DIRECTOR: Terrence Malick
MPAA RATING: R
RUNNING TIME: 170 Minutes
STUDIO: 20th Century Fox
| The Thin Red Line (1998) |
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| CAST: Sean Penn, Nick Nolte, Elias Koteas, Ben Chaplin, Jim Caviezel
DIRECTOR: Terrence Malick MPAA RATING: R RUNNING TIME: 170 Minutes STUDIO: 20th Century Fox |
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Terrence Malick's nearly 3 hour long war epic is a step or 2, or 3 behind Steven Spielberg's masterpiece SAVING PRIVATE RYAN. For one thing, the movie starts off slow, very slow. It eventually picks up the momentum in a hurry when the first battle scene arises. SPR's opening scene is unforgettable. The story keeps a very steady pace after the first battle scene is done. It will keep your interest until the next battle begins. While THE THIN RED LINE's fight scenes are nicely strung together, they don't quite live up to the excitement and the horror of SPR's.
Malick does do an excellent job of direction. The movie could have been about 40 minutes shorter. There's way too much use of flashbacks. Malick succeeds greatly with his shots of the jungle. It's a great sight. It's not only the quiet shots that get high marks, but also the different kinds of animals you get to watch. It's really a treat. The last comparison between the two war giants is the cast. Plain and simple, SAVING PRIVATE RYAN's cast easily overmatches the cast from this film. In SPR, each character possessed different personalities and traits. The kinds that made you follow them during the film and the kinds that made sure you didn't forget about them. In this film, you forget them right after they say a line or two. Only 2 actors stand out. The aggressive Lt. Colonel played by Nick Nolte and the tentative Captain, Elias Koteas. Koteas gives the best performance. You begin to feel sorry for his character as the picture goes along. To even mention THE THIN RED LINE in the same breath as SAVING PRIVATE RYAN is irresponsible. This is a very good film, but it falls short of being great. LINE is dubbed as an art film rather than a war film. I have a problem with that. War is not art, it's pain and suffering. |
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