War is hell, The Thin Red Line isn't

Rating: 9/10 (21 July 1999)

I went into this film expecting a lot (because of the hype), and Terrence Malik certainly delivered. I have never seen a film that depicted not only the terror of war, but the terror of the soldiers in that war. The only movie that comes close is All Quiet on the Western Front (actually, the book is about 3,000x better than either version I saw). Sean Penn is absolutely great, although I wish he had more of the insane character that Jones created in his book. The only complaint I really have is the scenes on the tropical island that just drag on forever. Don't get me wrong - I don't want nonstop action, but I wish those scenes maybe had been cut a little bit. That aside, I highly recommend this movie, a much more realistic WWII flick than Saving Private Ryan.