Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

What I can't understand is actually the fuss surrounding this film. People aren't just confused by it, they're acting offended by it. Apparently audiences in a lot of showings were yelling at the screen and snapping at people who tried to shush them. This movie was unusual, but I don't get what caused people to be so actively offended by it when they can sit through most movies, ambitious or otherwise, without any real problem. Is it the norm in our culture now to react to unexpected or strange images on the screen by getting angry and yelling? Could I just go out on a limb and say that if you leave before a film's over or spend the entire time yelling at the screen, I have no respect for your opinion of the film? Chimps parading as people aside, I at least enjoyed the movie. I saw it late in its run so I never had to worry about an audience yelling at the screen. I'm the kind of person who's patient. If a movie confuses me I don't flip out or start yelling and ranting; I sit it out. So that's what I did with this movie. I tried my best to see what Malick was doing, because I think it's pretty obvious that such a respected filmmaker would have seen at least some reason for making this movie. First of all, there's one major reason why this film isn't for everyone and it's not one I've heard anyone else mention: The film, from top to bottom, is extremely musical. I mean that in many ways, but let me be clearer: The father in the family the story focuses on wanted to be a conductor and dropped off that career path in favor of a secure job. The soundtrack is all very carefully-chosen classical music. And if you zoom out far enough, the overall structure of the film is actually a very musical one - you could almost see it as some insane variant on sonata form. It's hard to describe, but visual themes resurface at various times in the film in ways that feel very similar to recapitulations in music. As I said; not for everyone. I picked up on this stuff, but I'm a musician. I loved it. As far as the images of dinosaurs and the cosmos interspersed in it, my impression was that Malick was trying to show cycles of creation, longing and destruction in frameworks other than those of humans. As I saw it - and this is up for debate - I read the movie as showing a very eastern sort of philosophy; one that involves a sort of reincarnation or continuation beyond the lives and deaths of individuals, species, or even planets. Call that pretentious if you want, I thought it was done very nicely, though, and I'm very decidedly buying it as soon as it's out on DVD. Also, I don't get why people bothered yelling at the scenes of the cosmos. If you didn't get it, I still think it was some of the most beautiful visuals I've seen in a film in a really long time. Relax. It's pretty.