Philosophy Question:

Rating: Null/10 (25 October 2002)

Why is it that after Forrest Gump every simpleton southerner who goes around asking stupid questions with his thick accent is the next Aristotle? May some scholar strike me down if I'm wrong, but I don't recall reading very much of Hobbes, Plato, hell, even Marx, where they open up with a question like "What is war?" Does Hollywood think it's audience isn't quite sharp enough to catch on to philosophy that runs deeper than that? I don't think this film's philosophy would have bothered me so much except that it seems like every film when it tries to get sophisticated gets simplistic and asks the question "What is . . . " ? Find a new opening, new metaphors--find some originality for God's sake.
To find peace of mind and understanding of the world, you have to have that right annoying, regional ring in your voice and the IQ of a retard--that worked for Forrest, and the story was cute reasonably original, and touching. But for once I'd like to see a normal talking, maybe slightly above average--street smart--guy have a pretty firm grasp and peace within himself. With that said, let's just say some characters irritated me and I shed no tears for them when the end of the film came.

This is the movie that would not end for me. Instead of going into overkill on the action, the bloody, the horrors of war--Thin Red Line tries to take a more subtle approach. Fair enough. I enjoyed Patton and that had nothing in terms of action compared to say, Black Hawk Down. So less emphasis on the gunfights, more emphasis on the soldier's emotions, mentality, feelings, etc. Still, fair game--once again Patton is more about the man, not he war he fought in, but with the 1970 film Patton I actually liked and bought into and sympathized with the man being portrayed. In the case of Thin Red Line, I can't really say I care to remember any of the characters in the film. None of them spoke to me. None of them convinced me they were more than cliche cutouts, trying with everything in them to become a fully fleshed out character.
In the end I wound up watching a bunch of people I have no interest in watching on film thinking, remember the good 'ol times, and frankly, I'd rather not. With subpar narration, multiple voice overs by what seems like someone different each time. Then when the 'climactic' battle takes place, I was in awe at how well the images and the music (provided by Hans Zimmer) came together as all sound effects were silenced, and the music/images spoke for themselves. I was ready to turn the movie off with the satisfaction of at least getting a killer ending. Guess what? That was the midpoint . ..
By far the high point of the film is Zimmer's incredibly subtle, yet extremely powerful score. This score contains what I feel is the most powerful track of any war film. Other than one spectacular sequence about midway through the film, I couldn't help but constantly ask myself "When did I start this film? How much longer do I have?" Especially after they journey to the line . . .