tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4784665635104956142.post3217063243587045013..comments2024-03-28T06:14:54.076-04:00Comments on And So It Begins...: A Great War Debate: Saving Private Ryan vs. The Thin Red LineAlex Withrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15887018476048271594noreply@blogger.comBlogger54125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4784665635104956142.post-71263461702448975372022-08-17T13:19:01.570-04:002022-08-17T13:19:01.570-04:00Thanks so much for this. TTRL is firmly in my top ...Thanks so much for this. TTRL is firmly in my top 15 films ever made. I watch it a few times a year because phrases like, "What is this war in the heart of nature?" creep into my head, and I know it's time for a rewatch. Perfect cinema. <br /><br />And yep, obviously SPR is a far more seen film, but I work with Veterans every day, and the ones who have seen TTRL say it is closest to the emotional hell of war. This and Platoon.Alex Withrowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15887018476048271594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4784665635104956142.post-80075724176017245112022-07-08T08:47:56.072-04:002022-07-08T08:47:56.072-04:00Have had this film at number 1 in my top 100 films...Have had this film at number 1 in my top 100 films from the time I decided to jot down my top 100 films 20 odd years ago (I had a lot more time on my hands back then). It’s still my number 1. A haunting, beautiful yet terrifying film that gives an incredible insight into the horror that is war. <br /><br />Really appreciate the comments above from those who watched these films with actual WW2 vets who said TTRL was the more accurate depiction. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4784665635104956142.post-59921324267999919232022-05-10T08:17:40.348-04:002022-05-10T08:17:40.348-04:00I love this! Thanks for this comment, and now I de...I love this! Thanks for this comment, and now I definitely need to rewatch Das Boot.Alex Withrowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15887018476048271594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4784665635104956142.post-89896976623545009432022-04-04T17:36:31.780-04:002022-04-04T17:36:31.780-04:00TTRL is outstanding,mesmerising and absorbing, sec...TTRL is outstanding,mesmerising and absorbing, second to...Das Boot - with regards to War Movies. That being said what makes Boot the first is music, on top of other virtues. Klaus Doldinger added like 50% to value of the film. Remove his music and try to watch, still good but nowhere to peak. I am not sure whether Malick could not embed or wasn't aware of that variable.<br />SPR - I ve seen it once, enough in this life.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4784665635104956142.post-87486962680314590812018-03-30T12:25:42.123-04:002018-03-30T12:25:42.123-04:00Damn right!Damn right!Alex Withrowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15887018476048271594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4784665635104956142.post-20211923738437365692018-03-29T22:56:00.506-04:002018-03-29T22:56:00.506-04:00What other war movie has moments of zen poetry whe...What other war movie has moments of zen poetry when the camera focuses on, at times, extended, beautiful shots of the surrounding nature in the midst of a brutal, bloody conflictUnknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13928212051781095094noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4784665635104956142.post-17629171971162736002017-07-20T12:31:28.610-04:002017-07-20T12:31:28.610-04:00Love this comment. I agree, TTRL is the 2001 of wa...Love this comment. I agree, TTRL is the 2001 of war films. So well said. That movie really shows the true hell of war. By long and far the finest war film ever made.Alex Withrowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15887018476048271594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4784665635104956142.post-36894393239906258982017-07-19T00:27:41.278-04:002017-07-19T00:27:41.278-04:00I love war films, ttrl is the 2001 a space odyssey...I love war films, ttrl is the 2001 a space odyssey of war films to me....most of my (or your) dumb friends may hate it, but you know deep down in your soul you just saw something special and truly moving. Utterly original. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4784665635104956142.post-46316014633214357472016-11-17T12:06:40.784-05:002016-11-17T12:06:40.784-05:00What'd you think?!What'd you think?!Alex Withrowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15887018476048271594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4784665635104956142.post-30893721292503674512016-11-09T18:24:58.252-05:002016-11-09T18:24:58.252-05:00Wonderful, shall watch Thin Red Line tomorrow. Wonderful, shall watch Thin Red Line tomorrow. J. Younghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06592545942814384506noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4784665635104956142.post-31123041747001793732016-09-23T11:59:00.899-04:002016-09-23T11:59:00.899-04:00Which one?Which one?Alex Withrowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15887018476048271594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4784665635104956142.post-57594888330746904482016-09-19T16:11:10.536-04:002016-09-19T16:11:10.536-04:00Finally watched it, amazing movie. The greatest 3r...Finally watched it, amazing movie. The greatest 3rd greatest war film I have ever seen. