A great book, a good idea, but not a good movie.

Rating: Null/10 (12 April 1999)

I felt this film wandered too much. While it was visually stunning, with some memorable characterizations (namely Elias Koteas' Capt. Staros, who SHOULD have been nominated for an Oscar, and John Cusak's Lt. Gaff) and an excellent score, in all I felt it failed to draw the audience in. I've seen movies that were not traditional beginning-middle-end stories, but I felt that this somehow missed the mark on making a coherent comment on war. The parade of cameos did little to help this film really make an impact, also. I kept thinking - "Oh look! Woody Harrelson. Oh look! Jared Leto. Oh look! George Clooney (pointless cameo) Oh look! John Travolta. And on and on. Hollywood agents must have done some serious butt-kissing to get their clients into this film.
The breaks in dialog so that the camera could pan up toward the sky, pause for a moment, and then pan back down so the dialog could begin again were distracting, also. This happened on several occasions, and I stopped caring about what was being said. Several people left the theatre while I was watching this movie, and I was relieved when it was over.