They were no longer fighting solely for patriotic reasons or the larger world and its issues which had brought them there they were fighting for survival and for the men next to them. The horrors of war help them lose their idea of self and of the world around them. Sean Penn, George Clooney, Woody Harrelson and John Cusack star in director Terrence Malicks charged adaptation of James Jones. 4 Jones served as an infantryman in the US Army in the South Pacific. The soldiers' feelings and emotions develop into nothing less than a sense of love of family. Malick based his screenplay on James Joness 500 page, 1963 novel, The Thin Red Line. It explores the intense bonds that develop between men under terrible stress. THE THIN RED LINE is more than a tale of men fighting a key battle, one which would ultimately stem the Japanese advance through the Pacific Islands. It follows their journey, from the surprise of an unopposed landing, through the bloody and exhausting battles that follow, to the ultimate departure of those who survived. The Thin Red Line (1998) tells the story of United States Forces during the Battle of Guadalcanal in World War II. A powerful frontline cast - including Sean Penn, Nick Nolte, Woody Harrelson and George Clooney - explodes into action in this hauntingly realistic view of military and moral chaos in the Pacific during World War II. The story takes place as Army troops are moved in to relieve battle-weary Marine units. Based on the novel by James Jones, THE THIN RED LINE tells the story of a group of men, an Army Rifle company called C-for-Charlie, who change, suffer, and ultimately make essential discoveries about themselves during the fierce World War II battle of Guadalcanal.

Thin red line