Thin Red Line, The (UK)

9 / 10
5 votes cast
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Every man fights his own war
Certificate: 15
Running Time: 164 mins
Retail Price: £19.99
Release Date:

Synopsis:
A powerful front line cast, including Sean Penn, Nick Nolte, Woody Harrelson and George Clooney, explodes into action in this hauntingly realistic view of military and moral chaos in the Pacific during World War II.

Nominated for seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director (Terrence Malick), The Thin Red Line is an unparalleled cinematic masterpiece.

Special Features:
Interactive Menus
Scene Access
Original Theatrical trailer
Melanesian Songs

Video Tracks:
Widescreen Anamorphic 2.35:1

Audio Tracks:
Dolby Digital 5.1 English

Subtitle Tracks:
Hebrew
Icelandic
Polish
Czech
Swedish
Finnish
CC: English
Portuguese
Hungarian
Danish
Norwegian

Directed By:
Terrence Malick

Written By:


Starring:
John Travolta
Nick Nolte
Woody Harrelson
John Cusack
George Clooney
Ben Chaplin
James Caviezel
Adrien Brody
Sean Penn

Casting By:
Dianne Crittenden

Soundtrack By:
Hans Zimmer

Director of Photography:
John Toll

Editor:
Billy Weber
Saar Klein
Leslie Jones

Costume Designer:
Margot Wilson

Production Designer:
Jack Fisk

Producer:
Michael Stevens
John Roberdeau
Sheila Davis Lawrence
Grant Hill
Robert Michael Geisler

Executive Producer:
George Stevens Jr.

Distributor:
Twentieth Century Fox

Your Opinions and Comments

8 / 10
This movie is an odd one.
While totally dedicated to proving just what war does to a person`s soul and mind, the almost too hallucinated way of approaching the subject slows the movie down a lot.
Visually stunning, the director`s idea of using a dialog overlay and cutting to serene, natural pictures of wild life starts backfiring at a certain stage. The movie`s pace is slow as it is (and should be), but the spoken thoughts of the characters stop contributing to the story after about an hour or so.
Apart from 3-4 scratches, the transfer is very good. The visuals of the jungles, islands and oceans all look very natural and not over saturated in color.
The DD 5.1 soundtrack is very powerful. The move from a 100 DB scene where bullets are fired in all directions to a 30 DB wildlife scene is crystal clear and crisp.
Unfortunately, the movie has no extra features other than a bizarre collection of Melanesian songs, which are not that interesting to begin with.
Notice George Clooney - it does not get any more embarrassing than this.
Bottom line - good movie, despite its too artistic approach.
posted by Zvi Josef on 24/7/2000 17:10
9 / 10
dvd
posted by ad6 on 29/7/2000 19:45
9 / 10
It has to be said, this film is slow in places and probably could be half an hour shorter without affecting the story. So you have to be in the right mood to watch it (consequently, it`s one of those films you either love or hate).

Personally, I think it`s a minor classic. The direction is superb, the battle scenes impressive and the acting`s pretty good too...

The picture is the best I`ve seen on DVD. The scenery is breathtaking and the colours are wonderful and sharp (a definate demo disc).

The sound is also very good. Lots of bangs & explosions to show off your surround sound, plus lots of subtler noises like birds singing and the wind whistling.

In summary, an excellent demo disc and a very good film. But you might want to rent it, before you buy (as it won`t be to everybody`s taste).
posted by I. Merriman on 24/8/2000 21:54
10 / 10
Great Print of the best film of 1998
posted by Richard73 on 23/1/2001 18:08