Jul. 31, 2002 - 1:36 am

cover
The Thin Red Line (1998)

well here's the second film knocked off of the new list. this film was nominated for Best Picture of 1998, losing to Shakespeare In Love (1998). it weirds me out that there were two WWII films, and then two Elizabethan period films nominated that year.

The Thin Red Line takes place in the South Pacific during WWII. a large group of soldiers come to Guadalcanal and try to take over a very important position for America's forces.

i quite liked this film. it has this interesting voice-over poem thing that happens periodically. there are about six different soldiers in the group that we focus on watching and we kind of get a description of what they're feeling. they talk about the things that help to keep them calm and feeling sane. like one man talks about his wife, another about the beauty he sees around him.

the cast was a little strange. if you look at the cast for the film, it sounds really good. but you almost feel cheated because each of the actors really plays a small role. like George Clooney was on the screen for about 45 seconds i believe. Jared Leto and John Travolta might have had an additional minute apiece. not that i really want to see John Travolta on the screen at all, but why put such a big name in the film for this part? i didn't really like that aspect.

still a great film, and a good film to nominate for Best Picture. solid 8/10.