Verdict:
The Thin Red Line is not as good as it believes itself to be. The creators appear to believe that it is a war movie to end all war movies. It has a message, action, top actors, orchestral music and more than 2.5 hours of screen time. Look at it, sitting all puffed-up over there, chest out and staring dramatically into the distance.
And you know what, to some degree, by virtue of aiming high and being self-confident, it does achieve a certain level of quality.
For one, it looks good. One of the recurring themes of the movie is the glory of nature’s world compared to the smallness of men’s world and you get to see some pretty scenery of the pacific, sometimes in slow motion, in high def and wide screen.
As already mentioned, it has a good cast too. Nick Nolte, Sean Penn, Woody Harrelson, Cusack, Chaplin, Travolta, Cloony. Can’t spit without hitting a star. And the stars do what they are paid for. There are no bad performances. The thing is, did we really need all these guys to make the movie good? This is where you can see The Thin Red Line trying too hard.
In its arrogance, it sometimes gets a little too far up its own behind and becomes boring and pretentious.
During the slower moment, various soldiers are narrating in poetic prose about nature, humanity, and various existential topics. Now, I know there are going to be people out there praising this narration, even though I also know that some of them do not understand what is being said. “Hey, it sounds and looks artsy. Quickly, give it an Oscar, before anyone thinks that we are not smart enough to get it.”
The slower moments of reflection serve a good cause. They put you into a trance so that when something happens, it makes a bigger splash. It’s like the quieter moments in music that create a dynamic range with the louder moments. However, some of these quieter moments drag on for longer than needed. I found my mind wandering off. The expressive philosophical style works in the movie’s favor sometimes but other times it comes off as preachy and pompous.
The Thin Red Line is a movie that tries too hard, but that does not stop it from being notable. Sweeping wide shots of nature, good performances and slow moments create an expressive trance. It is just a shame that you could cut an hour of this movie and it would not lose anything. After the movie ends, you may end up feeling sleepy – isn’t that strange for a war movie?