Certainly, every year has had a certain level of artistry portrayed on the silver screen, but no year this decade has achieved such a high level of quality feature films produced by studios. Even Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan was poetic at times. Unfortunately for Malick, his film may be coming out too soon. And it is a shame, since Malick astonishingly achieves a film of pure poetry told with a narrative completely lacking of logic and comprehensibility. My answer is no.
Visual imagery is more powerful than any written word, if done correctly.
Malick is a masterful storyteller in that his films tend to defy what we perceive as the normal way of telling stories. THE THIN RED LINE balances a very thin line between a jumbled mess and enchanting expressionism. Both Beloved and THE THIN RED LINE seem to open a new line of storytelling. Saving Private Ryan set a new standard in the war movie genre, but THE THIN RED LINE pushes those limits even further. The film is filled with awe-inspiring images and horrific battles that resemble Platoon more than Spielberg's war film.