MovieChat Forums > The Thin Red Line (1999) Discussion > Saving private Ryan was better as a whol...

Saving private Ryan was better as a whole

posted 8 years ago by mpboylanjr-54038
6 replies | jump to latest

Now I thought the Thin Red Line was very good. IMO it was very much more of an artsy film than a war film. Malik did a great job with it but the almost 3 hr run time mixed in with the all over the place stories was a bit much.
Now Saving Private Ryan was an all out incredible war epic with such a great and original story. There was no book behind the film. The acting and first of its kind war scenes were just amazing. Still have yet to see one that has come close to as good as it. It didn't have the whole poetry like stops in the film that sometimes felt like you were listening to nonesense for 30 min at a time. It was a great look at how every man had his own version of war and what war does to humanity as a whole. Not much action in TTRL although when there was it was very well done.
What do you guys think ? Thin red line or saving private Ryan?

THERES NO ROOM IN MY CIRCUS TENT FOR YOU !!!!

[–] politicaldefiance 8 years ago

I like The Thin Red Line more, but Saving Private Ryan is good as well. If I were to compare the styles of each film, I'd say that Malick's film is the cinematic equivalent of an epic war poem, whereas Spielberg's is more like an epic novel. I like that each director approached a similar topic with their own unique styles, even if they don't necessarily appeal to all tastes.

[–] HZ-FcB-97 8 years ago

The Thin Red Line, why? The camp attack scene, that's why. No but seriously, The Thin Red Line is just so much more beautiful, powerful and honest, while Saving Private Ryan is more of a hard knock allout war film. The Thin Red Line has more goosebumps moments(we can thank Hans Zimmer for that).

[–] michaelhoulihan-30566 8 years ago

Love both, but because I'm an *beep* im gonna have to say TRL. Purely for the script and the soundtrack, although the combat in SPR is yet to beaten in a movie for me.

[–] scorsese-1 8 years ago

TRL is far superior. SPR is so conventional and and by the numbers, great opening scene though. TRL is far more ambitious and unconventional with a great score.

[–] KnockKnock1 8 years ago

The first 30 mins was great, and then the rest is the usual Syrupy spoonfed Speilberg tropes.

[–] sfcwo2 8 years ago

SPR absolutely sucked. The only thing going for it was the realism and intensity of the action. The story was somewhat absurd. A Ranger squad, led by a CPT no less, has nothing better to do than stroll about the countryside looking for a soldier. That's riveting? There are frequent violations of orders (Vin Diesel and the kid for starters) and the breakdown in discipline with a near mutiny. The "best" part is that it gets resolved by the CPT telling his life's story. To me, that's extremely disrespectful to the Rangers of WW2 and just another example of Spielberg throwing anyone under the bus for the sake of the "story". Don't forget-- "history" has one "s" while "his story" has two. 'Bergie only cares about the latter.