Every couple of weeks we’ll be highlighting a new Criterion Collection release.

The first on the list is Terence Malick’s The Thin Red Line, which was released not too long ago in the Blu-ray format by Criterion. (You can order it here from Amazon.) Released in 1998, The Thin Red Line suffered too much at the time of its release with comparisons to Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan, which had come out fairly recently before. Malick’s film holds up much better than Ryan in a number of ways, though, and stands the test of time of being a true work of beauty and art.

Set in the Pacific front of World War II, the film is much more interested in the generic story of a soldier, told through the small vignettes and poetic voiceovers of the individual. The story is a sad one, about every flavor of American you can imagine forced to fight in a war, some who believe in it, some who don’t.

Malick adapted a book and shot the film and then, only later shaped the film to what it became in post-production. A risky choice, to be sure, but one that paid dividends.

This is an intensely beautiful and poetic film. If Saving Private Ryan can be described as a tough, terse prose, The Thin Red Line could be described as flowing poetry. And that flowing poetry helps it stand the test of time, much further than Ryan, which seems easily dated now.

This is a film you must experience. Now that you have the Blu-ray, put it on your television, turn the lights off, switch off your phone, and turn the volume up to levels beyond what you normally would and experience this symphonic movement of a war film. It’s not for everyone, that’s for sure. But for those with patience and a working knowledge of the language of cinema, the payoff is tremendous.

I remember I saw this film the morning it opened and was so struck by the emotional language of it that I left the theatre, walked out into the lobby, around to the box office, bought another ticket for the next show and saw it again. Aside from the six Star Wars films, I can’t think of another film I’ve ever done that with.

If you’ve written this film off, come back to it. Watch it with fresh eyes. The Criterion Collection has done an incredible job of putting the best possible print of the film on the screen and it will blow you away.

The film is available for purchase on Amazon.