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Why doesn't the Thin Red Line get more respect?

Posted on 2/10/18 at 7:24 am
Posted by Brazos
Member since Oct 2013
20362 posts
Posted on 2/10/18 at 7:24 am
I thought it was a great movie and watch it every time it comes on. Is it because it came out around the same time as Saving Private Ryan and people were expecting something similar?
Posted by Tiger Voodoo
Champs 03 07 09 11(fack) 19!!!
Member since Mar 2007
21788 posts
Posted on 2/10/18 at 7:42 am to
I was someone that preferred it to SPR, which I also loved, when it came out.


But time has exposed it as a pretty conflated jumble of characters and messages that don't all fully develop or make a lot of sense as a whole.

That's ok and each piece has a lot of merit in places and obviously it is a great visual experience with even plenty of good old fashioned battle scenes.

But the poetic voice overs can become a little tiresome and again don't always do the best job of reflecting what we are supposed to take from the scene it is narrating imo.


Still, I own it and still watch and enjoy it from time to time but not nearly as much as SPR which I watch once a year.


All of this is a very long winded Malick-ian way of saying it just hasn't aged as well as SPR.
This post was edited on 2/10/18 at 7:44 am
Posted by Bench McElroy
Member since Nov 2009
33968 posts
Posted on 2/10/18 at 8:30 am to
The Thin Red Line gets plenty of respect from directors and film critics. Martin Scorsese ranked it as the best film from the '90s. Christopher Nolan has The Thin Red Line ranked in his personal top 10 saying that he came up with the nonlinear plot from Memento after watching that film. You can clearly see of the work on Dunkirk as well. Fernando Meirelles (City of God) and Jean-Marc Vallee (Dallas Buyers Club, Big Little Lies) also have ranked in their personal top 10. There's a website called "They Shoot Pictures Don't They" that ranks the top 1000 films of all-time based on nearly 10000 lists from critics and filmmakers. The Thin Red Line ranks 196th all-time and is the third highest ranked English language film from the '90s only behind Goodfellas and Pulp Fiction. OTOH, Saving Private Ryan is ranked at #723 and was actually out of the top 1000 until their most recent update this year.
Posted by MTB
Houston
Member since Aug 2007
1423 posts
Posted on 2/10/18 at 12:17 pm to
The soundtrack definitely doesn’t get the props it deserves. It in of itself is a meditative piece of art.
Posted by RollTide1987
Augusta, GA
Member since Nov 2009
65147 posts
Posted on 2/10/18 at 12:35 pm to
Because it isn't that great of a movie.

Honestly, I think it's one of the most overhyped films to be released in the last 25 years. I really don't get the intense love this film's fans have for it. But to each their own I guess.
Posted by Muthsera
Member since Jun 2017
7319 posts
Posted on 2/10/18 at 12:53 pm to
Malik makes fundamentally different kinds of movies that most audiences simply aren't prepared for.

Audiences, by and large, want to be engaged. I don't mean that in a critical or derisive way; I mean, they like movies where the writer/director/actor is expressing themselves, where they are having a conversation with the audience. We are accustomed to films projecting their ideas out to us.

Malik's films simply don't do that. I always describe them as him having a conversation with himself. You enjoy them when your attention and internal thoughts are aligned with his. If you aren't asking yourself the same questions he is at the same moment of the movie that he is, then you will get pissed off or bored to tears.

I was blown away by The Thin Red Line, then doubly so by The Tree of Life.
Posted by Big Scrub TX
Member since Dec 2013
33629 posts
Posted on 2/10/18 at 4:15 pm to
quote:

Why doesn't the Thin Red Line get more respect?
Because it's terrible and pretentious and Malick is horribly overrated.

The poetry/narration that was read over some of the flashback scenes of the guy's wife on the swing were just embarrassing. It was as if some lovesick middle-schooler had written them.
Posted by Celery
Nuevo York
Member since Nov 2010
11103 posts
Posted on 2/10/18 at 4:55 pm to
quote:

because it came out around the same time as Saving Private Ryan and people were expecting something similar?


