Thin Red Line, The



Starring: George Clooney, John Cusack, Nick Nolte, Thomas Jane, John Travolta, Sean Penn, James Caviezel, Ben Chaplin, Elias Koteas, Woody Harrelson

Directed by: Terrence Malick

Produced by: Fox 2000 Pictures, Geisler-Roberdeau, Phoenix Pictures

Distributed by: 20th Century Fox

Genre: war

Xibo's grade:

B-

Average grade:

B+

 


B- B- B-
Review by Xibo Date seen: January 16, 1999
Viewing Location: Secaucus Grade: B-
Summary: Another warm film in response to Saving Private Ryan
I'm not sure what the point of this movie was. It dragged on for three hours and was pretty boring most of the time. I guess they wanted to make an all-star answer to Saving Private Ryan. It wasn't as horrific, thankfully. It tells the tale of the capture of Guadacanal, and presents the horrors of war (as if we needed convincing that war is horrible). It also (sadly) tries to throw a liberal bent to it, making like we were evil to fight the japs. Hello? They bombed us in our country... they had to be defeated. Anyway, Nick Nolte and Sean Pean give excellent performances, and there's some okay acting by a couple other guys I didn't recognize, but the whole thing just dragged on and on. There was no real plot, and the whole thing just kinda ended after a while. I thought they were done at the two-hour point, but they dragged on for another hour after that. I miss the old-fashioned war movies, where there was a definite plot, less gore, heroic heroes, and you felt good watching it. After all, movies are supposed to be entertainment.  

B- B- B-
Review by Carneggy Date seen: March 1, 2000
Viewing Location: home Grade: B-
Summary: Esoteric? You bet!
Like Xibo noted, very very light on plot, and very big on voice-overs and morality lessons. Visually beautiful film, strong acting performances - in a film that seems Written For Actors To Emote In. Wasn't ever supposed to be Private Ryan, and was made at the same time - this film goes in a totally different direction. Unfortunately, the film goes down that direction without leaving any of the viewers a map to follow. It's very, very long, and very slow in places. Don't watch this if you're expecting an action film, or even an active one. Even so, some of the scenes and much of the acting were excellent. 

A- A- A-
Review by tmon Date seen: December 31, 2000
Viewing Location: NYC Grade: A-
Summary: Give it a chance.
Some have said that the long pauses and strange jump from one personal story to another made this film a little artsy. Well, maybe. But I liked the fact that it tried not to be a story centered around one or two people, that in a bloody standoff there may be many heroes and not just many victims. The sharp contrast of the "newbies" coming in after the first ones in had suffered was well played. I could have done without the George Cloney cameo. If you let yourself go and fall into the imagery of the movie you will fell like you are sitting on the ground watching these men. 

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