The Thin Red Line (1998)

Watched this Netflix delivered WWII film of the battle for Guadalcanal.

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A regular star fest, this film had General John Travolta, Colonel Nick Nolte, Seargents Sean Penn and Woody Harrelson.

Plenty of old-school WWII style good-old all-American action. The movie centers around a group trying to take a hill on Guadalcanal to break the "red line" of Japanese-held islands in the South Pacific. After a little set-up it covers a couple of days of fighting to take one very tall hill.

Honestly the movie let me get a little distracted with other things around the house. At one point I found myself loading the dishwasher while machine guns and explosions invaded the living room. For a moment I felt like that Netflix commercial where the guy comes home in the middle of an invasion came true.

There was a lot of character introspection through internal dialog via voice-overs, instead of external dialog or action. I realize the movie is an adaptation of a book, but this mechanism fails to impress me, especially when it happens with so many characters. I'd almost rather have soliloquy as a character wanders off than voice over as he does the same.

Other than loosing my interest for a bit, the movie was an OK watch. I might try it again in a different mood or setting before I rule it out.