Rating: 
Summary: Fast Forward
Review: Great cast, terribly misused in this 3 hour plus experiment in torture. After watching this through ff scan most of the time, I developed a newfound appreciation for Saving Private Ryan. That's the war film to watch. Even if it's not as great as they say, it's still better than this pretentious drivel.
Rating: 
Summary: an all-time great
Review: Malick's vision is far too beautiful, complex and intelligent to be appreciated by a world sadly populated mostly by idiots. To paraphrase the famous quote, if you are a great person then "The Thin Red Line" is a great movie; if you are a limited person, then it is a limited one. One of the great films to prove that the artform can offer so much more than just dumb entertainment value. As with all the classics negelected upon original release, its true worth will ultimately be recognized by history.
Rating:
Summary: Horrible.
Review: I wish I could've given this movie zero stars. This was the worst movie about war EVER! Just boring boring boring. I've seen some Simpsons episodes that give a more actual portrayal of combat. If you want a war movie, rent or buy Saving Private Ryan or Platoon. Don't get me wrong. I'm not just an action addict, I like intriguing dialogue and good photography, but when these things failed to get you into the movie, you had to rely on the action scenes, which were just plain bad. Don't waste your time with this piece of drivel.
Rating: 
Summary: A Disappointing Movie.
Review: I went to see this movie at the theater when it was released several months ago. The Thin Red Line was very boring and just wasn't interesting. No doubt that the acting and cinematography were good--but that was it. Once was enough. Not recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: A moderate success in spite of itself
Review: When I saw this movie, I suspected that Malick was missing the point, so I got the book, which only confirmed my impression. I was amazed by his ability to hew closely to the plot line of the book, but suppress most of its virtues. In place of James Jones' sharp characterizations and down-to-earth realism, Malick imposes pompous philosophizing that makes almost everyone seem the same. This dreary sameness makes the last 45 minutes of the movie quite dull. Excellent performances by Nick Nolte, Sean Penn, and Elias Koteas inject a degree of individuality to their characters, but they seem to succeed in spite of Malick's efforts to advance his ethereal message that war is unnatural. He errs most spectacularly in deviating from the book to hammer this silly point home by showing two AWOL soliers going AWOL in an idyllic Polynesian village. These scenes manage to be hackneyed, implausible, and condescending all at once. Even so, there's no denying that this is a beautiful movie, which is responsible for one of my stars. But the book was a much more rewarding experience.
Rating:
Summary: Sledgehammer Subtlety
Review: Never has a more self-important movie graced the screen. Any 10 year old can understand all the horror and psychological damge that war causes without the constant din of kindergarten level mental discourse. Malik's braindrain narrative is insulting to the viewers. War is bad? Oh dear. What a wonderfully original insight! If Malik was an automotive engineer, he would unveil his re-invention of wheel with great fanfare. Sorry, but psychological war dramas have been done before, with much greater impact. Try Beach Red. But forget this somnam-fest called The Thin Red Line. As a note to those armchair warriors who thought the plot of 'Ryan' too ridiculous. The plot is based on a actual mission. Guess who's too 'stupid' to appreciate it? Maybe some of the rear echelon heros here should enlist. Malik's supreme bore-fest is a shining example of the self-indulgent narcissism of the Hollywood artsy clique. They're too busy congratulating themselves and insulting everyone who rejects their garbage (stupid, uncultured, etc.) to notice that nobody's watching. Worse, they tout that a movie must be unpopular to be good. What arrogance.
Rating:
Summary: I wasted 3 hours of my life
Review: First off, the cinematography was excellent and the cast was unsurpassed. Aside from several great sequences in the film (not all of them where action sequences), the film dragged its feet. There was at most 2 hours of redeemable film stretched out to 3 hours. Malick has a vision in this film, almost "Apocalypse Now" like vision, showing the motivation behind each character. That part is not the problem, telling the emotional and mental pain soldiers go through while at war is a wonderful goal. Unfortunatly that goal is not met in this film. One of the problems is Malick tried to do this with too many characters. At times, I had no idea which charatcer was narrarating. The short scene with John Cusack is the most exhilarating scene in this film and the best one I've seen in quite awhile. Overall its a good film if you want to study human behavior in time of war, but not if you want a war film. It's not about war, it's about soldier's reaction to war.
Rating:
Summary: Half of the movie looks like Calvin Klein perfume commercial
Review: This movie is the worst war movie ever made... I never walked out of movie theater before but this movie almost made me. Half of the movie looks like early ninety's Calvin Klein perfume commercial.....in short, lots of style, NO SUBSTANCE. It is amazing to me that this movie received good reviews from film critics.
Rating:
Summary: huge waste of time
Review: this movie does not live up to the book or the original movie. it is a stupid waste of time and the plot is, well, i don't know what it is. it's wasn't even worth the effort put into the mouse clicks to get here. so many actors were wasted and this was made to cash in on Saving Private Ryan's success it seems. even my grandpa who was in the pacific in WW2 thought it was a dumb movie. i only reccomend this to people who have trouble falling asleep. turn this movie on, and the dialague will have you out like a light....
Rating:
Summary: Suck, suck suck
Review: If it were possible to give a rating of no stars, then that still would not be sufficient. This is perhaps one of the worst movies ever made not because of what it is, but rather what it tries to be. I suppose someone should have informed the director when he returned from his 20 year hiatus that these days, war movies have action, characters who you can relate to, and an overall storyline. Every time I would get the tiniest bit interested in what was going on, there would be a flashback to Sometown, USA, and I had no idea where that was and I could only guess who the people were. I guess that I might not be the best person to criticize this because I walked out after almost two hours of total boredom, but then maybe that makes me the perfect critic. Bottom Line: If you value your time and/or money in any way, shape, or form, rent Saving Private Ryan and see what a real war movie should be.
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