I'm a big fan of war movies, particularly those that take an artistic approach or attempt to recreate real situations that actually happened. While The Battle of Mount Austen is an actual event that took place during World War II, the accounts and all of the characters are complete works of fiction. It doesn't really matter though, because this film is a masterpiece.
For one thing, just have a look at that cast. The Thin Red Line was a movie in 1998 that starred just about everyone who was relevant during that point in time. There were so many stars in this movie actually, that Bill Pullman and Mickey Rourke actually were in the film but their footage was cut in the end because the film ended up being 5 hours long. No matter how good something is, that is way too much time for a movie.
I can't believe that they were able to make this film including very realistic looking battle scenes as well as hire all of the actors for it for the price tag that they paid. The entire movie was made for just a bit over $50 million. These days we end up with romantic comedies that star just two big names and take place on sound stages and the cost of the film is double that much. Hell, The Rock pulls in $20 million per film in his salary alone.
I don't know how or why all of these people were willing to work for what I have to presume was very little money (in their world anyway) but they pulled it off. John C. Reilly is almost unrecognizable because he isn't there for comedic interlude and is ripped as hell also.
The movie attempts to (and succeeds in) portraying the horrors of war and the focus changes perspective via the viewpoint of many of the major characters throughout the 170 very worthwhile minutes that this film runs for. The fear of men facing a very great chance of dying at an objective that they are told over and over again by a very convincing Colonel Tall (Nick Nolte) must be accomplished at all costs.
Some insights to combat are shown that I think most of us don't really think about too much when we consider what war is all about such as the fact that commanders send their soldiers into certain situations with full knowledge that a certain percent of them are definitely going to die. The fact that some leaders are willing to do this and others aren't seem to define what the military considers to be "good leaders." This is exemplified in a scene where one lieutenant is hesitant to commit to a frontal assault on some pill-boxes (machine gun bunkers) but is overruled by Colonel Tall only to have the mission succeed. When Tall arrives at the scene he attempts to belittle his 2nd in command by standing up in full view of a supposed enemy basically begging them to shoot him.
The cinematography is second to none and I particularly enjoyed the way in which they show how peaceful the various areas are, along with some very exotic nature, until the bullets start flying.
A level of compassion and understanding, perhaps we can call it humanity, is revealed in parts where Japanese soldiers have surrendered and are mourning the deaths and injuries of their friends as well revealing that although we are on different sides, nobody that is there actually wishes to kill or be killed.
The moments where the soldiers reflect on their lives back in the States is also touching, because we all know the old statement of someone's life "flashing before their eyes" and it is really tragic to see director Terrence Malick attempting to exhibit exactly that during multiple times in the film.
Should I watch it?
If you are one of the people out there like me, that somehow managed to miss this back when it was released in 1998, which I am presuming many people did because it was not a blockbuster hit, you really need to get on this right away. This is a different way of showing a war film and it has so many outstanding performances that it is difficult to even try to identify who did the best because everyone does incredibly well.
This is one of the best films I have seen in 2020 and I'm a little ashamed of myself that it took me 22 years to see it. It is available in most regions on Netflix now.