The Thin Red Line

Rating:
Summary: This was a collosal wasted effort
Review: After I saw Thin Red Line on opening day, I was so disappointed with the lousy directing and character acting, I decided to never again see any movie hyped and directed by an unknown director. This was commercially hyped to attract the Saving Private Ryan market, then thinly (and poorly) attempted to appear deep, mysterious and profound. It missed the mark on all accounts. This is just a waste of time. Failure, big time!

Rating:
Summary: What can I say?
Review: Bad and unfinished character development stuck out like a sore thumb. What happens to everyone? About half an hour of good scenes...the rest is pretty boring. Way too long for such little development.

Rating:
Summary: What a waste of time!
Review: Few movies have left me feeling as if I had totally wasted my time and money. This is the ultimate crowning achievement of boring pseudeo-intellectual movies! In fact, I can see all the Dobie Gilles types counting their axillary hairs as an equally meaningful exercise in spending more than 3 hours. What an awful movie. It makes those who try to intellectualize it seem really bored and looking for meaning!

Rating:
Summary: BEST WAR FILM EVER
Review: This war movie separates itself from all the other war films. Don't expect a shoot em' up, blood and guts movie cause you won't get that however there is a battle that last about an hour. I have never seen this kind of an approach on a war flick. Most of the others are all the same but this one had some real thought put into it. If you can't stand talking and have a small attention spand then this movie is not for you.

Rating:
Summary: Flawed Marketing
Review: To a degree, the film suffered from an unfortunate marketing campaign, portraying it as an action filled "Private Ryan Goes To The Pacific", so filmgoers may have expected something different, which does a disservice to the film. Nevertheless, on its own terms, the film collapses. It is, at times, impossible to follow. Its camera work is absolutely stunning, but what is astonshingly disappointing is Mallick's failure to juxtapose the lush scenery of the island with the unbelievable horror of warfare (here, a comparison with RYAN is appropriate. The final battle scene of RYAN, setting a ferocious battle in a quaint, small French village in braod daylight achieves the unreality and veracity of the war in Europe). I have heard some describe the film as "intentionally dull" which leads one the the writer's maxim that " a novel about a boring character should not itself be boring." There are some worthwhile performances however, particulay the interplay between Nick Nolte and Elias Koteas. Much of the other "all-star" members seem wasted, however, and are distraacting (their billing is certainly misleading - witness George Clooney and John Travolta, both of whom you will miss if you blink). The film is worthwhile to see at home (preferably on DVD to appreciate Mallick's camera work), and one should also read Jones' book to see how different a message the film sends.

Rating:
Summary: Quite possibly the greatest movie I have ever seen
Review: I am tall, dark-headed and from Kentucky, needless to say, I closely identified with the Idealist Witt. Malick was masterful in this movie and it is a shame that too few people appreciate a movie which directly addresses some of life's less glamorous tones. It only took one seeing of this movie for me to determine that it was my favorite movie of all time.

Rating:
Summary: Best 30 minute film I ever watched for three hours
Review: This film contains 30 minutes of entertainment trapped in three hours of confusing voice over, aimless photography, and almost incomprehensible pointless story line. It is probably the worst war movie ever made and may be in the top ten worst ever movies. Anybody contemplating purchasing this film should consider spending three hours clipping their toenails or perhaps arranging their paperclip collection. Both would be more entertaining.

Rating:
Summary: The Best
Review: The Thin Red Line is simply the best film ever made. Not just the best war film, but the best film in history. The great classics of the past (Citizen Kane, Casablanca, The Third Man) although brilliant and unequaled by but a few films in over fifty years seem simplistic child's play to Mr. Malik's masterpiece. The justification of this is stated by the other positive reviews written here but there is also much more. The film takes the viewer to a place where all is one and existence as generally observed is purely superficial and none-existent. Death, love, religion, simplicity is all brought into one category by The Thin Red Line. Watching the film is a truly blissful experience. This description is also not to undermine the also fantastic insights into human nature and what goes on in war. The film also portrays the fear in the soldiers fighting like no other before it.

Rating:
Summary: Good film, but not Private Ryan
Review: Terrence Malick's adaption of Jame s Jones 1962 novel is one of the most awesome and well made war pictures ever constructed. While it requires more brainpower than Spielberg's epic Private Ryan, it is a film everyone should watch to see the horrors of war and the effects on those who fight it.

Rating:
Summary: Watch this movie!
Review: Sublime, haunting, breathtaking, thoughtful and earth-shattering are some of the words that attempt to describe one of the best movies ever made. Four viewings was not enough absorb all that it offers -- I didn't want it to end (and am waiting for the director's uncut!). Do not expect to be spoon-fed heroic portrayals, clever dialogue and plot, and a firm conclusion. Do expect to be provoked, repulsed, shaken, and emotionally exhausted. Malick weaves characters' interior lives with their contradicting, often brutal, sometimes humane actions; the simplicity and naivite of their questions belie the burden of man's paradoxical nature. TRL seduced me with actor Jim Caviezel's powerful, hopeful presence and beauty; John Toll's outstanding cinematography; and Hans Zimmer's achingly moving soundtrack. The stunning location won a well-deserved starring role; its beauty, collapse and triumph capture the endurance of nature over man. This movie deserves your time and thought.