Greatest achievement on Blu Ray?
I finally got around to watching Criterion Collection's blu ray transfer of The Thin Red Line this past weekend and I now truly believe this is the best blu ray title on the market. First and foremost the film is simply one of the greatest of all time. If I ever get around to compiling my favorite movies this will surely be within my top ten. This film is the definition of poetry in motion. The Thin Red Line is one of the few films that is more than just an interesting narrative or entertainment, it is an experience.
The film also boasts some of the greatest cinematography ever captured courtesy of John Toll. The imagery is beautiful, striking and most importantly thematic. Some personal favorite shots of mine are that of a new born bird struggling to survive amid all the madness and a snake in the grass staring the soldiers down face to face. Masterful shots and scenes like these are peppered throughout. According to the booklet, "Supervised and approved by director Terrence Malick and cinematographer John Toll, this new high-definition digital transfer was created on a Spirit 4K Datacine from the original 35mm camera negative in 4K resolution. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris, scratches, splices, warps, jitter, and flicker were manually removed using MTI's DRS system and Pixel Farm's PFClean system."
They aren't lying. This is the best picture quality I have ever seen in any format. Up to now the IMAX scenes on my Dark Knight blu ray would be my demo of choice but it has now been replaced. Scenes in this movie literally look like a moving photograph. The sound is just as impeccable. The DTS transfer distinguishes the narration, sound effects and Hans Zimmer's epic score quite fluidly. When you start the movie a message arises stating "Director Terrence Howard recommends that 'The Thin Red Line' be played loud." This is definitely a good idea but this is already a very loud movie so don't get too loud for fear of hurting your speakers or annoying the neighbors.
Finally the supplemental material is among the best ever collected on any home video. There are separate segments on the casting, editing and music of the film as well as several deleted scenes. Some of the deleted scenes include footage of a sniper played by Mickey Rourke and scenes involving George Clooney, John C. Reilly and Nick Stahl that never made the cut. It was a blessing that Criterion took this project on and that all parties, specifically the man himself Terrence Malick, agreed to commit their time to the making of this blu ray edition. This is the best money I have spent all year.
