The Thin Red Line : 81 for 81

There's less sense of period here and more feeling for terrain than in any other World War II movie that comes to mind. Terrence Malick's strongest suits in his two previous features, Badlands (1973) and Days of Heaven (1978)--a painterly sense of composition and a bold and original use of offscreen narration--are enhanced here, first by a successful wedding of ecology and narrative (which never quite happened in Days of Heaven) and second by the notion of a collective hero, which permits the internal monologues of many characters in turn. I haven't read the James Jones novel this is based on, which some feel is his best, but Malick clearly is distancing the material philosophically and poetically, muting the drama periodically and turning it into reverie. This may have its occasional dull stretches, but in contrast to Saving Private Ryan it's the work of a grown-up with something to say about the meaning and consequences of war.

For me what The Thin Red Line does that is so powerful is that it allows you the time and space to really think about war and what it means.  So many war films are about glory and action, and while those are two things that go hand in hand with battle, Malick also looks at man's connection to the world and each other and thus gets to the heart of why we fight and what we lose when we do.  It's a hypnotic film full of great performances and was nominated for 7 Oscars® - although it didn't win any (Saving Private Ryan on the other hand won 5).

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