Good, but simply NOT great

Rating: 7/10 (17 August 1999)

While I enjoyed this film and was at times quite moved by it, I am sad to say that I found it rather boring. I sincerely respect the message of the film and don't mean to imply that there wasn't enough "Rambo" sequences. Quite the contrary. It seems that viewers of war films have matured since the combat glorification of the Rambo and Chuck Norris tripe of the 80's.
The message of this film (and obviously the recent "Saving Private Ryan") does indeed get delivered. But the delivery is via Pony Express rather than FedEx. It simply took too long for anything to happen. And it was not captivating enough to have the 3+ hours seem any shorter.
While the acting was very good, I didn't see any career performances. We've seen all of these characters before in some form in a variety of other films. Some of the dialogue between characters seemed a little too "poetic" at times and not reflective of what my interpretation of real-life communication would be like in those circumstances.
One aspect I found particularly interesting, however, was the display of fear shown by soldiers on both sides. This is more realistic rather than showing us the "bad guys" as evil and glad to be where they were shooting our "heros". There was the same fear and perhaps reluctance on both sides.
To compare this film, as another reviewer has, to Lawrence of Arabia, All Quiet on the Western Front, etc. or to say it is among the top 20 films of all time is a more than a little overly enthusiastic.
It was a GOOD film, with an important message that does EVENTUALLY get delivered to the viewer. That's about it.