The Thin Red Line's review wanted please.
01-17-01 | 09:43 AM
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From: Right now, my location is DVDTalk, but then again, you should already know that, shouldn't you?
The pace of GONE WITH THE WIND played in slow-mo.
The incomprehensibility of some of David Lynch's most off-the-wall works, without any of the fun and intrigue.
The cloying pretentiousness of Oliver Stone.
Director Malick suffers from the sad belief that his film is saying something profound, when it comes off like a poet waxing philosophic about matters he knows nothing about.
There is lovely cinematography, but the same was (in my opinion) the only real saving grace of THE ENGLISH PATIENT, another bloated, over-long, piece of filmed poetry fluff.
It's definitely a film many people have gotten a great deal out of, making claims that it is a better film than SAVING PRIVATE RYAN (a claim that, frankly, makes my head reel) and may just be the greatest war film ever made. These people probably feel towards my comments on TTRL the same way I feel when people complain similarly about my favorite film, 2001 (overlong, slow, pretentious, etc.), but I just found very, very little of worth in this excrutiating tale of soldiers with blue-collar dialogue and Shakespearean inner thoughts. I think ultimately, everyone needs to see it for him/herself and make up their own minds. The opinions on this one are just too divided to do anything less.
[This message has been edited by Filmmaker (edited January 17, 2001).]
The incomprehensibility of some of David Lynch's most off-the-wall works, without any of the fun and intrigue.
The cloying pretentiousness of Oliver Stone.
Director Malick suffers from the sad belief that his film is saying something profound, when it comes off like a poet waxing philosophic about matters he knows nothing about.
There is lovely cinematography, but the same was (in my opinion) the only real saving grace of THE ENGLISH PATIENT, another bloated, over-long, piece of filmed poetry fluff.
It's definitely a film many people have gotten a great deal out of, making claims that it is a better film than SAVING PRIVATE RYAN (a claim that, frankly, makes my head reel) and may just be the greatest war film ever made. These people probably feel towards my comments on TTRL the same way I feel when people complain similarly about my favorite film, 2001 (overlong, slow, pretentious, etc.), but I just found very, very little of worth in this excrutiating tale of soldiers with blue-collar dialogue and Shakespearean inner thoughts. I think ultimately, everyone needs to see it for him/herself and make up their own minds. The opinions on this one are just too divided to do anything less.
[This message has been edited by Filmmaker (edited January 17, 2001).]
01-17-01 | 09:46 AM
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DVD Talk Ultimate Edition
Not really a review, just comments:
IMO, The Thin Red Line is the most beautiful war film ever made, both visually and thematically. It is a magnificent epic that shows the war in a very poetic way. It can not be considered "entertainment", but rather a sort of meditation on the effects of war on nature and the human spirit.
The cinematography and Hans Zimmer's score are absolutely first rate. Plus, it has an all-star cast (although some of the roles are considered merely cameo appearances). Terrence Malick is a genius who should make more films.
In short, I loved the film. I still think Apocalypse Now is the best war film ever made, but TTR is the one I would consider a work of art.
IMO, The Thin Red Line is the most beautiful war film ever made, both visually and thematically. It is a magnificent epic that shows the war in a very poetic way. It can not be considered "entertainment", but rather a sort of meditation on the effects of war on nature and the human spirit.
The cinematography and Hans Zimmer's score are absolutely first rate. Plus, it has an all-star cast (although some of the roles are considered merely cameo appearances). Terrence Malick is a genius who should make more films.
In short, I loved the film. I still think Apocalypse Now is the best war film ever made, but TTR is the one I would consider a work of art.
01-17-01 | 10:42 AM
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From: Philadelphia, PA
I agree with a lot of what Filmmaker said, but still think it is a better film than Saving Private Ryan (Spielberg just doesn't do it for me). The Thin Red Line is just really damn beautiful. It does suffer from any serious character development, and as with most war movies, is crippled by dealing with too many characters and not letting the viewer really get attached with any of them. So, I didn't get upset when anyone died, but I don't think that was the point of this film. Not that I'm sure what the point really was, but the way this film hovers above and around the characters without actually dealing with anyone of them, does make it very dream-like, another reason the film is very lyrical and beautiful.
Listen to what Martin Scorsese had to say about the film when he picked it as one of the top ten best films of the 1990s (#2 actually) on Ebert's show. Click on "Best/Worst" on the left hand column, then
scroll down to the third table, click on the
speaker icon nest to The Thin Red Line in Marty's column:
http://tvplex.go.com/BuenaVista/SiskelAndEbert/
Listen to what Martin Scorsese had to say about the film when he picked it as one of the top ten best films of the 1990s (#2 actually) on Ebert's show. Click on "Best/Worst" on the left hand column, then
scroll down to the third table, click on the
speaker icon nest to The Thin Red Line in Marty's column:
http://tvplex.go.com/BuenaVista/SiskelAndEbert/
01-17-01 | 12:23 PM
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From: Korova Milkbar
2001 happens to be my favorite film as well... And I'll tell you this... The Thin Red Line is a MUCH better film than Saving Private Ryan. Do not approach this film expecting a "war movie"...
You would probably get more input on this in the "reviews" forum. I'm sure a search there would yield a lot of info on TTRL and the TRL vs SPR debate.
You would probably get more input on this in the "reviews" forum. I'm sure a search there would yield a lot of info on TTRL and the TRL vs SPR debate.
01-17-01 | 12:26 PM
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From: Cincinnati, Ohio/Aguadilla, Puerto Rico
Was the first edition of TRL anamorphic? It does not indicate anamorphic on the back of my dvd case and I know they just released the newer edition in DTS/anamorphic. 
