. Another thing that I also noticed about this film that is distinct in war movies is its use of color. Instead of shooting the movie with a bleak, gray-ish tone, bright colors are abound such as green (the meadows) and blue (the ocean). My main problem with this film is that there were too many characters to the point where I didn't know or even catch their names. The cameos didn't help out either because it …
