Rating: 
Summary: Not for Rambo lovers
Review: This wonderful, poetic movie traces the spiritual evolution of a young man who moves from fear of death to self-sacrifice for his company. Although the movie is set primarily on the battlefields of Gudacanal during W.W.II and contains some heartpounding action, it is not the traditional war movie where the good guys triumph over the bad guys through guts, glory and gunpowder. The war provides a setting for the director's ruminations on nature, man, death, life, love, ambition, fidelity, community and sacrifice. This movie is beautifully filmed and contains terrific acting. The leisurely pace, outstanding photography and memorable music add to the impact of this film. One of the best movies of the year.
Rating: 
Summary: Gorgeous yet almost completely uninvolving
Review: I was very disappointed by this film. It was, not surprisingly, a beautiful-looking work from start to finish and the actors here ranged from good to excellent but the film overall was unfocused, uninteresting, and irritatingly, self-consciously "meaningful". I could see what they were all going for here but it didn't work. I just felt manipulated and bored much of the time.
Rating: 
Summary: war movie
Review: this is a war movie and is very longit doesnt have a lotta combat scenes and has a lotta confusing voiceovers and its hard to tell who is who in this movie this movie is for people who like long movies but for people who like combat scenes beware!!
Rating:
Summary: Great combat scenes wrapped in beautiful scenery
Review: This film lulls you into a sense of peace and complacency, then shatters that feeling with stark, realistic battle scenes. Loosly based on James Jones' book, the film manages to convey the dichotomy between the horrors of war and the beauty of nature.
Rating: 
Summary: Colossal Waste of Time
Review: I gave this video to my fatherin-law [a WW2 vet] He watched and gave it to me and said he didn't understand it.He asked me to watch it and tell him what I thought. After wasting 3 hours plus with numerous rewinds after saying"wait,how did they get from here to there and who keeps babbling in the background thru most of the movie"; I've decided I don't understand it either. When he asked my opinion of the movie ,I told him. I believe the director was working with a very limited budget-action scenes and special effects had to be kept to a minimum and stars would only appear in walk-on roles. Therefore, let's make it appear to be a deep and thoughtful movie; the critics and other psuedo intellectuals will love it."Man's inhumanity-horrors of war-blab,blah,blah ad nauseum.Anyone who doesn't get it will be too ill-bred and ignorant to say anything and of course no one will care what they say anyway. I've read James Jones's From Here To Eternity and also watched the movie[one of the best ever made] several times. If this is the best that can be done with his novel;he's probably spinning in his grave even now.I recommend this movie only as a cure for insomnia-if you're considering buying the video as [horrors] entertainment ;don't bother.
Rating:
Summary: Please read this:
Review: Let me just say this: this movie will irritate and aggravate some mainstream viewers. Why? Because the plot is thin. Because the characters are weak. Because the movie is boring. We all seem to be missing the point. Many people have pointed out that it the film is unrealistic and are technically right. But by being unrealistic in appearance, it has become more realistic than any war movie, because it knows that in order for us to feel it, it has to come from inside, from the heart and the soul. We can't use our brains in this movie, it just won't work. It's boring, and that's the point--the soldiers are bored, are demoralized, and we are made to share that with them, to get that experience. It's useless yet inevitable to compare it with "Saving Private Ryan", but let me just say that they are very different. "Saving Private Ryan" 's plot is strong, the characters are strong. "The Thin Red Line" strays on and off, the climaxes come on and off, and the characters come on and off. There is no structure, but that is how it's most effective. They both work in their own way. But "The Thin Red Line" is the one that will strike you more emotionally, because it works from the inside, if only you'd try to appeciate, try not to compare it. Stop holding onto the conventional, just let it flow through you, and you'll experience something truly extraordinary. Try to appreciate it for what it is, not what it's not.
Rating:
Summary: Not Moviemaking but Filmmaking at it's Finest
Review: A film that questions the validity of war,and the explores CHOICE under a regimented environment. The Thin Red Line is the finest film ever made that deals with war and mans personal relationship with not only himself but his country,patriotism, his fellow man and himself under pressure. The cinematography of the film adds to the paradoxical poetry of Destruction in the Face of Beauty. The outstanding cast and perfectly played lead present a world where man's claim to what he is is questioned and whether man can choose which side of the line to be on. I classify this as my personal favourite of all time. It's artistic nature is not for all, but it's sheer beauty and peotry speak more of the realty of war in relation to not the platoon, but the soldier himself.
Rating:
Summary: NOT A WAR MOVIE
Review: GO SEE HAMBURGER HILL INSTEA
Rating:
Summary: MAJOR SNOOZER
Review: ONE OF THE THREE WORST MOVIES EVER MADE. IF THIS IS ART THAN WE SHOULD THROW ELEPHANT DUNG ON IT AND SHOWCASE IT AT THE MET. I'VE READ MANY ACCOUNTS CONVERNING THE PACIFIC FRONT IN WW2, GUADALCANAL IN PARTICULAR, AND THSI MOVIE DOES NOT DO IT JUSTICE.
Rating:
Summary: The best contemporary war film I've seen so far
Review: "The Thin Red Line" is the most underrated movie of 1998, it's easy to understand why; it is an unconventional movie that borders more on emotional exploration rather than storytelling, giving us its side of the story through a series of beautifully photographed images (it's almost etheral). Most people will consider it boring, but Terrence Malick's masterpiece (a shop-worn adjective used by all customers who reviewed this movie, as I can see) is a brooding, fascinating, and curiously cool experience. The ensemble cast is excellent, and the poetry that bleeds out of the movie never stops. After watching this movie, I've seen war from a totally new perspective, and I understood it even more. The cinematography is sweeping and heart-stopping, and the music is probably the best soundtrack of the year. Put everything together, and this poetic masterpiece is absolutely exceptional, one of a kind. It is the best contemporary war film I've seen so far, and I do not find that an overstatement. "The Thin Red Line" is an powerful and emotional experience.
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