Thin Red Line, The (UK)

This movie is an odd one.
While totally dedicated to proving just what war does to a person`s soul and mind, the almost too hallucinated way of approaching the subject slows the movie down a lot.
Visually stunning, the director`s idea of using a dialog overlay and cutting to serene, natural pictures of wild life starts backfiring at a certain stage. The movie`s pace is slow as it is (and should be), but the spoken thoughts of the characters stop contributing to the story after about an hour or so.
Apart from 3-4 scratches, the transfer is very good. The visuals of the jungles, islands and oceans all look very natural and not over saturated in color.
The DD 5.1 soundtrack is very powerful. The move from a 100 DB scene where bullets are fired in all directions to a 30 DB wildlife scene is crystal clear and crisp.
Unfortunately, the movie has no extra features other than a bizarre collection of Melanesian songs, which are not that interesting to begin with.
Notice George Clooney - it does not get any more embarrassing than this.
Bottom line - good movie, despite its too artistic approach.

dvd

It has to be said, this film is slow in places and probably could be half an hour shorter without affecting the story. So you have to be in the right mood to watch it (consequently, it`s one of those films you either love or hate).

Personally, I think it`s a minor classic. The direction is superb, the battle scenes impressive and the acting`s pretty good too...

The picture is the best I`ve seen on DVD. The scenery is breathtaking and the colours are wonderful and sharp (a definate demo disc).

The sound is also very good. Lots of bangs & explosions to show off your surround sound, plus lots of subtler noises like birds singing and the wind whistling.

In summary, an excellent demo disc and a very good film. But you might want to rent it, before you buy (as it won`t be to everybody`s taste).

Great Print of the best film of 1998