I'm not sure if I watched the same flick

Rating: 5/10 (6 June 2000)

I'm not sure if I watched the same flick as the others who have had positive things to say about this movie ... I just found this movie to be lacking and dragging. This one isn't for the faint of heart folks.
The plot is pretty basic. It could have been better executed by cutting some of the unnecessary elements. As is, it drags the movie out and makes it very difficult to watch. The movie as a whole could have benefitted from cutting a half an hour out of it. As is, it is nearly unwatchable to me. I have no problem with peaks and valleys in a movie, in fact I believe that peaks and valleys are keys to holding the audience through the picture. This film is just one long valley though.
I was impressed with the talent associated with this movie. I recognized may names and thought that such a group would surely translate into a great performance overall. As it is, not one of the characters in this movie gave me any reason to care. I just didn't feel any energy from them. They were just too flat and one dimensional.
Some of the scenes were above average in this film, particularly the jungle scenes, but after other war films, these scenes also came off as a little flat. Locations were exotic enough. The actual visuals of the movie just didn't hit me. I'm not asking for Matrix special effects, but something. I just didn't get that out of the film.
All in all, it is one movie that I just couldn't take. I didn't get a sense of urgency, wrong or anything out of this movie. It just didn't move me intellectually or emotionally. It has to be the movie I've been the most disappointed with in the last 3 years.