Good, but not Great

Rating: 8/10 (12 March 2001)

The Thin Red Line had all the ingredients to be the BEST movie-no not best WAR movie, but best MOVIE of all time PERIOD. BUT, the creators of this movie committed a fatal error...the very error that is committed at least once every year in some movie. That error is the mistake of focusing the movie on symbolism rather than focusing it on plot or substance.
It's too bad, as this movie contain exceptional cinematography, and a whole slew of capable actors. But too many scenes of someone looking at a bird flying overhead and other "movie cliches" make this movie seem a little longer than it really is. Again, it's really too bad. A little less on symbolism and a little more focus on an actual storyline (which this movie doesn't even have), i give this a 9 or 10. I gave it an 8, and that is only because the potential was there. But because in all honesty the movie begins to stumble onto a path already well-traveled by previous war flicks, it only really deserves a 7.