The Thin Red Line

[bj229r]

Originally posted by Pooh21
for all its inaccuracies and fancies I still like "Enemy at the Gates" a "Band of Brothers" type series set on the Eastern Front would rock hardcore.

as for Thin Red Line. it bit very much so.


As for SPR they didnt even get the MG-42 sound right.

Enemy at the Gates, the movie, failed miserably to capture the book. They turned the movie in to a @#$@#$ love story, which is typical, I suppose

[john9001]

war movie= all quiet on the western front.


i always thought the "thin red line" referred to the British army during the empire period when the British soldier wore a red coat.

[AquaShrimp]

The Thin Red Line is a philosophers view of the war.  I could actually really relate to the main character.  What is this great evil that causes men to kill each other?  Especially when it was set in such a beautiful and serene place as an island in the South Pacific.

The Thin Red Line can be thought of as a motive that shows the emotional motives behind the men in war.  Saving Private Ryan leaves much of that out and focuses more on the actions.

The three scenes in TRL that I like the most are : When the U.S. soldier kills his first japanese, when they assault the machine gun nest, and when they overrun the Japanese base camp.  The emotion portrayed in those scenes is very interesting.

[Shaky]

Originally posted by FrodeMk3
Apart from a couple of old John Wayne films' that I can't even name off of the top of my head, It seems' nobody touches on the subject of the fall of the phillipines.

"They Were Expendable"
"Back To Bataan"

Did I miss any?

[Tac]

TRL is a good movie.

IMO the problem is today's audience is more interested in special effects and gore than the story of the movie.

[Rich46yo]

The Thin Red line was a classic. It does however suffer from being a bit to cerebral and many of the simpleminded simply dont get it. Which is probably why we get some many crap movies out of Hollywood.

                      The TRL wasnt exactly a war movie. It was a study about good an evil in men and the utter hopelessness of the individual in society.

                         "War doesnt en-noble men". "It turns them into dogs".

[texasmom]

Originally posted by bj229r
Enemy at the Gates, the movie, failed miserably to capture the book. They turned the movie in to a @#$@#$ love story, which is typical, I suppose

I haven't read the book; I may consider doing that though. I didn't think it was a love story ~ happened to be a love interest in the story, but I that's never what I pictured it as being...

[JB88]

Originally posted by AquaShrimp
The Thin Red Line is a philosophers view of the war.  I could actually really relate to the main character.  What is this great evil that causes men to kill each other?  Especially when it was set in such a beautiful and serene place as an island in the South Pacific.

The Thin Red Line can be thought of as a motive that shows the emotional motives behind the men in war.  Saving Private Ryan leaves much of that out and focuses more on the actions.

The three scenes in TRL that I like the most are : When the U.S. soldier kills his first japanese, when they assault the machine gun nest, and when they overrun the Japanese base camp.  The emotion portrayed in those scenes is very interesting.

agreed.

[Vulcan]

*cough* when trumpets fade *cough*

[Patches1]

Then See Both TRL Films....Read the Book...compare...films vs book...
and you will begin to see that TRL is an Anti-War film, as are,  All Quiet On the Western Front,  and,  Johnny Got His Gun.

I agree with Vulcan here....

When Trumpets Fade is another sleeper...not well known, that is...but a film worth seeing.

This thread is showing generations of educational, and experiential differences. I wonder what kind of a conversation might take place between Erik Remarque, Dalton Trumbo, and James Jones, if they were able to respond to this thread.

[Ripsnort]

Originally posted by lasersailor184
Thin Red Line: Almost as bad as Saving Private Ryan.

SPR won oscars for  Best Cinematography,Best Director,Best Effects, Sound Effects Editing,Best Film Editing and Best Sound.

Hardly a bad film.
 

[Neubob]

Originally posted by Ripsnort
SPR won oscars for  Best Cinematography,Best Director,Best Effects, Sound Effects Editing,Best Film Editing and Best Sound.

Hardly a bad film.
 

Those are all technical awards, and technically speaking, it was well made. It says nothing of how  captivating the story was, or how sympathetic the characters.

Even if you believe in the validity of the academy awards, the fact that this flick was boring, slow, pretentious, patronizing and disjointed is not refuted by these accolades.

[Arlo]

Originally posted by Neubob
Even if you believe in the validity of the academy awards, the fact that this flick was boring, slow, pretentious, patronizing and disjointed is not refuted by these accolades.

It's merely refuted by the majority of posters in this thread. Everyone's opinions count. One at a time.

[storch]

a midnight clear

trumbo was a communist

james jones actually served in combat was wounded and decorated.  he still comes across as bit to left leaning though I know nothing much of him but his writing, his novels.

as for remarque,  hitler was correct in banning his writings.  he married some actress and was the long time darling of the hollywood set, likely a communist

[Neubob]

I didn't take a poll of the opinions, Arlo, and if I failed to include that the above statement is just my opinion, and not fact, then I'll own up to that mistake. All opinions on movies are simply that--opinions.

I'm a fan of war movies from all eras. All Quiet on the Western Front remains in my mind as the one of the most, if not THE most haunting war movie of all time. Having read the book before seeing the movie may have helped to retain my then teenaged attention, but it was still an unerringly human and sympathetic look at hell. Stalingrad is another that sticks out.

Thin Red Line just pissed me off. Perhaps because it came on the heels of Saving Private Ryan, and I was expecting something else, but it just never made me care about the characters.  To me, that's failure.