Review of The Thin Red Line (1998) by Victor T — 08 Mar 2015

By the late 90´s director Terrence Malick had only directed a couple of film that were gigantic critical successes, so when word spread out that he will direct his third feature film after a 20 year hiatus, a ton of talented actors demanded a role in it. The film met the extremely high expectations it had but it was overshadow by Spielberg´s "Saving Private Ryan". Was the long gap between films worth it? Is "The Thin Red Line" Malick´s ultimate masterpiece?

The film tells a fictionalized version of the Battle Guadalcanal during World War II.

Terrence Malick is one of those directors that are not for everybody thanks to his unique and peculiar style so I approached this film not knowing what to expect from a war film with said style and after three hours I have to say that the result was mixed. "The Thin Red Line" counts with a gigantic cast filled with quality actors and most of them deliver a solid performance with the little screen time given, with the best being Nick Nolte and Ben Chaplin; the locations are gorgeous, beautiful cinematography, Malick´s trademark themes are handle so well that they overshadow the story, intense battle sequences that keep you on the edge of your seat, a perfect use of dialog, an amazing score by Hans Zimmer, impressive and memorable visuals, the story is simple but works completely, Malick´s directing is mostly great by delivering his trademark complex surreal style, and it offers a thought provoking experience. But even with all those phenomenal elements, "The Thin Red Line" has numerous problems. The cast is so big and filled with recognizable and talented actors that when a one of them appears on screen for the first time it distracts you from the experience; the film´s pacing is uneven, Malick´s ambition and trademarks don't completely work in a World War II setting, despite the film´s long running time it feels that you just watched an incomplete film, and Malick directing is so unfocused on the story and characters that at times makes it hard to follow.

"The Thin Red Line" is a memorable film that is masterfully made but sadly it doesn't know where to focus on and it suffers from serious pacing issues. This is one of the most beautiful, realistic and memorable World War II films I ever seen. It is by no means Malick´s masterpiece but instead a beautiful and flawed film but in this case the strengths completely outweigh the weakness.