Blatantly OT topic - Thin Red Line

[JohnK]

It was a bad movie with some nice cinematography. Could have been great.

The people that unaccountably like it inevitably assume that everyone that doesn't like it are morons who only like Rambo movies. What a crock.

It also didn't bear the slightest resemblance to the book in tone or theme. There was NOTHING in James Jone's book dealing with war violating nature, etc.

In the book the Witt character is a racist brawling redneck, not some gentle introspective faith healer.

A sign of a terrible screenplay is having it filled with internal dialogue. Practically the whole movie was people prattling away inside their heads, in a manner which I find highly unrealistic for soldiers of this generation, particularly in that situation. The book is utterly different in this regard. In the book people are concerned with staying alive, not deep philosophy.

And frankly, there were SO many shots of parrots in trees I was laughing at them after a while. And the crippled baby bird crawling along? Give me a break. Talk about hitting your audience of the head with a hammer.

[Brady]

I found the TTRL to be a good war move, as war movies go, particulary for a war Movie dating from the past 10 years or so, thier as ben so much crap made in the past few years it stands out as one of the better, their were certain aspects that were as noted above over done imo, but on the whole it was and is one of the better War Moves ever made.

[fbastos]

The people that unaccountably like it inevitably assume that everyone that doesn't like it are morons who only like Rambo movies. What a crock.

I hope I didn't offend anyone; I just said that people wouldn't like it because it is an intellectual movie. I usually don't like brainy movies myself, like intelectuallesque romances... blearch... ... Woody Allen... glurch... ... Fasbinder... kluuuuuuuuuuarch...

Thin Red Line unexpectedly got on my good side.

F.

[String]

teeeheee... seems like it's true as someone in the beginning of the thread said, you either love it or hate it. But i think only one of you has really answered my question... i take it that the answer was then the all exhaustive and right one? [:D]

[von Murrin]

To answer your question, it is hit and miss. The uniforms are good, the weapons are good, the effects are good, and the acting is, for the most part, quite solid. The scenery is phenomenal, though I'd expect nothing less for having been shot more or less on location.

It does contain some tremendously stunning scenes, such as the initial attack into the kunai grass.

What tends to turn people off is the pseudo-philosophical and pretentious monologue. Had there been another two hours or so to fill out the characters and let us watch them do ordinary things, it could've been very good.

[testarossa]

ORIGINAL: von Murrin
What tends to turn people off is the pseudo-philosophical and pretentious monologue. Had there been another two hours or so to fill out the characters and let us watch them do ordinary things, it could've been very good.

You nailed it. Same here.

ORIGINAL: Gen.Hoepner
..with the FX of PH or Enemy at the gates...

Two of the worst war movies ever. Biggest pile of bu11shit.
Enemy at the gates even more nausiating than PH.

One of my favorites is "When Trumpets Fade" - in some aspects it is even better than SPR.
aka Hamburger Hill 2 (Australia)

[von Murrin]

I think one thing Hollywood fails to understand is the importance of activity. How do certain characters interact? Do they have a daily routine? What do they do when it is disturbed? Look at Castaway. It isn't the greatest film, but watching Hanks' character establish himself on the island is endlessly fascinating and is only ruined by the ball. His character is interesting by virtue of what he does, not what he says. The Thin Red Line is surprisingly well disposed to such an approach, yet it is barely attempted on just several occasions. The characters spend quite a bit of time doing nothing, and I think the monologue could've been quite profitably dropped in exchange for an opportunity to watch them do anything. No dialogue, just simple activities. Das Boot does this to spectacular effect. Half the movie is ordinary routine, not combat or some poorly attempted effort to moralize about man's bestial nature.

Oh, the only way Enemy at the Gates could be worse than Pearl Harbor would be to have the Russians crossing the Volga in hovercraft. The tramp coal barge carrying the camera would be excepted, of course.[:D]

Oh lord, my spelling is attrocious. I need sleep.[8|]

[Gen.Hoepner]

ORIGINAL: testarossa

[

ORIGINAL: Gen.Hoepner
..with the FX of PH or Enemy at the gates...

Two of the worst war movies ever. Biggest pile of bu11shit.
Enemy at the gates even more nausiating than PH.

One of my favorites is "When Trumpets Fade" - in some aspects it is even better than SPR.
aka Hamburger Hill 2 (Australia)

No, prob i did not explain well my thoughts. I hate those two movies, but i LOVED the Computer Graphic effects of the beginning scenes of both of them. The view of the Volga with Stukas passing by was awesome....then when i saw germans hanging childs and russians being so sweet and cool i understood it was not the right movie for me.

[EUBanana]

ORIGINAL: Gen.Hoepner

I hate that movie. Really 3 hours of Psycological analysis and philosophy were not what i expected from a pacific war movie. I wanted the realism of Private Ryan or BoB with the dark atmosphere of Das Boot in the landscape of Guadalcanal.... with the FX of PH or Enemy at the gates...

Das Boot, surely the best war movie (well, TV series) of all time.

I really felt sorry for those guys by the end.

[EUBanana]

ORIGINAL: fbastos

By the way, what is the thin red line the title refers? I don't remember any phrase in the movie explaining that.

I always thought the thin red line was the redcoats who didnt break at Waterloo, but how that gets linked with Guadalcanal I'm not sure. [;)]

[worr]

ORIGINAL: jnier

I suspect some still believe the movie to be inaccurate, because the characters are too thoughtful & philosphical,

A good summary...but too thoughtful? Yea, there is a lot of introspection going on which drags the film. But the more bothersome thing was the axe griding you could hear from the director's chair.

Why do a anti-war film, or a pro-war film? Why not just do a war film? Because it is such an interesting chunk of history....with its own introspection.

