| Sean Penn | First Sgt. Edward Welsh |
| Adrien Brody | Cpl. Fife |
| James Caviezel | Pvt. Witt |
| Ben Chaplin | Pvt. Bell |
| George Clooney | Capt. Charles Bosche |
| John Cusack | Capt. John Gaff |
| Woody Harrelson | Sgt. Keck |
| Elias Koteas | Capt. James "Bugger" Staros |
| Jared Leto | Second Lt. Whyte |
| Dash Mihok | Pfc. Doll |
| Tim Blake Nelson | Pvt. Tills |
| Nick Nolte | Lt. Col. Gordon Tall |
| John C. Reilly | Sgt. Storm |
| Larry Romano | Pvt. Mazzi |
| John Savage | Sgt. McCron |
| John Travolta | Brig. Gen. Quintard |
| Arie Verveen | Pfc. Dale |
| David Harrod | Cpl. Queen |
| Thomas Jane | Pvt. Ash |
| Polyn Leona | Melanesian Woman with child |
| Miranda Otto | Marty Bell |
| Matt Doran | Private Coombs |
| Terrence Malick | Director, Screenwriter |
| Paul "Salty" Brincat | Sound/Sound Designer |
| Skip Cosper | Asst. Director |
| Dianne Crittenden | Casting |
| Jack Fisk | Production Designer |
| Robert Michael Geisler | Producer |
| Ian Gracie | Art Director |
| Grant Hill | Producer |
| Richard Hobbs | Set Decoration/Design |
| Leslie Jones | Editor |
| Saar Klein | Editor |
| Sheila Davis Lawrence | Associate Producer |
| Susan Maybury | Set Decoration/Design |
| John Roberdeau | Producer |
| Michael Stevens | Associate Producer |
| George Stevens Jr. | Executive Producer |
| John Toll | Cinematographer |
| Billy Weber | Editor |
| Margot Wilson | Costumes/Costume Designer |
| Hans Zimmer | Score Composer |
Anonymous
Posted October 1, 2010
One of the best films i have ever seen. It is philosophically beautiful, visually stunning, and heartbreaking. This film is misunderstood sometimes but it is absolute masterpeice.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.The thin red line is a film which doesn't really seem to know what it is. Is it a war film? partially, is it a philosophical drama that asks really deep pondering questions about life? partially. In this film the two are intermixed into one, and its kind of satisfying but also kind of irritating. This is one of those "Polorizers" you know the films that you either love or hate, and to be honest I'm pretty middle ground on this one, I mean it was irritating at times how Malick allows shots that seem like they should've ended to continue, but the questions the film raises about life and its plain Epic battle scenes were a real spectacle. It's just too bad this movie doesn't feel complete, its like half a movie, reportedly Malick's original cut was Five Hours long. To be honest I would've preferred the Five Hour cut despite the length, if it would make the film feel more complete. Your probably gonna go " Oh you just cant grasp upon the high brow philosophical themes this film presents...." But your wrong I can. I get this whole thing about how man is forced from Paradise to fight his enemies never to return, I understand the flippancy of humanity and the cruel things we do under certain circumstances. I too lay awake at night and imagine how the world would be without War or Death or Pain. But the fact is we dont live in a world like that. This film seems to be about Men who experience the extremes of Life, the High Peeks, and the Crushing Lows. And once the experience is ended I cant say that it taught me much that I didn't already know, not that its a bad movie, but its most certainly an Incomplete one, its like if you tore out the last 50 pages of a book that provide the "Denouemont"( not sure if I spelled that right) the purpose for the actions of the characters, this film seems to be without that, it has a clear beginning and end but it just doesn't make a point anymore than the Subliminal thoughts of several Military Men who have to kill people - CM
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted October 1, 2010
Looked this film up hoping to find a hitherto unrecognized and unhearalded take on the REAL Thin Red Line of the Highlanders in the Crimean War at Balaclava. What a sell. Once I found out the title was stolen I thought well, OTOH maybe this flick will prove to be a good think-piece on WWII. Another sell. Thin Red Line is a poor man's Apocalypse Now for insights into soldiers' thoughts and ways. Pretentions, biased and oh so pseudo-philosophical. This flick is the kind of stuff that makes for cocktail party smart-chat and makes dilettante film buffs glow with confusion. The five-star reviewers in this forum if they want thoughful insightful war, really ought to get down off their preciousness and go to the source by seeking out films that are fairly faithful translations of Joseph Conrad, the original angst and internal dialogue guy. Apocalypse is one. Tono Bungay another. The Napoleonic Era time-framed The Duellists a third. Red Line is maybe grudgingly worth a star and a half. The so-called stars of this piece are mostly, at the best, just journeyman hackers. Gimme a break. Terence Malick maybe ought to take another 20 years off and overcome his cloying yet obscure artsyness. Save your money.
