contrary to many reviews, this is not the anti-"Saving Private Ryan"

Rating: 5/10 (30 November 2006)

When "Saving Private Ryan" came out, some critics complained that it glamorized war, and so "The Thin Red Line" would be the opposite: you get killed and that's it. As far as I could tell, that wasn't the case. While the movie focused on a contingent of soldiers fighting in the Pacific in WWII, it didn't look at the idea and ramifications of war in general - there was certainly no focus on the insanity of war. In a way, much of the movie seemed to consist of conversations between the cadets. I know that it's probably a good idea to show how individuals experience something as important as a world war, but I didn't find the movie particularly memorable. It was long and slow, if you will (Terrence Malick's next movie, "The New World", also was).
Starring Sean Penn, Adrien Brody, Nick Nolte, John Travolta and George Clooney.