Absolutely, Positively Brilliant

Rating: Null/10 (27 July 1999)

How unfortunate that the release came so quickly on the heels of "Private Ryan"; a lot of people went in expecting the hell-on-wheels non-stop carnage of that movie and left disappointed.
A shame.
Those of us who know Malick's work knew that this was going to be a more contemplative piece; however, I didn't know that it was going to be this great.
Just as you don't go to the symphony to dance, you don't go to this movie looking for summer slam-bang action thrills. Instead, what you have is one of the most beautifully photographed and symbolic war movies ever made.

Make no mistake: the combat scenes in this are just as jarring--if not as graphic--as "Ryan," and it seemed that they were even more unnerving because of the creepy anticipation that would unspool before them. The fog-shrouded assault on a Japanese camp had to be one of the most insane sequences since the "What are they doing!?" face-to-face combat of "Glory."
Sean Penn contributes yet another convincing performance, and in what could probably be called the role of the movie's moral "center," the deserter-turned-hero Witt is unforgettable--Oscar for that guy!
The many cameos are so/so. Cusack gets the best battle sequence and delivers as usual; Travolta is appropriately sleazy; Nolte does what Nolte always does. If you blink, you'll miss Jared Leto and about 5 other guys who's names you don't know but whom you'll recognize anyway. Only George Clooney seems somewhat tacked-on and strangely out of place at the end, much like Ted Danson seemed in the middle of "Ryan."
Go watch it again if you didn't like it. Just soak it in. It's one of the best movies of the decade.