Flags of Our Fathers (Widescreen Edition)

Average customer rating: 3.5

A frightening look
Doesn't Quite Merit a Salute
Terrible War Movie!
worst war movie in a long time
Could have been much better

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Flags of Our Fathers (Widescreen Edition)
Starring: Ryan Phillippe , Jesse Bradford , Adam Beach , John Benjamin Hickey , and John Slattery
Director: Clint Eastwood
Manufacturer: Dreamworks Video
Product Group: DVD
Binding: DVD
ASIN: B000M4RG42
2007-02-06

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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

<span class="h1"><strong>Beyond Flags of Our Fathers</strong></span> <table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="4" cellpadding="4"> <tr align="center" valign="top" class="tiny"> <td width="33%"> <img src=" http://images.amazon.com/images/G/01/dvd/aplus/flagsofourfathers/spr.jpg" border="0">
Other World War II DVDs</td> <td width="33%"> <img src="http://images.amazon.com/images/G/01/dvd/aplus/flagsofourfathers/clinteastwoodmug.jpg" border="0">
Essential DVDs by Director Clint Eastwood</td> <td width="33%"> <img src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/055338029X.01.TZZZZZZZ.jpg" border="0">
Flags of Our Fathers by James Bradley</td> </tr> </table> </p> <span class="h1"><strong>Stills from <I>Flags of Our Fathers</I> (click for larger image)</strong></span> <table border="0" cellpadding="4" width="100%" cellspacing="4">

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Product 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.

Customer Reviews:

A frightening look .......2007-06-13

A well-thought-out essay into the mindset of America late in WWII. Its atmosphere of negativity and raw courage is actually a good companion piece to "The Time of Our Lives" as well as to "Letters From Iwo Jima."

Doesn't Quite Merit a Salute.......2007-06-12

This isn't a bad movie, but I don't think it deserved the Academy Award attention it got. Yes, the Battle of Iwo Jima was one of the bloodiest of WWII, but it's unlikely that all the casualties were as cinematically graphic as shown here - with severed heads blinking their last into the camera. And it's unlikely that all the shots fired tore through flesh with the impact of video game strikes, as they do here. For a more realistic picture of the haphazard mix of hits and misses, of graphically shocking and banal injury that takes place in real war - you probably can't do better than to check out the 1930 Academy Award winner, "All Quiet on the Western Front."

Then there's also something extravagantly unrealistic about the motivation in this movie. The men who were credited with raising that iconic flag on Iwo Jima are shown racked by anguish and guilt as they go on their subsequent bond tour. The presumption is that much of their torment stems from the deception they are perpetrating as they allow the heroism and grandeur of that flag-planting to be imputed to them. But it's not clear why that deception should loom so large in their psyches.

One of the men called to make the tour was perhaps not involved in the actual flag-raising and is a stand-in for a deceased soldier who did help raise the flag. However all the touring men were in the thick of the battle and would have reason to take credit for heroism. Then the fact that the original flag-planting was re-staged so that a second set of photos could be taken would seem to be a minor deception at best - hardly enough to justify all the men's self-doubt - certainly not enough to justify the fact that one of the men spiraled down into lifelong alcoholism and unemployment.

So you never really get to know these men. Their emotions seem incoherent and groundless.

A good commentary on the DVD might have filled in some of these gaps in our understanding. But there is no commentary at all on this DVD containing "Flags" by itself. So I recommend you get Eastwood's 2-disc set containing both of his movie accouunts of Iwo Jima, plus a full commentary. The action here definitely needs to be put in further context.

Terrible War Movie!.......2007-06-12

Those of us that indulge in the war movie genre know just how terrible this movie is. This movie failed to explain the history of the men and the event. This movie does no justice to the history of this epic battle.

worst war movie in a long time.......2007-06-03

I love Eastwood movies. Especially Million Dollar Baby abd Mystic River. Before buying the
DVD I was sure this would be another great one. This movie is just boring. We don't care about the different charcters.
I wish I had not bought this piece of crap. I still think Eastwood is a great director but i guess nobody is perfect.
rent it befoare buying it. As much as you love this director, trust me and DO NOT BUY it before watching it.

Could have been much better.......2007-05-31

This is a fascinating story. Visually this film takes you there into the battle. But the screenplay is a bit on the weak side and too "Hollywood" for my liking. The music has some good points, but also lets the film down a bit with its soppiness. I just feel this film could have been a bit grittier. I imagine Spielberg (who co produced it) would have done a far better job.

Worth a watch, visually stunning (especially on HD DVD) - but an average movie unfortunately.

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