One of the best war films of all time...Saving Pvt. who?

Rating: 10/10 (6 August 1999)

This was a film that I looked forward to after seeing the first trailers for it. In the aftermath of the Saving Pvt. Ryan fiasco, this film was left to die in the dust. Although, many missed a truly magic movie about life and war. Frankly, the story does have some ruff spots, but with the top notch acting and beautiful scenery, this film really shines. Unfortunately it has to be compared to Pvt. Ryan. since the films were released months between each other. The main differences between the two are clearly obvious, if you have much of an open mind about these entirely different films. Thin Red Line has substance and glory within it's tomb, while the wonderfuly filmed, yet drab Pvt. Ryan has little story and is mostly praised on it's Normandy war scene (which pails in comparison to the end battle which is much more powerful and exciting). TRL doesn't base it's innards on fighting and gunfire. While there are some scenes where battles ensue, a bulk of the film is told with heart and feeling of the highlighted soldiers. The acting from the many of high profile stars ignites the screen with a lasting presence. I only wish many of the parts of this film wern't cut, even though it would push the running time to almost 5 hours, it would have been nice to see the whole of George Clooney's part and not the 5 mins that was rewarded to him. It was sad to see this movie lost the Oscar race to Pvt. Ryan and Shakspeare in Love (though a good film). But thankfuly we can always enjoy this film on video and hopefully DVD, when it comes out. 10 out of 10.