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4784665635104956142.post-42356456996427360222016-06-11T17:13:56.232-04:002016-06-11T17:13:56.232-04:00Love this comment, thank you so much for leaving i...Love this comment, thank you so much for leaving it. Love your dissection of The Thin Red Line's opening shot. Very keen insight. And in case you didn't get my tweet, I have to manually approve comments on posts that are more than 10 days old. This drastically helps reduce the amount of spam comments that appear on the site. Thanks again!Alex Withrowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15887018476048271594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4784665635104956142.post-35305889053832806382016-06-08T21:04:15.893-04:002016-06-08T21:04:15.893-04:00The Thin Red Line holds a similar place in my hear...The Thin Red Line holds a similar place in my heart, too. It's not a perfect film. The final 40 minutes could be lopped off without much sacrifice. And at times it toes the line between profundity and pretension, but that's the cost of doing business when you tackle the sorts of existential themes Mallick has dedicated his career to examining. It's biggest downfall, however, is something you alluded to: the timing of its release. It will always be "that other WW2 movie". Some of of this is simply the product of profile, rather than quality. Mallick's project is the far superior movie, IMO. But at the same time, some of this prejudice does speak to those qualities that make Saving Private Ryan so memorable. <br /><br />The battle scenes in TRL are comfortably above average, at least. The extended sequence portraying the siege on the Japanese held hill has to be in the canon for single battle depictions, and as the centre piece of the movie is more than capable of carrying the weight necessary to allow the film as a whole to succeed. But there are moments during that sequence that stick out, and not in a good way. The timed explosions and the way soldiers are thrown across the screen as shells detonate around them. Moments like these -- and it needs be said, there aren't many -- seem strangely at odds with the gravity of both the rest of the action and the mood of the film in general. It's almost *silly* somehow. That's Saving Private Ryan. That's Spielberg. That's the landing at Omaha Beach. That sequence challenged notions of what film was capable of in terms of bringing war to life. In its wake, shots that would have previously been regarded as flirting with that limit, shots like the aforementioned moments in TRL, may now been seen as a let down. <br /><br />I also think your juxtaposition of the two stills is unfair. It gives the impression that SPR is merely a standard war movie that relies on the graphic nature of the toll taken on men to make its point, while TRL is a far fresher, nuanced approach. There *is* truth in this, but that picture fails to grant the film it's due credit. It's not the fact that we see men with their limbs blown off that sets the landing scene apart. It's the way those men do things like casually search for their dismembered limb, as if they were looking for a lost contact lens, picking one up and trying it on for size only to decide that it's not the *their* arm and throw it back on the heap. The incongruity of such actions with the utter chaos around them - an incongruity we feel all the deeper because of Spielberg's ability to place us in the middle of it - is the scene's trademark. <br /><br />One final thought about The Thin Red Line, since I've spent most of this comment taking it apart. My favourite shot remains the movie's very first: the crocodile (alligator?) descending into the swampy waters. It's such a gorgeous, powerful, foreboding image that both perfectly foreshadows the tragic calamity to come while also establishing one of the movie's main themes: the dichotomy between war and nature. But most of all, I love how the image can be read two ways. Initially, my reaction was to see the croc as a symbol of the violence to come, the evils of war. But then you realize that it's in retreat, taking refuge instead of in attack. But refuge from what? War, I guess. The croc is nature's way of communicating with us, making us aware of the fact that war is a concept that is hostile to the very essence of nature itself. The croc can sense the warships approaching. It know what's coming. And like nature, wants no part of it. