Review of The Thin Red Line (1998) by Telorandf — 09 Jan 2008
Quite possibly the worst waste of three hours I have experienced. I rarely knew who I was looking at, as the soldiers all looked the same, and even more seldom was the feeling that I should care about them.
The voice-over-narrators all sounded the same, all spouting a similar, formulaic monologue to the effect of, "Who am I? Why are we fighting? Where do thoughts come from?" When I wasn't bored with the monologue, I was engulfed in a score that lacked any power and swelled when it should have been silent or was silent when it should have swelled.
In fact, the characters had no dynamics either. They all acted like scared little boys, both the experienced and those whose first war this was, and it is a wonder they weren't all killed by the Japanese.
That would have been impossible, however, as the Japanese were inept at shooting just about everything, not to mention they seemed to enjoy running over the hill towards the enemy, shouting instead of taking up positions and shooting.
One shining example of this is when the Americans take Hill 210 and run into the main encampment of the Japanese, much to their surprise. The clearly outnumbered Americans then slaughter nearly every Japanese they can point their gun at while the Japanese simply decide it is better to run away than pick up their guns and fight.
This film is misguided and sporadic, having only a vague plot, obscure goals, little to no characterization, and a pace so slow there is time to formulate your own cliche ponderings on life.
This review of The Thin Red Line (1998) was written by Telorandf on 09 Jan 2008.
The Thin Red Line has generally received very positive reviews.
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