Editing The Thin Red Line (1998 film) (section)

===Critical reception===
On [[review aggregator]] website [[Rotten Tomatoes]], ''The Thin Red Line'' holds an approval rating of 80% based on 107 reviews, and an average rating of 7.3/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "''The Thin Red Line'' is a daringly philosophical World War II film with an enormous cast of eager stars."<ref>{{cite web|title=The Thin Red Line (1998)|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1084146_thin_red_line?|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201113043756/https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1084146_thin_red_line|archive-date=November 13, 2020|access-date=October 12, 2023|work=[[Rotten Tomatoes]]|publisher=[[Fandango Media]]}}</ref> On [[Metacritic]], the film has a [[weighted average]] score of 78 out of 100, based on 32 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-thin-red-line |title=The Thin Red Line Reviews |work=[[Metacritic]] |publisher=[[CBS Interactive]] |access-date=April 10, 2018 |archive-date=April 3, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180403005941/http://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-thin-red-line |url-status=live }}</ref> Audiences polled by [[CinemaScore]] gave the film an average grade of "C" on an A+ to F scale.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Home - Cinemascore|url=https://www.cinemascore.com/|access-date=2021-08-01|publisher=[[CinemaScore]]|format=Type "Thin red line" in the search box; film incorrectly appears as "A Thin Red Line"|archive-date=December 20, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181220122629/https://www.cinemascore.com/publicsearch/index/title/|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Gene Siskel]] described ''The Thin Red Line'' as the "finest contemporary war film I've seen, supplanting Steven Spielberg's ''[[Saving Private Ryan]]'' from earlier this year, or even [[Oliver Stone]]'s ''[[Platoon (film)|Platoon]]'' from 1986."<ref name="siskel">{{cite web | last=Siskel | first=Gene | title=The Thin Red Line | work=[[Siskel & Ebert]] |date=1998|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Gq60pzltqg}}</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=which episode specifically?|date=March 2023}}  A more subdued [[Roger Ebert]] gave it three stars out of four, saying that it felt confused and unfinished. He wrote, "The movie's schizophrenia keeps it from greatness (this film has no firm idea of what it is about), but doesn't make it bad. It is, in fact, sort of fascinating... The battle scenes themselves are masterful, in creating a sense of the geography of a particular hill, the way it is defended by Japanese bunkers, the ways in which the American soldiers attempt to take it ... Actors like Sean Penn, John Cusack, Jim Caviezel and Ben Chaplin find the perfect tone for scenes of a few seconds or a minute, and then are dropped before a rhythm can be established."<ref>{{cite news | last=Ebert | first=Roger | title=The Thin Red Line | work=[[Chicago Sun-Times]] | date=January 8, 1999 | url=http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19990108/REVIEWS/901080302/1023 | access-date=2022-10-19 | archive-date=September 17, 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110917164319/http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F19990108%2FREVIEWS%2F901080302%2F1023 | url-status=dead }}</ref>

In his review for ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'', [[Richard Corliss]] wrote, "Some films deal in plot truth; this one expresses emotional truth, the heart's search for saving wisdom, in some of the most luscious imagery since Malick's last film, the 1978 ''[[Days of Heaven]]''."<ref>{{cite magazine | last=Corliss | first=Richard | title=Ho, Ho (Well, No) | url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,989927,00.html | magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] | date=December 28, 1998 | access-date=2023-01-01 | archive-date=August 17, 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130817183747/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,989927,00.html | url-status=live }}</ref> Mike Clark of ''[[USA Today]]'' gave the film four out of four stars.<ref>{{cite news | last=Clark | first=Mike | title=Stirring ''Red Line'' Captures War's Humanity and Horror | work=[[USA Today]] | date=December 23, 1998 <!--|access-date=2008-01-07-->}}</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=archive copies of modern newspapers are usually available |date=March 2023}} Michael O'Sullivan of ''[[The Washington Post]]'' wrote, "''The Thin Red Line'' is a movie about creation growing out of destruction, about love where you'd least expect to find it and about angels – especially the fallen kind – who just happen to be men."<ref>{{cite news | date=January 8, 1999 | last=O'Sullivan | first=Michael | title=''Red Line'': Above and Beyond | newspaper=[[Washington Post]] | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/movies/reviews/thinredlineosullivan.htm | access-date=2023-01-07 | archive-date=November 29, 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171129104120/https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/movies/reviews/thinredlineosullivan.htm | url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Andrew Johnston (critic)|Andrew Johnston]] of ''[[Time Out New York]]'' wrote: "Like Malick's previous efforts – ''[[Badlands (film)|Badlands (1973)]]'' and ''Days of Heaven'' (1978) – ''Line'' is a film of incredible beauty. However, the atmosphere created by John Toll's breathtaking cinematography and Hans Zimmer's powerful score is occasionally compromised. The parade of cameos (John Travolta, George Clooney, Woody Harrelson and John Cusack briefly appear) is somewhat distracting, and the fact that Bell and Witt both have Appalachian accents sometimes makes the characters hard to differentiate. Yet, even though it's confusing at times (and perhaps a little long), ''Line'' is still a film of rare substance and power."<ref>Time Out New York, December 17–31, 1998, p. 141.</ref>

[[Owen Gleiberman]] gave the film a "B−" in his review for ''[[Entertainment Weekly]]'' and wrote, "''The Thin Red Line'' could, I think, turn out to be this season's ''[[Beloved (1998 film)|Beloved]]'', a movie too paralyzingly high-minded to connect with audiences."<ref>{{cite magazine | last=Gleiberman | first=Owen | title=The Thin Red Line | magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]] | url=https://ew.com/article/1998/12/23/thin-red-line/ | date=December 23, 1998 | access-date=2007-11-27 | archive-date=October 14, 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181014130525/https://ew.com/ew/article/0,,63840,00.html | url-status=live }}</ref> In her review for ''[[The New York Times]]'', [[Janet Maslin]] called it "intermittently brilliant" and wrote, "The heart-piercing moments that punctuate its rambling are glimpses of what a tighter film might have been."<ref>{{cite news | last=Maslin | first=Janet |author-link=Janet Maslin | title=Beauty and Destruction in Pacific Battle | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/12/23/movies/film-review-beauty-and-destruction-in-pacific-battle.html | work=[[The New York Times]] | date=December 23, 1998 | access-date=2008-01-07 | archive-date=July 13, 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210713224835/https://www.nytimes.com/1998/12/23/movies/film-review-beauty-and-destruction-in-pacific-battle.html | url-status=live }}</ref>

In a special episode of ''[[At the Movies (1986 TV program)|Siskel and Ebert]]'', guest host [[Martin Scorsese]] selected ''The Thin Red Line'' as the second best film of the 1990s behind ''[[The Horse Thief]]''.<ref>{{cite news | last=Ebert | first=Roger | work=[[Chicago Sun Times]] | date=February 23, 2000 | title=The Best 10 Movies of the 1990s | url=https://www.rogerebert.com/rogers-journal/the-best-10-movies-of-1990s | access-date=April 20, 2020 | archive-date=April 4, 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200404110311/https://www.rogerebert.com/rogers-journal/the-best-10-movies-of-1990s | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | last=Ebert | first=Roger | work=[[Chicago Sun Times]] | date=February 26, 2000 | title=Ebert & Scorsese: Best Films of the 1990s | url=https://www.rogerebert.com/rogers-journal/ebert-and-scorsese-best-films-of-the-1990s | access-date=April 20, 2020 | archive-date=April 4, 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200404104342/https://www.rogerebert.com/rogers-journal/ebert-and-scorsese-best-films-of-the-1990s | url-status=live }}</ref>