A very ordinary melodramatic war film

Rating: 6/10 (26 November 2001)

I guess I am one of the few who do not sing praises about this film. I am a great admirer of Steven Spielberg's early works--especially his small, great film "Duel". The later works of Spielberg have relied on emotions of audiences, not cinema as a creative medium or as a vehicle to present intelligent perspectives. It is sad that Terrence Mallick's intelligent film "The Thin Red Line" on the same war lost out to this melodramatic, ordinary effort from a man who has done better films when he had less success and money. A few shots of the old Spielberg did surface briefly when the film captured the first rain drops and the boots of soldiers getting wet.
Hollywood has made better war films than this one. The little known "Castle Keep" was one such film. Spielberg knows what appeals to the average American mind and makes movies that will be lapped up without giving the average moviegoer any reason to reflect or think. He has begun to play on emotions and is no longer reaching out to thinking viewers. He is aware that this will not make the box-office jingle. Most people do go to movies to relax, not to be wiser. Mallick, on the other hand, makes movies the way he wants them made forcing his viewers to think. Mallick will slowly be recognized as a master filmmaker in the US by adults as time goes by, while Spielberg will continue to appeal to the juvenile minds of adults, who love action and emote easily. The difference was evident, when the Berlin International Film Festival recognized Mallick's film with top honor and the Academy Awards bestowed its top honors on Spielberg in the same year. Viva la difference!