The Thin Red Line (1998)

The entire operation is seen primarily through the eyes of five men: Lt. Colonel Tall (Nick Nolte, The Prince of Tides), a tough man who believes that the war is the only chance he has left to prove that he was born to be a leader; Private Witt (James Caviezel, The Passion of the Christ), who has come to realize that the war is a dirty business he has no desire to be a part of; Sergeant Staros (Elias Koteas, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), who does not approve of Lt. Colonel Tall's tactics; Private Bell (Ben Chaplin, Birthday Girl), who cannot stop thinking about the beautiful woman (Miranda Otto, Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King) he wants to marry; and Sergeant Welsh (Sean Penn, Mystic River), a cynical, cold-hearted but also just man. Occasionally, there are other characters that come and go; some get killed, some simply disappear: Sergeant Keck (Woody Harrelson, The Hi-Lo Country), a charming joker; Captain Gaff (John Cusack, Being John Malkovich), a brilliant tactician; Sergeant McCron (John Savage, The Deer Hunter), a quiet, ordinary man; etc.

Based on James Jones' novel, The Thin Red Line is a notably chaotic film, one that relies on sudden changes of tempo and dynamics to effectively recreate the maddening nature of war. Malick's camera often captures the soldiers as they question their sanity or recall dear moments from their once happy lives. A few are also shown being completely disconnected from reality. These constant switches - entering the soldiers' minds and then showing the fierce battles - are what cause the aforementioned chaos.

Then there is the other reality, the other world which Malick shows - a beautiful, peaceful, secluded world, populated with exotic animals and birds, which the soldiers are not allowed to enter. They can sense it – especially at nighttime, when it gets quiet - but the moment they attempt to get close to it, they begin to disintegrate.

When The Thin Red Line premiered, one esteemed critic wrote that when the Japanese were defeated Malick did not know where to go with the movie. I disagree. The Thin Red Line does not tell a battle story. Rather it attempts to recreate what men experience when they face death – a gradual, maddening detachment from reality that destroys their souls.

In 1999, The Thin Red Line won Golden Bear award at the Berlin International Film Festival. During the same year, the film also won the ASC Award for Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography in Theatrical Releases (John Toll) granted by the American Society of Cinematographers.

Bottom Line:
The Thin Red Line has received a treatment that I believe would make even director Malick proud! The film looks and sounds incredible. Criterion's Blu-ray disc also contains a variety of new, produced exclusively for this release supplemental features. Yes, this is the complete package everyone was hoping for. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.