Art for Art's sake

Rating: Null/10 (20 January 1999)

The Thin Red Line was not a bad movie. In fact, if you have over three hours to spare, and you huge attention span, you should take it in some afternoon. However, on a scale of 1-10 I would only give it a six and a half. The reason being that this movie was made as a collection of poetry, not a war movie. Perhaps this is what other say made it good, but the film doesn't follow the simple pattern that can keep an audience interested. You must have a goal, and by the end of the movie the characters have progressed toward or away from this goal. Each scene must have some significance to the overall point, and when a movie like this is made, the point is lost in too many characters and labored story flow. However, I do commend the poetic lines that occur whenever a character's inner thoughts are being heard. But, the reality of the situation is that you will like this movie if you are not looking for a war film. If you want a lyric depiction of thought and feelings, then this is your movie. If you are a little more reality based, then save it for video.