"In this world, a man himself is nothing. And there ain't no world but this once."

Rating: 10/10 (5 July 2012)

One of the greatest war films of all time, if not the best one of the 90s. And yes, I do include Spielberg's "Saving Private Ryan". I own both films and every time I watched "Saving Private Ryan" I couldn't help but feel something was missing. Then I finally saw this movie and I felt complete. To be clear, this movie's beautiful cinematography fuses with narration from multiple characters and an orgasmic score to create a very surreal, at times dream-like atmosphere.
A great aspect of the film is its often poetic dialogue coupled with beautiful images. One of the subtle notions of the film hinted at thru out; the camera continuously captures the picturesque nature of the island where death reigns supreme. Does nature mock man for killing one another? Is it indifferent? This is a perplexing and tragic question the movie poses. It also displays the brutality of men during war, quite effectively portraying the frailty of the soldiers on both sides. One of my favorite scenes has to be when Arie Verveen as Pfc. Charlie Dale sits down next to a dying Japanese soldier and says to him "I'm gonna sink my teeth into your liver, you're dyin'. You see them birds up there? They're gonna eat you raw. Where you're going you're not coming back from."
Accompanying all this is a score by the great Hans Zimmer that quite frankly is one of his best. At times roaring with ferocity and yet at many times full of melancholy, the music of the movie can shift moods seamlessly and without ever feeling out of place. And the battle scenes are incredibly shot, the camera often following soldiers right thru the chaos of war. Cementing all this is a spectacular cast, probably one of the most impressive I have ever seen in the war genre. Nick Nolte, John Cusack, John Travolta, Jim Caviezel, and Sean Penn there's talent tearing at the seams in this one.
I would love to someday be able to purchase this so called director's cut.