The Thin Red Line (1998)
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A philosophical portrayal of the Battle of Mount Austen during the Guadalcanal campaign of World War II.
The story
In November 1942, Private Witt goes AWOL to live among local natives in the South Pacific before being reassigned as a stretcher bearer. The following month, the men of C Company arrive on the island of Guadalcanal as reinforcements to secure Henderson Field and block off routes to Australia. Under the command of Captain James Staros, the men prepare for the upcoming invasion. Upon landing, they march into the interior to find their objective: Hill 210, a key enemy position. As the attack commences, the soldiers must navigate the brutal realities of the battlefield while facing the internal and external pressures of war.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
In November 1942, Private Witt goes AWOL to live among Melanesian natives before being reassigned as a stretcher bearer. In the following month, C Company arrives on Guadalcanal to secure Henderson Field. The men are led by Captain Staros and prepare for the invasion. After landing, they march toward Hill 210. During the assault, Sergeant Keck sacrifices himself to save his squad from a grenade, and Sergeant Welsh provides morphine to a dying soldier. A conflict arises between Captain Staros and Lt. Col. Gordon Tall over the tactics for capturing a bunker. A small detachment, including Witt, Doll, and Bell, successfully captures the hill. Following a week's leave, Staros is relieved of command by Tall. Meanwhile, Bell receives news of his wife's infidelity, and Witt observes the growing tension among the local population. During a patrol up a river, Private Coombs is wounded and drowns. Witt is eventually captured and killed by a Japanese squad. The company is eventually relieved of duty and evacuated from the island.
- First release year
- 1998
- Runtime (minutes)
- 170
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Terrence Malick
- Writers
- Terrence Malick · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- Sean Penn · not specified; Adrien Brody · not specified; Jim Caviezel · not specified; Ben Chaplin · not specified; George Clooney · not specified; John Cusack · Captain Gaff; Woody Harrelson · not specified; Elias Koteas · not specified; Nick Nolte · not specified; John C. Reilly · not specified; John Travolta · not specified
- Genres
- war; drama
- Themes
- War; Sacrifice; Spirituality
- Tone and mood
- Philosophical; Poetic
- Premise and plot tags
- War; Historical; Drama
- Source material / true-story basis
- The 1962 novel by James Jones
- Reception
- The film received positive reviews, with critics praising its philosophical depiction of war, Malick's direction and screenplay, musical score, cinematography, editing, and performances of the cast.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 80% · scale: percentage · review count: 106; Metacritic · score: 78 · scale: 100 · review count: 32
- Production trivia
- The first assembled cut took seven months to edit and ran five hours.; The film was nominated for seven Academy Awards.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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