Best War Movies: 3. The Thin Red Line

08-10-2008 12:21

The Thin Red Line was director Terrence Malick's return to filmmaking after a twenty year absence which told a fictional story during the Second World War.

The film, which has made it to number three on our countdown, brought together an impressive ensemble cast including Sean Penn, Jim Caviezel, Elias Koteas and Nick Nolte as well as interesting cameos from George Clooney and John Travolta.

A World War II tale which focuses on a squad of American troops battling against the Japanese during the hellish battle of Guadalcanal Island.

Witt has gone AWOL and considers the contrast between the peace of the islanders and the chaos brought by war. Meanwhile, the troops are led by two men: Tall, who is eager for the danger of battle, and Staros, who is more concerned with protecting his men.

As they fight over strategy, the men have different reactions to the war: Bell thinks only of his wife, Gaff is intelligent but no more able to deal with war than the bullish Doll.

As they attack a Japanese stronghold, the randomness of life and death in wartime is made clear.

While the film does feature many battle scenes that you would expect to find in any war movie there is something profoundly different about The Thin Red Line that does set it apart from other movies in the genre.