excellent if you're willing to look a little harder

Rating: Null/10 (30 November 2003)

I was told to watch a WWII movie for my history class (I'm only 15 years old), and in my opinion, The Thin Red Line was a great choice. I admit that a few parts of it were beyond my comprehension, but it was still easy enough to understand. I was too young to see this movie when it came out, and technically I still am. But anyone can appreciate this, and if you don't you're either (1) a shallow person looking for entertainment instead of meaning, or (2) maybe you're just not looking at it properly.
I was bored when I first saw this, but when I went back to watch it again, everything just clicked. It was easier to identify the voices of the narrators, and because of this, the whole movie was more clear. Including the nature shots was an absolutely brilliant idea; it offered a contrast between peace and chaos, Heaven and Hell, sanctuary and danger, and anything else you can imagine. This movie goes so far beyond the cliched good vs. evil - it goes into people's souls, it breaks the rules, it offers you an outlook on war that other directors are scared to touch.
If you couldn't tell by what I've written, I give this movie a 9 out of 10. The only reason it isn't perfect is because it wasn't clear the first time, something that could drive people away. But for those of you who have only seen it once, I strongly encourage you to see it again. You have no idea what you're missing.