Highly ambitious, but difficult...

Rating: Null/10 (30 May 2011)

The thin Red line is the 2nd Malick film I have watched, and I am already getting familiar with his film style.
The Thin Red Line is probably the most difficult war film to really grasp. I don't want to make it sound as if it's one of those films that is hard to get, because that sounds pretentious, but in all honesty, it was for me. The action scenes are easy to admire, and they are full of tension and are directed with great force. There are moments of real transcendence in the story that give the film real texture and beauty. This is one of those films hat one has to concentrate on and give their full attention to. I feel like I did, or tried to, for the most part.
This is how I see it. I know that a film like this deserves my 100% attention, but when I don't, then when I end up admiring it a lot but not really enjoying it, I feel like then it's my fault and so a rewatch is in store. But why should I? If the film didn't grab me enough for me to be invested in it's storyline (unlike Badlands) then why should I say that this criticism in part is because of me? It sounds like I didn't like the film, but I did. I do recommend it, but I will say that what is probably it's biggest problem is the running time. Maybe in the future I can rewatch it, but not to try and like it more, just to see how it fares. However, just driven by it's ambition and for some really great moments scattered around, I will settle on a final score of 7.5/10.