The Thin Red Line (1998): Difference between revisions
The Thin Red Line (1998): Difference between revisions - Internet Movie Firearms Database - Guns in Movies, TV and Video Games
The Thin Red Line (1998): Difference between revisions
[[Image:TRLM1Garand-7.jpg|thumb|none|600px|Pvt. Bell ([[Ben Chaplin]]) fires his M1 Garand, fitted with a bayonet.]]
[[Image:TRLM1Garand-7.jpg|thumb|none|600px|Pvt. Bell ([[Ben Chaplin]]) fires his M1 Garand, fitted with a bayonet.]]
[[Image:25thDivSoldier M1Garand.jpg|thumb|none|600px|Close-up of an empty M1 Garand chamber.]]
[[Image:25thDivSoldier M1Garand.jpg|thumb|none|600px|Close-up of an empty M1 Garand chamber.]]
[[Image:Witt M1Garand.jpg|thumb|none|600px|Pvt. Witt ([[Jim Caviezel]]) shoots a charging Japanese soldier with his M1 Garand, fitted with a bayonet, during the assault on the village.]]
[[Image:25thDivSoldiers M1Garand.jpg|thumb|none|600px|Two soldiers cover a Japanese prisoner with M1 Garands.]]
[[Image:25thDivSoldiers M1Garand.jpg|thumb|none|600px|Two soldiers cover a Japanese prisoner with M1 Garands.]]
[[Image:TRLM1Garand-8.jpg|thumb|none|600px|Pvt. Coombs ([[Matt Doran]]) with an M1 Garand.]]
[[Image:TRLM1Garand-8.jpg|thumb|none|600px|Pvt. Coombs ([[Matt Doran]]) with an M1 Garand.]]
[[Image:TRL 102.jpg|thumb|none|600px|Pvt. Ash ([[Thomas Jane]]) with the M1 Garand resting on his leg while holding an M1911A1.]]
[[Image:TRL 102.jpg|thumb|none|600px|Pvt. Ash ([[Thomas Jane]]) with the M1 Garand resting on his leg while holding an M1911A1.]]
[[File:M1 Garand bayonet second.jpg|thumb|none|500px|M1 Garand with M1 bayonet - .30-06]]
[[Image:Witt M1Garand.jpg|thumb|none|600px|Pvt. Witt ([[Jim Caviezel]]) shoots a charging Japanese soldier with his M1 Garand, fitted with a bayonet, during the assault on the village.]]
The Thin Red Line is the 1998 World War II film directed by Terrence Malick and is the second movie adaptation of the James Jones novel, the first being a 1964 film of the same name. This film features a very accurate, almost complete arsenal of genuine WWII Japanese weapons, a stark contrast to the original film where not a single Japanese weapon was seen. The film is a fictional account of an engagement by the US Army to capture an entrenched Japanese position during the Battle of Guadalcanal in World War II. The majority of the film was shot in Queensland, Australia, in the South Pacific, far more accurate to the location of the Solomon Islands than the original film's filming in Spain. One of the notable characters in the film is Cpt. Staros (Elias Koteas), an intelligent, sensitive Army captain who refuses to send his men to their certain death on a futile frontal assault on a fortified Japanese position, which puts him at odds with the ambitious Lt. Col. Tall (Nick Nolte). Another notable characters include the cynical and shrewd 1st. Sgt Welsh (Sean Penn), Pvt. Bell (Ben Chaplin) who is heavily devoted to his wife, and Pvt. Witt (Jim Caviezel), a deserter who hates the Army, but loves the men of Charlie Company enough to rejoin them during the battle. The film's title derives a quote from Jones's book which reads, "they discover the thin red line that divides the sane from the mad... and the living from the dead..." Despite its seven Academy Award nominations, this film is often overlooked due to its release in the same year as Steven Spielberg's World War II film Saving Private Ryan.
The following weapons were used in the film The Thin Red Line:
Pfc. Doll (Dash Mihok) steals an M1911A1 hanging from a bunk in the ship carrying Charlie Company to the island. He notably uses it when he charges a Japanese machine gun emplacement and fires it at them. Basically every other US soldier also has an M1911A1 as their sidearm, although only few soldiers such as Captain Gaff (John Cusack) are seen using them.
Several US soldiers are seen using MK II Hand Grenades in the film. At one point we see Sgt. Keck (Woody Harrelson) straightening the folds on the pin of his grenade, which proves to be a fatal mistake on his behalf when the pin pulls too easily while still attached to his belt.
The issued sidearm of the Japanese Imperial Army is the Nambu Type 14 Pistol. One soldier is seen using it to commit suicide when refusing capture after Hill 262 is taken. Later in the film we see Pfc. Doll (Dash Mihok) showing off a Nambu pistol to fellow soldiers in a personnel transport truck, likely taken off a dead Japanese soldier on the Hill.
