'There's always someone watching,like a hawk'.memorable movie scenes, The Thin Red Line, 1998

Aboard ship off Guadalcanal. Colonel Tall (played by Nick Nolte). Nearby is the General Quintard (played by John Travolta) who is going over maps and explaining the vital importance of taking this island from the Japanese. He walks away. Camera on Colonel Tall. We hear his voice-over: “Worked my ass off, brown-nosed the generals, degraded myself, for them and my family--” Colonel Tall follows General Quintard along the deck, walking a respectful three paces behind him. “—my home.” General Quintard stops and turns around. “I admire you, Colonel. Most men your age would have retired by now.” (Get the hint: Colonel Tall has been passed over for promotion several times, but he still hangs in there, hoping against hope he will make it to a full Colonel, perhaps even a General someday.) He stands there and listens to the General’s blathering and plays the perfect yes man himself. “There’s always someone watching, like a hawk.” Camera moves in and ominous chords sound as the General continues: “There’s always someone ready to jump in if you’re not.”

[mindslaw]

Travolta was great in this. He was there for like two minutes, but he conveys so much empty, sinister energy. He's like a shark.

[boxer_puncher]

They are both sooo good! Pay attention especially to Nolte brown-nosing (and at the same time cursing) him just with his body language even when his back is facing us, let alone the mimics. Sooo good...Check that tongue at 00:43! 😅😅😅 The veiled threat of Travolta and the reaction of Nolte....The acting in this movie...

[tenparab]

Nick Nolte deserved an Oscar for this role.

[tobo]

One of many inspired, extraordinary, multi layered scenes in an astounding movie. This scene encapsulates failure, ambition, compromise, power, fear, subservience, the establishment, our hatred of it and our desire to be accepted into it.Great film making can do that in a scene. Astonishing.

[martinleonard]

The critics who say John Travolta wasn’t suited to this role miss the fact this was entirely the point. That was the cause of the colonel’s resentment – the general is a young upstart, whereas he is a West Point graduate who believes he has been denied what is rightfully his. Travolta’s casting subtly demonstrated that the old-style colonel was a symbol of the bygone era when America was unprepared for war. The general tells the colonel he admires him for staying on when so many men his age have retired. But he is also reminding the colonel that he has missed the boat. It’s a great scene.

[joshuastrobel]

I love how Nolte looks like he wants to punch him.

[wojciechgrodnicki]

A good leader listens. Predators watch. Nolte’s character is a magnificent example of a man who isn’t interested in listening. He even breaks into Ancient Greek over the radio when speaking to Captain Starles. As if he’s saying hey, we aren’t even speaking the same language so stop trying to communicate with me and just do what I say. Such a great performance by Nolte.

[lcdrjohnnygonzalez]

Travolta did a masterful job of making the colonel - and the audience - feel uncomfortable. Goofy. Effeminate. Conniving. Patronizing. Condescending. Manipulative. Creepy. He was perfect in this cameo role. There are a lot of Generals / Flag officers in real life who are very far from George C. Scott's portrayal of Patton.

[blessing]

"Brown nosing" that one caught me a lot being in the military. Rank is a powerful thing.

[notsomeanmark]

Nolte was absolutely captivating, he commanded one's attention.

[whatisbestinlife]

We can see the General playing the Colonel here. The General dearly wants this win too and is putting the stakes in very clear terms to the Colonel. In a way he knows is going to most motivate the Colonel to take the objectives at any cost.

[CosmicBarrilet]

Terrence Malick finding details on this movie.

[sl]

Malick one of the greatest of all time

[JRT]

John Travolta is actually pretty well-suited for the role

[benjaminhoffman]

And YOU look him i SQUARE IN THE EYES, and say " IM DOING MY DUTY, SIR!"

[bthorn]

This is one of the reasons I never made a career out of the army. Too many politics and I don't have the restraint to remain silent about them. There is SO much stupid shit done, all for appearances. The lowly grunts see it plain as day, but must accept it. Needless to say, I developed massive pecs and shoulders throughout my service.

[dry]

One of my favorite movies. I like this scene the most.

[Lukinsons]

There's always someone watching, like a hawk 2 and spit on that thing"

[gyrogerg]

"Brown nosed the generals" I watched that movie a thousand times as a teenager and every time I watched this scene, I somehow always imagine this too graphically with Nick Nolte sticking his nose up their asses

[protamine]

This was a great movie except for the cameos by Travolta and George Clooney. Travolta came off as himself pretending to be a general. In contract, this was one of the finest performances in Nick Nolte's career, vastly underrated and overlooked. He deserved an Oscar nomination for his convincing role. He was a tyrant but nevertheless one felt kind of sorry for him because he had been passed over and this was his big chance and he had Staros as his junior officer.