0 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted October 1, 2010
A mesmerizing look at World War II that does not hide the true nature of the "good fight." Shows what war is and what it does to people. Jim Caveizel's character blew me out of the water while I saw a lot of similitaries in the personality of Sean Penn and me. Quite incredible.
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Posted October 1, 2010
The music was annoying. The dialogue was so difficult to hear and understand at times that I am glad I wasn't watching it in the theatre, I would have walked out in the first 20 minutes. I had to use the English subtitles to understand what was said for a good portion of the film. I can't believe I watched the whole thing. I tried to care about the characters, but couldn't. Maybe the book allows you to know them. This movie did not.
0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted October 1, 2010
If you want a Picture of the fighting soldiers mind buy this movie, but if you want a realistic war movie you may want to spend your money on another movie. There are alot of flaws in this movie haveing to do with following the plot behind the book. One is that the movie covers an Anti-War character named Pvt. Witt who does not play a key role in the book until close to the end of it, another flaw is that the movie does not show any of the men of the heavy weapons platoon, nor does the movie show any thing relating to the second set of hills called the "boiled Shrimp", also the movie shows the whole company being cut off in the jungle but in the book it was only a squad and every one died. All in all the movie was for portraying the normal soldiers psyche in times of war, but the movie was hardly any thing like the book and nothing like the real battle for Guadalcanal.
0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted October 1, 2010
Terrence Malick makes his re-entrance into the film world with what I considered to be one of the best films of all time. The Thin Red Line is an absolutley magnificent exploration into the strong and basic connections between all mankind. This film offers some of the most interesting and compelling dialog ever to grace the screen as well as the beloved kind of insightful character developement that has become such a scarcity in the film world today. With an amazing cast, including everyone from blockbuster stars to veteran actors, this film has all it takes to render a poetic and intellectually stimulating drama in the guise of a war film. On top of it's excellent make, few other films take the risk of sacrificing crowd pleasing mindlessness for artistic beauty as this one does. The Thin Red Line is a film to be cherished by those who recognize greatness.
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Posted October 1, 2010
Without going to Kantian philosophical lengths to explain my deep abiding love for this film, I will simply speak about the two shots which I found the most important in the film. The opening shot is a medium close-up on an crocodile as it slowly descends into a murky swamp. In context of the Edenic sequence afterwards with Private Witt, this sets up the entire movie. Man has gone from peaceful cohabitant with nature into baleful warrior, the evil lurking underneath the surface, separated by a thin line between the water level. Later on near the end of the film the troops capture a dead croc in Guadalcanal. Danger has turned to decay; Nature has crawled back into the earth to die. The most powerful moment for me, however, was the scene just before the battle is to begin, before any shot has been fired. Several of the soldiers are wordlessly marching toward the enemy, marching toward their death, and in a long wide shot a Melanesian native walks in the other direction, calmly, quietly, eventually passing the soldiers entirely. They look at the native with utter bewilderment. The pure insanity of juxtaposition between this pivotal moment in the lives of the soldiers and a native on a walk in the jungle brings war, humanity, progress, civilization, life, death, and spiritual meaning into question without saying a word. I defy Spielberg, or for that matter anyone, to approach such brilliance. This is a mediatation on the essential oneness of man, a sobering portrait about the inevitability of evil, and a maddening glimpse of the natural world we can no longer have for ourselves. Leave the star cameos out of it. Forget the unconventional narrative. Watch the first living art on celluloid in years without the bias of hundreds of films' worth of experience. And be ahead of the curve, because in twenty years this film will take its rightful place among the best ever.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted October 1, 2010
I have never seen a more real dynamic between characters. They were strangers, as we all really are, especially in war, I imagine. The sadness of life and strangers was captured so well. And I'm a happy guy, tho recognizing life's melancholy. Of course, the character Witt gave hope and faith, and it was done with such realness that it too felt of the human struggle. To me it is not a movie about war. Witt and Bell (Caviezal and Chaplin) were outstanding, and were entirely new to me. Tho, many of the cameo's work as well, including Woody Harrelson and John Cusack. It is the Realest Film I have seen.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted October 1, 2010
Very intellectual look at the effects of war on real people. Don't buy it if you're looking for Saving Private Ryan-esque fluff.
