The Thin Red Line

The Thin Red Line is an unconventionel war film because it is not totally plot-driven. It is not only about the American army's conquest of Guadalcanal, a small strategically situated island in the Pacific, during WW2. It also deals with the thoughts and emotions of a group of soldiers. To a large extent the film succeeds in moving focus away from the story to concentrate on the inner lives of soldiers in war. In these passages the film has a poetic quality to it that is only emphasized by the stunning visuals.

The film is overlong, though. It could have had a running time of about two hours because the last 40 minutes are superfluous.