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Sure as an ex vet thought it was a real depiction of the horror of war, I thought: an homage to the men that gave all for freedom and their bravery (more than mine) I know it was a Hollywood take, but THE MOST important point was kids and citizens, thrust into an an futile existance without control of survival, did duty, in spades, displayed the american spirit, contrary and hatred of leader's, but walked on, with trigger's melded on trigger.. onward to death, we are here, we are now, we say goodbye in a blaze of glory, such as it was, such as it will forever be,,,,,,,,,,,,,,but I pray and wish not.
When scientists first saw it, they refused to believe their eyes. They thought it was a hoax, bits and pieces of other beings crudely sewn together. But it’s no hoax; it’s a platypus. A dark figure approaches on the horizon. Is it an enemy soldier, or just a native looking for coconuts? A red line across a green leaf. Is it a splash of paint or a streak of blood? Supposedly, there is a thin red line between peace and war, order and chaos. One can easily traverse it and be in a totally different world. It’s like walking out of Plato’s dark cave into the sunlight, or doubting everything that exists and realizing, like Descartes, that the mind is all that exists, or engaging in a Husserlian epoché, liberating consciousness and reducing the world to pure phenomena. This ability to transcend the natural attitude and see the “pure” world is exploited in the character Private Witt, who confronts his sergeant with “I’m twice the man you are.” Shades of Nietzsche here. Why all the philosophical implications? Terrence Malick’s academic aspirations were in philosophy (Harvard; Oxford) but a disagreement about his dissertation on Kierkegaard and Heidegger put him on a different track, i.e., filmmaking. In Hollywood he got his “doctorate” and then some, but are his movies really philosophy, least of all, phenomenology? For moviegoers who like visuals (not necessarily special effects), Thin Red Line is attractive. It keeps you interested. Many reviewers criticize it for being boring, the flashbacks to sexual moments, the close-ups of tropical flora, picturesque landscapes, etc. Appealing to artists, poets, and philosophers, maybe, but not the average moviegoer. Take for instance Hubert Dreyfus’ YouTube lectures on Heidegger’s Being and Time. Lecture 1 has over 2500 views, but lecture 28 has only 35 views. And Dreyfus has to be the most popular philosophy professor in the United States. I mean, Berkeley professor and famous artificial intelligence critic. Malick even invited him to the set of Thin Red Line, yet his appeal is minimal. The Battle of Guadalcanal is more correctly called the Guadalcanal Campaign, since there were several battles conducted between August 1942 and February 1943, land, sea, and air. Malick must have researched the history of this and there were several interesting battles to choose from, but unfortunately he chose the story of the novel The Thin Red Line by James Jones. Apparently, he figured the novel’s realism coming from Jones’ combat experiences in the campaign were more easily adaptable than the historical or military accounts. But is it realistic? The landing of a battalion of Marines on a beach is dramatic and a lot of details were carefully worked out, except for one thing. The sand on the beach had thousands of footprints on it, obvious traces of many rehearsals. A marine grabs a grenade by the pin and the grenade falls to the ground. It explodes, he falls to the ground and says something stupid about not remembering how grenades work and “Blows my ass…blows my foot off!” I’m not sure of the firepower of grenades used in WWII, but if they were as powerful as those used in Vietnam, the explosion would have blown his whole body away, buddies included. The assault is up a grassy hill yet the incoming enemy artillery is immediate. There is an enemy bunker complex at the top of the hill supposedly armed with machine guns, but the marines are bombarded with artillery from nowhere. The only heavy weapon capRead full review
I grew up where that movie was filmed I saw the history there, this paints a great picture of war, as i am currently serving. The photography was great and the expression of freedom in it or add lib camera work. If you like this film you would like The New World. this had local music, on it and was suprised since the composser was hans zimmerman. So many good actors and from the point of giving up life to better the future and to protect those you care about and the whole idea of even having personal issues involved is a great question. How news of losing a love one, back home could effect how you are so far from home. I recomend this film
Excellent movie! Plenty of action, & and great cast.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
Movie was better than the reviews I read!
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New
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