I was a little surprised...

Rating: Null/10 (13 June 2002)

I was a little surprised by the number of people in the comment section who seemed to like this film.
I found this film to be trying to be something, and not quite getting there. I also hated how some people commented on the realism of war in the Thin Red Line. I found that all this film had going for it in that department was that the physics used in this film were much better than in older war films. Meaning, that a grenade does not propel a man twenty feet in the air. Aside from that, where's the realism? There is very little in the way of blood (World War II weapons, and all weapons, are not kind to human flesh.), and gore.
The plot was also confusing. It seemed to lead somewhere, and nothing. James Caviezel, for example (I don't think this applies as a plot spoiler), is going somewhere and meets up with another soldier (I think it was the guy he was AWOL with at the beginning of the film). They talk, bla bla, and you never see the guy again. Was it to introduce some emotion, of how the guy is so happy to get away from the fighting. Maybe. Or another scene, in which they show an alligator (or a crocodile) that the GIs had captured, in the back of a truck. Did that scene contribute anything to the film?
Also, the cinematography was, in a word, odd. At climatic scenes, you would get wonderful footage of the forest, and animals. Who cares? I don't care about bats in the tree. Not while these people are shooting at each other.
The voice overs were also annoying. But only annoying. They got stupid later on when the guy dies, and I swear, he's still doing voice overs. Isn't he dead? What did those voice overs contribute to the plot? Nothing that couldn't have been spoken aloud.
What was with the marketing of this movie with George Clooney, and John Travolta as key players?
For that year, Saving Private Ryan was the better war film. Why? You care when the characters died. (small spoiler alert) Woody Harrelson's death scene, is tragic, but who cares? He barely spoke before, and there was nothing that made him more special than any extra in the film, except that he's Woody Harrelson. In the department of realism, Saving Private Ryan is ahead by at least decade.
I have seen this film only on T.V. but it has struck me every time I've seen it as an unremarkable film that tries everything but achieves nothing. The so called realism, isn't there. Camera man is out to lunch. Plot comes and goes. This was the battle of Guadalcanal. This was one of the most brutal battles fought in WWII. This was the first major land engagement the Americans fought against the Japanese. We get to see how the bats in the trees are doing. Who cares?