Flags of Our Fathers (2006)
WMB Rating:
(6 votes, average: 4.17 out of 5) 
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Flags of Our Fathers is the story of three men who were honored (I guess you could call it that) for their part in raising (one of) the flags over Iwo Jima in 1945.
However it portrays this "honor" as that of being used as marketing pawns in the name of selling more war bonds. Additionally it portrays two of the three in a somewhat questionable light. I don't know if director Clint Eastwood did this on purpose or if it was just a reflection of the facts that were known to him and his staff, and having not read the book this was based off of, I can't say for sure.
What I can say is I watched this movie and felt sort of, well, ticked off during most of it. Mostly because of the way these men were being portrayed. You have Rene, the guy who seems to be eating up all the fame and glory, at least thats how it seemed. Then there's Ira Hayes, the native american who spends most of the "tour" drunk. Reflections of the facts? Again, I don't know, but it was just unsettling and maddening.
Yes, I understand why. They did not see themselves as the heroes they were made out to be, they felt others deserved more credit than themselves. I guess that in itself makes up for it somewhat. The whole message (which is an excellent one we all should take to heart) seems to get lost in the negative portrayals.
The battle scenes are filmed spectacularly, and the continuity from one shot to the next, from airplane cockpit, to beach, to battleship is truly amazing. Although I still say they went way overboard with the color desaturation. These scenes nearly look black and white they've been toned out so much. The grit and fear comes through painfully spectacular.
On top of that the way the battle scenes are cut in between the scenes of the "war bond tour" can get confusing. There are a few times you wonder exactly what the timeline you're looking at is. Which came first, where are we now, what the hell is going on... you get my drift.
Is this a good movie? Yes, and no. I'm not going to put it on par with the likes of Saving Private Ryan, or anything like that. Even though I think that's what they were shooting for. I think the intentions were good, to create a Private Ryan-like memorial film for the men who fought and died in the Pacific. And I'll give points for effort, but the whole thing just doesn't fit together.
I also wonder if there isn't some other message Mr. Eastwood was going for, that of the commercialism and exploitation of those we would call "heroes."
There's a lot to think about here, and there are a lot of moving moments that make this a worthwhile couple of hours, but keep in mind the message and try not to get as ticked off as I did! Focus on the honor they pay to "Doc" and you'll come away a lot more un-angry.
Like I said I have not read the book by the same name, maybe I should. It may shed a different light on things. I'd be interested in any comments any readers may have on this, what your thoughts are.
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Description
From Academy Award-winning director Clint Eastwood (Million Dollar Baby, Unforgiven) comes the World Was II epic Flags of Our Fathers, produced by Eastwood, Academy Award winner Steven Spielberg (Saving Private Ryan, Schindler’s List), and Rob Lorenz (Mystic River), and from a screenplay adapted by William Broyles, Jr. (Cast Away) and Oscar winner Paul Haggis (Million Dollar Baby, Crash). February 1945. Even as victory in Europe was finally within reach, the war in the Pacific raged on. One of the most crucial and bloodiest battles of the war was the struggle for the island of Iwo Jima, which culminated with what would become one of the most iconic images in history: five Marines and a Navy corpsman raising the American flag on Mount Suribachi. The inspiring photo capturing that moment became a symbol of victory to a nation that had grown weary of war and made instant heroes of the six American soldiers at the base of the flag, some of whom would die soon after, never knowing that they had been immortalized. But the surviving flag raisers had no interest in being held up as symbols and did not consider themselves heroes; they wanted only to stay on the front with their brothers in arms who were fighting and dying without fanfare or glory. Flags of Our Fathers is based on the bestselling book by James Bradley with Ron Powers, which chronicled the battle of Iwo Jima and the fates of the flag raisers and some of their brothers in Easy Company. Bradley’s father, John "Doc" Bradley, was one of the soldiers pictured raising the flag, although James never knew the full extent of his father’s experiences until after the elder Bradley’s death in 1994.
