rlc27
Posts: 306
Joined: 7/21/2001 From: Connecticut, USA Status: offline
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I liked 'Thin Red Line,' too, though I agree that it significantly altered much of the book. In the movie, Some of the characters went by the same name, others different, and others were composites, and some of the same episodes were repeated, while many important ones were lef out.
But the movie had that whole transcedental/Buddhist theme running through it--manifested mostly in that dreamy dude whose name I can't remember--that I thought gave it greater depth than the book. He was *NOTHING* like the central character in the book, in fact he was just sort of a washout, alpha male pugilistic sort of guy. My feeling was that the movie wasn't really about war at all--but about human culture and the nature & meaning of life.
The book was good too, though--but to me it seemed like somewhat more standard fare. Lots of battles and tactics, promotions and courage under fire. The author took part in the Guadalcanal actions and based his book on his experiences. In some ways it reminded me more of some of the soldier-written books about the war in Vietnam than a typical WWII book. Some very eccentric and memorable characters--Sean Penn's sergeant didn't do justice to the weirdness of the guy in the book by the same name. And the relationship between (was it Bell?) and his wife was much more complex in the original.
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"They couldn't hit an elephant from this dist--" --John Sedgwick, failing to reduce suppression during the Battle of the Wilderness, U.S. Civil War.
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