20 War Movies EVERY Film Fan Should Have Seen
7. The Thin Red Line
Following a squad of soldiers during a Pacific Theatre campaign in WWII, Badlands' director Terrence Malick's The Thin Red Line is a rare war film which can actually accurately be described as tranquil and thoughtful.
Taking the opposite route from Steven Spielberg's then-recent release Saving Private Ryan, this meditative epic uses its slow, long runtime to unspool the stories of its main characters, a sprawling cast which includes the likes of Sean Penn, Woody Harrelson, Nick Nolte, John Cusack, George Clooney, and John C Reilly amongst many others.
The viewer is just about acquainted with this likeable bunch before the bullets begin to fly and they are unceremoniously offed, another stark cinematic reminder of war's human cost.