If ever there was a role Nolte was born to play, it was that of an army leader and, as Lt. Col. Gordon Tall, he turned in one of his briefest yet most significant roles. In what is a star-packed and lengthy movie from director Terrence Malick, Nolte spews out a mortar blast performance, where his dogged determination to have the Japanese running scared sees him spitting orders at his troops - "this is not a court of law, this is a war - it's a god damn battle" - and showing off a dark side when he foregoes water for the troops in favour of pushing forward and sealing his legacy. A complex and shouty turn.