Worr, out

[worr]

ORIGINAL: byron13

No doubt the cinematography was striking, but the supposed moral dilemmas were conveyed a little too heavy-handed. Nolte's character was too overdone and I remember the advance through the village and all of the shots of the dead and dying was just . . . well . . . heavy-handed. I didn't get the "gosh, isn't war awful" feeling that I think I was supposed to. Instead I got the "gimmee a break/when does this movie end" feeling I wasn't supposed to get. Just too artsy-fartsy for my taste. If I remember, there were like three endings to the movie: the movie would clearly end and then UGH! another ten minutes until another obvious ending and then UGH! still more.

Well said, byron13.

For me the most overdone part was the shots of the IJA prisoners groaning, crying, and looking depressed. I got that with the first camera pan. Six minute later your'll still watching the camera pan. Why?

Worr, out

[jnier]

ORIGINAL: EUBanana

ORIGINAL: fbastos

By the way, what is the thin red line the title refers? I don't remember any phrase in the movie explaining that.

I always thought the thin red line was the redcoats who didnt break at Waterloo, but how that gets linked with Guadalcanal I'm not sure. [;)]

Thin Red Line refers to a part of the campaign that was fought on Exton and Sims Ridges. And I think the machine gun nest in the film was supposedly the real life machine gun emplacement on Sims Ridge (does the book say this? it's been a while since I've read it). Here is an excellent website that compares the terrain the shown in the film and the actual terrain:

http://www.pacificwrecks.com/people/vis ... /sims.html

The author of the site doesn't think too highly of the movie, because very little of the film was actually shot on Guadalcanal (was mostly shot in OZ according to the website). But IMHO, I think there is a pretty strong similarity between the actual site and the site used in the movie.

[tonyingesson]

One thing I truly liked in The Thin Red Line was that fear was almost always present. Numbing, total, horrifying fear. Most war movies miss that part or under-emphasise it. That, and mental strain of combat; people who act utterly insane or simply break down and cry. If you've read Walter Lord's excellent Day of Infamy, for example, you will find plenty of examples of people who act utterly bizarre or are so struck by fear that they only try to hide, even in unsafe places. I remember the example of the officer standing on the lawn, firing his pistol at the planes while the tears were streaming down his face. Or the people fighting for the best hiding places. Or the mother who prepared to kill herself and her children out of fear for a Japanese invasion. Or the gunners who were so worked up that they forgot to put on fuzes on their AA shells. These are things at least I rarely see in ordinary war movies.

[sprior]

ORIGINAL: EUBanana

ORIGINAL: fbastos

By the way, what is the thin red line the title refers? I don't remember any phrase in the movie explaining that.

I always thought the thin red line was the redcoats who didnt break at Waterloo, but how that gets linked with Guadalcanal I'm not sure. [;)]

The Original Thin Red Line was the Argylls in the Crimean War. Have a look here:

http://www.argylls.co.uk/93bala.html

I have no idea how this moves to Guadalcanal except as a parallel of a thin line holding back superior forces.

[tsimmonds]

ORIGINAL: sprior

ORIGINAL: EUBanana

ORIGINAL: fbastos

By the way, what is the thin red line the title refers? I don't remember any phrase in the movie explaining that.

I always thought the thin red line was the redcoats who didnt break at Waterloo, but how that gets linked with Guadalcanal I'm not sure. [;)]

The Original Thin Red Line was the Argylls in the Crimean War. Have a look here:

http://www.argylls.co.uk/93bala.html

I have no idea how this moves to Guadalcanal except as a parallel of a thin line holding back superior forces.

"There's only a thin red line between the sane and the mad." From the book and the original movie, not in this remake.

[Ron Saueracker]

I thought the movie was lame and yet another example of producers making movies according to their knee jerk reactions based on what others are doing. SPRyan started the deluge of moral dilemma war movies. Worst case are the chop suey martial art crap movies and the constant remake fetish. I hate the industry right now....completely vacuous.

[jnier]

ORIGINAL: Ron Saueracker

I thought the movie was lame and yet another example of producers making movies according to their knee jerk reactions based on what others are doing. SPRyan started the deluge of moral dilemma war movies. Worst case are the chop suey martial art crap movies and the constant remake fetish. I hate the industry right now....completely vacuous.

Thin Red Line had been in production for years before Saving Private Ryan came out. It had long been the director's pet project. So it was not an attempt to copy Saving Private Ryan. It was a coincidence that they were released in the same year. Granted that copycat movies are very common and it is an annoying trend, but this is not a good example of it.

[Ron Saueracker]

ORIGINAL: jnier

ORIGINAL: Ron Saueracker

I thought the movie was lame and yet another example of producers making movies according to their knee jerk reactions based on what others are doing. SPRyan started the deluge of moral dilemma war movies. Worst case are the chop suey martial art crap movies and the constant remake fetish. I hate the industry right now....completely vacuous.

Thin Red Line had been in production for years before Saving Private Ryan came out. It had long been the director's pet project. So it was not an attempt to copy Saving Private Ryan. It was a coincidence that they were released in the same year. Granted that copycat movies are very common and it is an annoying trend, but this is not a good example of it.

Well someone started it and it sucks.[:D] As if Alan Alda was secretly behind the trend.[8|]

[BlackVoid]

Thin Red Line - I could not watch it all the way.
- It is boring.
- Too sentimental.

Saving Private Ryan is much better.

95% percent of war movies are a big disappointment including TRL. Other examples of crappy films: Pearl Harbor, Enemy at the Gates. Its a long list.

There are few non-Us war films, but those are much better. Das Boat and Stalingrad for example.