This was my experience as a dumb movie-going teenager. Took some growing up for me to realize that it’s an equally good film, just meditative, introspective and not so formulaic. Both great films.
This post was edited on 2/10/18 at 4:59 pm
Posted by Frac the world
The Centennial State
Member since Oct 2014
16945 posts
Posted on 2/10/18 at 5:58 pm to
It’s a classic case of disconnect between critics and the American public. I don’t give a frick if the critics rank it higher than SPR, Thin Red Line is shite compared to it in my mind. I always thought the characters were miscast and the narration is gay. Malick’s arrogant holier than thou filming style can get fricked.
Posted by TigersFan64
Baton Rouge, LA
Member since Oct 2014
4755 posts
Posted on 2/10/18 at 8:10 pm to
I love The Thin Red Line. I think it's a great film. I have friends who have told me they hated it, but I have the impression they just didn't get it. It's a rather deep movie, but I found the realism and the non-glorification of war appealing. I love the scene when Nick Nolte's character, Lt. Col. Tall interacts with John Cusack's after they've driven the Japanese from the hilltop positions. It was very well-acted and directed. Great film.
Posted by DaBeerz
Member since Sep 2004
17002 posts
Posted on 2/10/18 at 11:22 pm to
BEcause we all fell asleep during it
Posted by touchdownjeebus
Member since Sep 2010
24840 posts
Posted on 2/10/18 at 11:24 pm to
It is probably a top 50 film of all time. There isn’t much it doesn’t do really well, and many things flawlessly.

quote:

It’s more of a meditation on war, man,and nature than a traditional plot .


This! The pacing in TRL is absolutely amazing.
This post was edited on 2/10/18 at 11:28 pm
Posted by TaTa Toothy
Everything in its right place
Member since Sep 2017
944 posts
Posted on 2/11/18 at 1:15 am to
Half the movie is a monologue to God.
Posted by memphis tiger
Memphis, TN
Member since Feb 2006
20720 posts
Posted on 2/11/18 at 7:50 am to
Hated it

Beautifully shot but overall boring without a coherent plot.
Posted by brmark70816
Atlanta, GA
Member since Feb 2011
9833 posts
Posted on 2/11/18 at 10:49 am to
This was the worst movie I have ever seen in a movie theater. Maybe you need to be stoned to appreciate it, but it was so slow and dragged on and on. It was beautifully shot, I'll give it that. But just an awful experience. Only other movie that comes close to it was the Fountain. My parents actually walked out, went shopping and came back to get me, cause I fell asleep during the movie..
Posted by TaTa Toothy
Everything in its right place
Member since Sep 2017
944 posts
Posted on 2/12/18 at 6:00 am to
Its Malick's best film with Badlands a close second. His films aren't for the masses.
Posted by ChewyDante
Member since Jan 2007
16927 posts
Posted on 2/12/18 at 9:34 am to
It's an existential, contemplative, poetic/artsy style film with a very non-traditional story structure. Dialogue is generally minimal while the film relies on inner musings and somber music (Hans Zimmer's best work imo) to carry most of the film's mood. It's 3 hours long, generally slow paced, and isn't the war movie most people expect when going into it. It's not a "fun" movie to watch.

That being said, if I had to pick a single favorite movie, The Thin Red Line is probably it. In an age where they make 10 Fast and the Furious and Transformers movies and every one of them is a commercial success, I wouldn't expect The Thin Red Line to be anything other than shitted on by general audiences, but I do understand that it's not everyone's cup of tea.



Posted by sicboy
Because Awesome
Member since Nov 2010
77649 posts
Posted on 2/12/18 at 9:37 am to
This might have already been stated, but for me, it came out too close to Saving Private Ryan and I wasn't prepared for what that was.


Also, I saw a late showing, wasn't feeling well, and had to catch a flight early the next morning. I wasn't set up to enjoy that movie at all.
Posted by VOR
Member since Apr 2009
63666 posts
Posted on 2/12/18 at 9:52 am to
I thought it was a fine movie, although maybe not for every taste.
Posted by Cooter Davenport
Austin, TX
Member since Apr 2012
9006 posts
Posted on 2/13/18 at 5:00 pm to
It’s in my top 5.
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