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4784665635104956142.post-25595646954767494562016-02-19T21:12:41.082-05:002016-02-19T21:12:41.082-05:00Hell yeah, it really does put you right in there. ...Hell yeah, it really does put you right in there. Well said.Alex Withrowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15887018476048271594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4784665635104956142.post-79623052516320759642016-02-19T21:11:52.407-05:002016-02-19T21:11:52.407-05:00Love this comment. Totally agree. What a monumenta...Love this comment. Totally agree. What a monumental achievement this film is. One of my all-time favorites.Alex Withrowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15887018476048271594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4784665635104956142.post-34791946775169681882016-02-10T23:10:24.136-05:002016-02-10T23:10:24.136-05:00First time I saw TTRL I just couldn't stop thi...First time I saw TTRL I just couldn't stop thinking about it. The best movies are those that when they are over you just go home and ask yourself: what did just happened? I've seen TTRL many times and each time I see it I discover new things. There are many themes running through the background. Believing or not believing in God is one of them. <br />Witt: You're wrong, there, Top: I've seen another world. Sometimes I think it was just my imagination.<br />Welsh: Well, then you've seen things I never will.<br />Then, there is the theme of nature. Nature versus man. There are scenes through the movie that show how good or cruel nature can be. Beautiful scenes of children swimming on the sea....and a cobra trying to bite a soldier during the heat of the battle. And at the end, after all the destruction, a palm tree growing out of a coconut. <br />And then there is the colors....vibrant reds and yellows vs. blue and dark. All his films play with light and darkness. <br />I'm sure I'm missing some but this movie is a monumental piece of art. I think it goes beyond being just a war movie.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4784665635104956142.post-28100566815149981582016-02-08T23:26:21.895-05:002016-02-08T23:26:21.895-05:00Well said. I am mesmorized by WWII and have an ext...Well said. I am mesmorized by WWII and have an extensive bluray collection. I have seen SPR so many times that I could literally quote the film. I had seen TRL once before, and I guess I was expecting something similar to SPR. My initial feelings about TLR were kinda on the fence. I wasn't in love w it, but I certainly didn't dislike it. I finally came across TRL Criterion Collection bluray and I snatched it up immediately. After watching TRL a 2nd time, I finally saw the brilliance in the film. First of all, obviously, TRL is a Pacific theatre battle, whereas SPR was a European theatre battle. The major diff between the two films, beside the terrain, was TRL puts a large emphasis on the emotional effect that warfare has on individual soldiers as well as the collective. TRL def puts u inside the belly of the beast, its just a different view. Martinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15496336736216823180noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4784665635104956142.post-17516125021501014702015-08-25T13:03:25.901-04:002015-08-25T13:03:25.901-04:00Thanks man!Thanks man!Alex Withrowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15887018476048271594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4784665635104956142.post-26152312971112547962015-08-25T09:56:36.210-04:002015-08-25T09:56:36.210-04:00Couldn't have put it better myself. Always com...Couldn't have put it better myself. Always come back and read this one. Superb.Mark Woollonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05072777957640381767noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4784665635104956142.post-62855388087114024252015-08-17T13:28:55.137-04:002015-08-17T13:28:55.137-04:00It certainly is.It certainly is.Alex Withrowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15887018476048271594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4784665635104956142.post-43927061954515530612015-08-13T19:54:38.871-04:002015-08-13T19:54:38.871-04:00the thin red line is the best war movie ever made!...the thin red line is the best war movie ever made!!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09623952235485202958noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4784665635104956142.post-79693865423991168062015-08-13T19:53:39.368-04:002015-08-13T19:53:39.368-04:00that's true !!that's true !!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09623952235485202958noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4784665635104956142.post-79780964554424900482015-08-11T12:51:04.426-04:002015-08-11T12:51:04.426-04:00Yep, that's damn right.Yep, that's damn right.Alex Withrowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15887018476048271594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4784665635104956142.post-17758954604311067262015-08-06T06:20:38.231-04:002015-08-06T06:20:38.231-04:00The Thin Red Line is one of the finest movies ever...The Thin Red Line is one of the finest movies ever made. i love mhhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01463690686868917946noreply@blogger.com