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Posted October 1, 2010
No change from the usual Hollywood denigration of the military. Movie depicts officer (Nolte) sacrificing common sense and his soldiers lives to seek glory. While this type of behavior was and is the exception in the military, on the silver screen it is standard fair. Malick continues Hollywood¿s anti-war Vietnam theme, which seems totally out of place in this WWII flick. I agree with the other critic in saying this movie doesn¿t deserve even a single star.
0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted October 1, 2010
A great movie. Philosophical, emotional, difficult, tough, complex, meaningful and meaningless. James Caviezel acted extremely well.
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Posted October 1, 2010
This is not a MOVIE. It is an artful well made film. Watch this film as a whole piece and then watch it again for its individual elements. This film has superb direction, editing, cinematography and music. The storyline does not follow a typical Hollywood plot, (thus eliciting the one star reviews from some viewers who don't quite understand what they are watching). The fine acting from the ensemble cast is meant to be another element that blends with the rest of the film as a whole. If you are looking to treat your eyes, ears and head to a different kind of film experience, watch this one. If not, save yourself the trouble and get ''Saving Private Ryan.''
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted October 1, 2010
There's two types of reviews every time I check out customer reviews for The Thin Red Line. They're either a 5(highest grade) or a 1(lowest grade). I just can't get over it. It's so funny for me to see that everywhere I look. To talk about how I feel about the movie though, is to say I was one who appreciates it, and loves it for being made at a time where quality has somehow left motion pictures, seeking instead visual effects, or whatever the pop culture wants to see. The people who don't like it, are almost usually simple in their taste, or closed minded to begin with. Meaning, they are not willing to accept something that tries to play differently from the average film that they watch on a weekend. The Thin Red Line is not a movie you just randomly select to pass the time. Anyone who just wants to pass the time, should stay as far away from this movie as possible. This film talks about very deep subjects, and involves poetry and emotion unlike any other film ever made. It has outstanding acting by an ensemble cast, which isn't meant to glorify the actors, but just to contribute to the ideas and emotions this movie trys to convey. The directing is suberb, and the cinematography is the best I've ever seen. The people that hate this movie should honestly take the time to read the reviews of people who love it. They would be simply amazed at how much people are able pull out of The Thin Red Line. Their jaws would drop with all the messages, meanings, emotions, and other compliments that people are able to have about it. To put it simply, never before has a film evoked so much emotion and enthusiasm from people who love it or hate it. I think the intention of this film, was to show us something we've never seen before, and feel something we never really could. This is a beautiful movie, that is a masterpiece, and will remain one until the end of time. I just wish that some people will go to watch a movie, not cheering for blood and goar, or something deeply rich in plots and subplots or any other type of twisting and turning of a story, or anything at all to do with pop culture. I hope people will not bash great film-making, because it's too boring, or they would rather see things explode or jokes being told endlessly. If something that is good becomes ugly in your eyes, then it probably just went over your head, and you're too stubborn to realize that maybe your vision of a perfect movie, isn't the only vision that's out there.
0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted October 1, 2010
They tried to sell this movie by listing all the stars in it. But they only have one or two lines at best. Other than that the movie was absolutely sickening.. I had to fast forward through the second half.. and the only reason i did that was to catch the single line apperances of these stars. If you are looking for a war movie.. or a movie worth watching at all.. do NOT buy this film.
0 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
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Posted July 16, 2011
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Posted June 14, 2009
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Posted February 27, 2011
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Posted November 21, 2008
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Overview