The heading "greatest (blank) ever" is thrown around a lot, almost jokingly at times. But this is, in my opinion, genuinely the perfect war film. Because it came out in the same year as Saving Private Ryan, Malick's masterpiece took a back seat to a grittier, more realistic war film. But what we as viewers got in 1998 were two movies that showed different aspects of war. Saving Private Ryan is hailed because the film-making was so involving and intense that it makes the viewer feel like they are actually in war. On the other hand, The Thin Red Line, from one of the finest director/screenwriters in the world, Terrence Malick, does not dilute the effect of the violence of war, but it also shows how psychological war can be. Often, we have seen movies like Apocalypse Now, where the mental damage of war drives a man to insanity, but that is not what Malick wanted to show. The Thin Red Line is just as realistic as Saving Private Ryan, but the emotional spike is far more powerful. Part of that comes from Malick's trademark transcendentalist film-making, showing the sweeping landscapes and the beauty of nature, while at the same time emphasizing the environmental injury brought about by the interaction between men and nature. Part of the emotional draw comes from the characters, and there are many. Sean Penn and Nick Nolte are phenomenal as they always have been, but it is the supporting cast that brings the reality of this film to light. Dash Mihok comes off as a surprise, as does Jim Caviezel, in one of his earlier roles. But there is also the Malick "silent character," here personified by a pale and small Adrien Brody. Other actors of note that only made this film more incredible include Elias Koteas, Ben Chaplin, John Savage, John Cusack, and Miranda Otto. But one of the keys to the success of this movie is the powerful, ominous score by my personal favorite, Hans Zimmer. The scene in which the army storms the Japanese camp is chilling, both with what is shown on screen and how Zimmer's music hauntingly beautiful. All of the elements of fantastic film-making are present, yet that does not answer fully the question of why this movie alone stands above all the other war films in history. What does Terrence Malick do that makes The Thin Red Line so effective? When you watch war movies, there is seldom a personal feel them. Hundreds of soldiers race into battle, and many of them die. The Thin Red Line has these cliché scenes, but there is another echelon of consciousness. Malick uses voice over narratives not to explain what is happening, but to explain what exists in the mind and not on the battlefield. War is not merely fought with arms, but with minds and hearts. At one moment, an American is killing Japanese soldiers and ridiculing their dead; yet soon, he shakes so hard that he cannot contain his own fear. This is kind of war that has never really existed before in film. For a plot as simple as taking one hill on a Pacific Island in World War II, The Thin Red Line supplements with substantial philosophy and psychology, showing the humanity as well as the darkness of war. In essence, The Thin Red Line is the most complete war movie ever made. If it had come out a year before Saving Private Ryan, perhaps we would consider it first when we think of revolutionary films. It is a complicate tale, one that is anti-war while still recognizing the courage and glory of it. You would be hard pressed to argue that it can be labeled as simply as pro or anti-war. But that is how Malick tells his stories. The moral ambiguity of humanity set against the backdrop of the natural world is his method. I have never seen another movie as significant and brilliant as The Thin Red Line. It is easy to compare it with movies like Platoon and Saving Private Ryan, but Malick's film is on an entirely different level.
In this war, there is a thin red line between sanity and madness.
In this war, there is a thin red line between sanity and madness.