More like Dullsville.

Rating: 3/10 (28 October 2006)

This is probably my shortest ever review for any film.
There is one spectacular battle at the start: grim, grimy and grueling and showing what war means: death all around. Technically well done, but nothing new. Quite a few war films in the last twenty years showed it equally well, or better: Apocalypse Now (1979), Platoon (1986), Full Metal Jacket (1987), The Thin Red Line (1998). Whew, even Gone With The Wind (1939) is a far better story.
This movie is death to the senses, however, because it's what you can get when you mix genres: is it a love story during war or is it a war story that shows love is still possible? Either way, it's a dull, dull, dull story. The characters are dull, and the acting is dull.
Which is all quite surprising from the late director of The English Patient (1996), a much superior film and story, in my opinion. Just proves, however, that you need a good story before you can make a good movie, especially when set during wartime.
Cold Mountain, however, reminded me of the tedium of another war movie, Battle Cry (1955). And for a more credible love story set in war, see From Here To Eternity (1953)
So, don't bother to see the rest of Cold Mountain after that first battle, unless you like long flashbacks, long interludes and voice-overs that serve merely to send you to sleep.
In fact, I don't even recommend seeing it, even the first big battle. It's just not worth your time.