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01-17-01 | 12:37 PM
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From: Cincinnati, Ohio/Aguadilla, Puerto Rico
quote:<HR>Originally posted by Johnny Zhivago:
Yes, the first edition was anamorphic...
<HR>
Thanks....I wonder why they did not mention this on the case!!!??
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THE 13TH WARRIOR OF THE OTHER FORUM/CODE NAME: LYNCH/TEAM 7
Jules Winfield's Other Forum Brother......
http://www.dvdtracker.com/~djones6746.asp
"You know Andy...I never thought it would come to this....Mayberry....Gateway to danger."
Barney Fife
01-17-01 | 01:03 PM
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From: Mouthweathercity, IL.
Thin Red Line--war has never and never will be a beautiful thing, and after what I have witnessed as a medic in a special unit I do not say anything good about war. War is bloody, messy, and nasty. The beginning of Saving Private Ryan is as close as I have seen it in physical presence of war on fiction film. Just imagine what a bullet that is so light that when it hits its aimed surface it begin to tremble in turbulence. It spins around in your body and to not exit in a straight pattern through the body since the bone, flesh and blood is much thicker than air. I have seen guys who have been shot in their backs and had their genitals partially torn away. A guy who was shot in the right arm and the bullet exiting out of the stomach together with particially torn intestins and there they lay and scream in agony, while I try to piece the poor man back together. You quickly learn that morphine becomes your best friend, since it relieves the painful screaming of the bullets victim. A screaming that his friends can hear that rapidly lowers morale among the soldiers in the unit, which also increases the chances of another man getting shot. Yes, this is what war is in real life. However, Thin Red Line portrays war in a very personal way, because war is slow. You always have to be silent so you do not give away your position and then you have to wait, walk, eat, take a crap, and then when you least expect it "BANG!". So when you are silent you have a lot of time to think, I mean really thinking about things in life that you value and miss the most. You can say war becomes a psychological war against yourself. Thin Red Line depicts this with honesty, and how it really is in a war. You are there with others, but you are lost in your thoughts almost all the time. This means a lot of anxiety for each and every soldier. I did not meet one single man who was not anxious, but we did not talk about it. If you are not anxious in a war situation, then I say that you have lost your humanity, and a Thin Red Line is a triumphant salutation for struggling humanity. In short, Thin Red Line is a good, honest and personal movie that I could relate to as an individual. While Saving Private Ryan and other war movies gives us the good things that war might bring out in us. I hope you enjoy it and I hope you never ever have to see a war close up in your own thoughts. Take care.
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"A word is dead when it is said, some say; I say it just begins to live that day."
[This message has been edited by DVD Smurf (edited January 17, 2001).]
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"A word is dead when it is said, some say; I say it just begins to live that day."
[This message has been edited by DVD Smurf (edited January 17, 2001).]
01-17-01 | 08:54 PM
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quote:<HR>Originally posted by DVD Smurf:
Thin Red Line--war has never and never will be a beautiful thing, and after what I have witnessed as a medic in a special unit I do not say anything good about war. War is bloody, messy, and nasty. The beginning of Saving Private Ryan is as close as I have seen it in physical presence of war on fiction film. Just imagine what a bullet that is so light that when it hits its aimed surface it begin to tremble in turbulence. It spins around in your body and to not exit in a straight pattern through the body since the bone, flesh and blood is much thicker than air. I have seen guys who have been shot in their backs and had their genitals partially torn away. A guy who was shot in the right arm and the bullet exiting out of the stomach together with particially torn intestins and there they lay and scream in agony, while I try to piece the poor man back together. You quickly learn that morphine becomes your best friend, since it relieves the painful screaming of the bullets victim. A screaming that his friends can hear that rapidly lowers morale among the soldiers in the unit, which also increases the chances of another man getting shot. Yes, this is what war is in real life. However, Thin Red Line portrays war in a very personal way, because war is slow. You always have to be silent so you do not give away your position and then you have to wait, walk, eat, take a crap, and then when you least expect it "BANG!". So when you are silent you have a lot of time to think, I mean really thinking about things in life that you value and miss the most. You can say war becomes a psychological war against yourself. Thin Red Line depicts this with honesty, and how it really is in a war. You are there with others, but you are lost in your thoughts almost all the time. This means a lot of anxiety for each and every soldier. I did not meet one single man who was not anxious, but we did not talk about it. If you are not anxious in a war situation, then I say that you have lost your humanity, and a Thin Red Line is a triumphant salutation for struggling humanity. In short, Thin Red Line is a good, honest and personal movie that I could relate to as an individual. While Saving Private Ryan and other war movies gives us the good things that war might bring out in us. I hope you enjoy it and I hope you never ever have to see a war close up in your own thoughts. Take care.
<HR>
Thank you for the great insight. The "personal" of this film is the main reason other people I have talked to have really liked this film. You have inspired me to rewatch this film tonight.
01-17-01 | 08:58 PM
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quote:<HR>Originally posted by djones6746:
Thanks....I wonder why they did not mention this on the case!!!??
<HR>
MANY MANY MANY dvds are anamorphic and have no mention of it on the box. I actually went through all my dvds that have no mention of it one day and checked by telling my player i had a widescreen tv. i was surprised by how many i had. most are early fox and columbia-tristar titles. you can also check on the dvddetails on www.imdb.com
they are usually correct. i have only found one mistake about anamorphic or not on their site. they say that videodrome is anamorphic and my copy is definitely not.
