ponderous

Rating: Null/10 (3 January 1999)

The Thin Red Line, the second WWII film to come out in 1998, is a film that aspires to greatness and falls down in its climb. Visually, it's beautiful to look at. Two time Oscar winner John Toll has given the hills of Guadalcanal a luster that reminded me of his previous efforts, Legends of the Fall and Braveheart. The battle scenes between the American and Japanese forces are heart pounding and brutal, there is a sense of dread as you watch the soldiers advance up a hill that has a machine gun pillbox at the top. Unfortunately, the film doesn't know what it wants to be. The action sequences are good, but in order for them to work, you have to care about the characters, and in order for that to work, you have to know who they are! The Thin Red Line boasts a good cast, but they come and go so quickly on the screen you don't have time to connect with them. The voice over narration adds to the confusion. I found myself wondering, who was talking? Toward the end of the movie, I found myself thinking, I can't tell the soldiers apart! Maybe that's what Terence Malick wanted, maybe not. In any case, The Thin Red Line was a failed epic. It had a chance for greatness, but it lingered to long on the philosophical views of war, and did not let you get to know the men the way that Saving Private Ryan did.