Total directorial self-indulgence

Rating: Null/10 (27 February 1999)

Let me first say that the photography was marvelous. The voice-overs gave us insight into what the characters were thinking, feeling, etc. The acting was superb, particularly Nolte and Penn. The nature shots were insightful and beautiful. The metaphors also gave meaning to this film and gave us a link between humanity and the cruelty of war. The cutaways to the natives too gave us additional insight, but until the end of the movie, left me confused as to time and place and relevance to what appeared to be the central story.
These were all great things. But sometimes more is not better, it is just more, and in this case, the good things were overdone to the point of frustrating the viewer. This movie reeks of excess and directorial self-indulgence ad nauseum.
Had Malick used a portion of all of these good things instead of beating us to death with them, and cut this film by about 1 hour +, the film might have left me a lot less frustrated.
The best part of this film was the insight it gave into the horrors of war, for all. The Japanese (the enemy) were just as sympathetic, and we realized they too, were human beings caught up in the cruelties of war.
I am not quite sure why people compare this with Private Ryan, other than that they were both WWII movies. Private Ryan had a definitive storyline, which this movie lacked. The beginning could have been the end, it mattered not. The juxtopposition that Thin Red Line is unclear totally as to time in history, (and now, having read that these men were for the most part, cleanup after the main invasion, is totally unbeknownst to the viewer) to the excesses is an enigma. Other than the obvious "horrors of war" message, this movie totally lacked a storyline, and I found myself wondering, what was the point? On the other hand, what should have been subtlety was rammed down one's throat. I wanted to scream, "All right already, we get it! Enough!!" It was over-everything'd to death and I must say that I am extremely frustrated because Malick took what started out to be inventive and creative and turned it into a vehicle for directorial self-indulgence.