A thin Red Line

"Then it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' 'Tommy, 'ow's yer soul?' 

But it's 'Thin red line of 'eroes' when the drums begin to roll,"  

Rudyard Kipling on how society looks down on the military until "society" needs to be defended

It is said that before pre-production began, director Terrence Malick walked on foot across the entire southwest, stopping periodically to call producers  Geisler and  Hill to talk about the meaning of the movie. 'The Thin Red Line'.