Whilst I'm not a huge fan of World War films I have to say this ranks as the best I've seen. It pretty much covers all the ideas and standpoints regarding war, which is aided by a large cast, with each character being representative of a different theme/opinion. Its full of first class stars too (although George Clooney being on the box for his 1 minute screen time is ridiculous!) from Sean Penn to John Travolta. No one particularly gives a stand out performance though. Also, maybe this was intentional, but it was irritatingly difficult to distinguish who was who exactly, meaning a lot of the characters blended into one.
One of the most poignant themes is probably nature and war and how the two are linked. This is beautifully represented through Malick's direction. Some of the shots are really powerful and its something, unfortunately, left unexplored by most (or all?) war films. The romantic flashback scenes were so stunning and delicately handled, compared to the equally stunning but brutal war scenes. The grassy hill scenery is stunningly exploited!
The characters are forgettable and the plot feels unfocused and uninteresting especially for a three hour film, but its beautiful to look at and picks up some interesting points about war. I feel Tree Of Life will suit Malick's directing abilities more so. Cant wait! [B+]
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