Thematically ambitious and emotionally complex, Clint Eastwood's Flags of Our Fathers is an intimate epic with much to say about war and the nature of heroism in America. Based on the non-fiction bestseller by James Bradley (with Ron Powers), and adapted by Million Dollar Baby screenwriter Paul Haggis (Jarhead screenwriter William Broyles Jr. wrote an earlier draft that was abandoned when Eastwood signed on to direct), this isn't so much a conventional war movie as it is a thought-provoking meditation on our collective need for heroes, even at the expense of those we deem heroic. In telling the story of the six men (five Marines, one Navy medic) who raised the American flag of victory on the battle-ravaged Japanese island of Iwo Jima on February 23rd, 1945, Eastwood takes us deep into the horror of war (in painstakingly authentic Iwo Jima battle scenes) while emphasizing how three of the surviving flag-raisers (played by Adam Beach, Ryan Phillippe, and Jesse Bradford) became reluctant celebrities – and resentful pawns in a wartime publicity campaign – after their flag-raising was immortalized by Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal in the most famous photograph in military history. As the surviving flag-raisers reluctantly play their public roles as "the heroes of Iwo Jima" during an exhausting (but clearly necessary) wartime bond rally tour, Flags of Our Fathers evolves into a pointed study of battlefield valor and misplaced idolatry, incorporating subtle comment on the bogus nature of celebrity, the trauma of battle, and the true meaning of heroism in wartime. Wisely avoiding any direct parallels to contemporary history, Eastwood allows us to draw our own conclusions about the Iwo Jima flag-raisers and how their postwar histories (both noble and tragic) simultaneously illustrate the hazards of exploited celebrity and society's genuine need for admirable role models during times of national crisis. Flags of Our Fathers defies the expectations of those seeking a more straightforward war-action drama, but it's richly satisfying, impeccably crafted film that manages to be genuinely patriotic (in celebrating the camaraderie of soldiers in battle) while dramatizing the ultimate futility of war. Eastwood's follow-up film, Letters from Iwo Jima, examines the Iwo Jima conflict from the Japanese perspective. --Jeff Shannon Beyond Flags of Our Fathers Other World War II DVDs Essential DVDs by Director Clint Eastwood Flags of Our Fathers by James Bradley Stills from Flags of Our Fathers (click for larger image)
DVD Information
Binding: DVDAspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Brand: PARAMOUNT HOME VIDEO
Manufacturer: Dreamworks Video
Original Release Date:
Actors:
- Ryan Phillippe
- Jesse Bradford
- Adam Beach
- John Benjamin Hickey
- John Slattery
Reviews
Related posts:
A whole squad of new war movie DVDs make their debut, just in time for some Memorial Day movie marathons!Letters from Iwo Jima (2007)There’ll be a review of this sometime in the next couple of weeks, if NetFlix comes through! (So far I’m impressed..
Hm. Its taken me a while to write this. I’ve really had to think about what I was going to put here after seeing Clint Eastwood’s “sequel” to Flags of Our Fathers (WMB review here…) The story of “Letters From Iwo Jima” is the Japanese
This movie was not as great as i had expected, quite frankly i was disapointed. It had alot of nice scenes, such as when the three soldiers climb the ridge in the begining, and are suddenly in a stadium with a cheering audience. I overall found most confusing the constantly changing timeline, and found it hard to know when it was after the battle, and when during. Also, I did not know what to make of the scene where a soldier falls overboad the ship and they say no one will stop for him. What did any of you make of that?
I agree 100%, a lot of the time you’re kind of left sitting there going “eh what happened? where are we?” and then you realize it. Really distracting overall.
I forgot about the “man overboard” scene. Not having read the book I can’t say for sure but it wouldn’t surprise me if it happened. Probably more than once.
Thanks for reading! Glad to know somebody is
I was very disappointed with this movie. The movie attempted to belittle the most enduring symbol of the U.S. military. The ending narration states that there are no true heroes. Bullsh*t there aren’t true heroes!! I feel that all the soldier who fought during WW2 are heroes.
The way the government was portrayed as exploiting the flag raisers gave the impression that the country wasn’t worth fighting for. The Japanese in “Letters” were portrayed in a more sympathetic light, they were fighting for duty and honor.
It is no mystery about the anti-American slant when you find out that the screenwriter was Paul Haggis, who also made the current film ” In the valley of Elah” I will not see that film because from what I have read it portrays U.S. soldiers as a bunch of losers. “Flags of our Fathers” is just another Hollywood Vietnam war movie (set during WW2) that says ” why are we here fighting for a lie.”
It seems to me there are those(Edward) who believe that the act of showing American soldiers in less than pristine(you know, like real human beings) is guilty of some kind of Anti-American slam. Clint is clearly saying heroism, as most see it, is rubbish, and true courage comes from the nobility that comes from getting the back of the guy next to you. Clint seems to be saying, “Before you send young men off to be the heroes of the next war”, maybe you should think about what such men went through and would, perhaps, choose to forget. This level of thinking is rather evolved compared to, say, that of Nixon’s Silent Majority. Between the scope and vision of “Flags of Our Fathers” and “Letters From Iwo Jima”, I would say Clint Eastwood has more than proven himself to be one of America’s greatest living directors. Mr. White, to paint a complex film like “Flags of Our Fathers” in such simple terms, is only indicative of a simple mind. And as far Vietnam being a lie, three words: “Gulf of Tonkin”. Read a book. The Pentagon Papers, perhaps?