in due time.............

Rating: Null/10 (6 July 1999)

excellent, resonating movie. the polar reactions of hate or love to this movie definitely make the thin red line intriguing in itself. some movies gaining this reaction e.g. pulp fiction, fargo, 2001: a space odyssey, rushmore typically hold up under repeated viewing, and even turn some initial naysayers into fans. all these filmmakers had the guts to put out an unconventional piece of film, not visuals that shove emotion down our throat, waiting for us to say we're sorry and that americans are the only people that can supersede the evils of war (spielberg). film is an art, a movie is set up to entertain or inform. that's the main difference between "the thin red line" and "saving private ryan". art has to be carefully observed to see all the nuances, and when you gain a general understanding of a piece and what it means to the artist, you feel more deeply gratified. i've seen the movie twice, and found some different things that i missed the first time. don't get me wrong, i liked saving private ryan. the action sequences in saving private ryan have opened up groundbreaking possibilities in the action of the war film genre, similar to how star wars brought in special effects and style back in '77. but i've seen that twice too, and i think that's more than enough. usually spielberg movies don't hold up after seeing them a couple times. some people feel that star wars is the reason for the decline in the number of quality films, emphasizing eye candy and style over character development, existentialism, and human nature, which the phantom menace shamelessly does. whether saving private ryan does the same for the war film genre remains to be seen.