Flags Of Our Fathers Reviews

What is a hero?

As the American marines land on Iwo Jima and make their way up the beaches on foot, the camera switches to the point of view of the entrenched Japanese soldiers quietly preparing to open fire. It is a gripping scene that makes the film worth watching just for those few minutes alone. The government’s exploitation of three surviving soldiers who raised the American flag on Iwo Jima in 1945 - when that iconic photograph was taken - makes an interesting story, but I found the long battle scenes difficult to follow as it was hard to tell the characters apart. Consequently when particular marines were talked about in later scenes it was impossible to put a face to the name. Perhaps that doesn’t matter. The difference between a soldier’s concept of a hero and that of their families and politicians back home was made clear and that seems to be the message the film is putting across.

[Highly rated reviewer]

Excellent..and important.. but not quite brilliant...

Wow.. has it really been almost 9 years since Saving Private Ryan (1998 ?), up until then apart from one or two smaller sucesses US World War fodder was of the John Wayne variety, and generally vastly inferior to the UK output. 'Ryan' really changed that, and though this has Clint Eastwood directing, it has Spielberg in a chair there somewhere as producer or whatever, and is a pretty hallmark Spielbergian type film. The inevitable 'Ryan' comparisons must be made, but this is pretty good in its own right and a pretty good telling of an important piece of history of WW2, for the US as well as the UK, after all if these guys hadn't toured the USA (however true or otherwise their whole story) the US war machine was verging on bankruptcy and we may in the UK have lost an important ally. The film again shows pretty well (I guess because I am fortunate enough never to have been involved in war) the horrors of conflict, and the spirit of the men involved. It isn't quite in the huge 'Ryan' sort of leage in its grip on you or the way it unfolds, but because it is well made and because it is still such an important piece of modern history, I would definately class it as well worth a watch.

Watch 'Letters from Iwo Jima' first

Well worth watching this, although the flashbacks make it a little disjointed if you haven't seen 'Letters from Iwo Jima' first. Watching them both gives a more informed overview of this terrible event in history.

[Highly rated reviewer]

private ryan

if you are looking for a private ryan beater here, you should look elsewhere. this is not all out action all the way,it is about the guys who raised the flag.the action here has been handled in a subtle way leaving a few things to the imagination.perhaps the second instalment due in the early spring showing the battle from the japanese point of view will be more full on. until then spielberg holds the top slot

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[Highly rated reviewer]

Flags of our Fathers

A Clint Eastwood offering that I have been meaning to get around to for quite some time............Not his best film but a really worthy effort that left me with tears in my eyes as the credits rolled. It tells the story of the soldiers who raised the flag on Iwo Jima during World War II inspired by that famous photograph that has gone down in history. The three survivors of that photograph that caused such a stir Doc ( Ryan Phillipe) Rene (Jesse Bradford) and Ira (James Beach) are hailed as heroes and on their return are subsequently wheeled around the country in an attempt to sell war bonds to raise some much needed cash to carry on the war effort.

But all is not well as the three are harbouring a secret and much guilt, mainly that the flag had already been raised prior to that photogragh being taken and the hapless six were just sent up the mountain to put another one up in it's place. Your heart goes out to them as they are dragged from city to city in a massive propaganda excercise , with the biggest casualty being Ira a native american indian who is drinking heavily to blot out his memories of the war and the constant barrage of racial abuse he gets even from high profile politicians, it's soul destroying to watch this proud man degenerate into a drink fuelled haze. Eventually at the end of his emotional tether he demands to rejoin his unit and the trio are seperated.

The war scenes on the beach are quite brilliant , the performances excellent , and it's a well crafted movie .Lots of flashbacks and narration but nothing too complicated or confusing and a film that if anything proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that the politicians fight wars , the soldiers are just cannon fodder manipulated by governments. Everyone loves a hero right? But at what price to the individual human soul? I cried for the men and in particular Ira a noble, proud but essentially simple man who just couldn't cope with the emotional strain of being someone he wasn't. The world is littered with them..........Well worth a watch

Flags Of Our Fathers

A bit confusing at first as it tends to swap about - good story and kept me interested

Hmmm,ok i guess

Left me with a distinct feeling of disappointment as it promised much early on and ultimately felt a bit of a let down. Bit too pro US flag-waving nonsense for my liking in the end. I wait to get the Japanese perspective version of this movie which,by all accounts,is many times better.

[Highly rated reviewer]

Interesting exploration of what a "Hero" really is...

I watched Clint Eastwood's other Iwo Jima movie, 'Letters from Iwo Jima', telling the Japanese side of the Battle of Iwo Jima, before seeing this movie. I felt ,in that movie Eastwood had been too soft on the Japanese, too PC, seemingly unwilling to upset the Japanese with an authentic portrayal of the brutality and vicousness of the fighting on this small piece of Japanese soil.

Flags of our Fathers shows the same Battle, from the perspective of 3 US service men (Two Marines and a Naval medic) catapulted to the status of 'Hero' simply by being in the, now World famous, photograph of six men raising the US flag on a pole on Iwo Jima's highest point. 3 of the Flag raisers were subsequently killed in the Battle for Iwo Jima, the 3 survivers quickly rushed back to the USA to help raise vital funds, to pay for the American War effort, by encouraging the US public to buy War Bonds.

'Flags' is more graphic, in it's depiction of the human casualties of the Battle, than 'Letters', and as such i feel conveys the horror of the Battles on these Pacific stepping stones towards the Japanese mainland much more vividly.

The emotional depth of the movie is actually stronger in the scenes that take place in the US, as the servicemen are (reluctantly in the case of two men) dragged around from place to place and paraded as Heros. At one point they are ordered to re-enact the climb up the mountain to place the flag, in a large sports stadium under a firework display. When they point out that six men raised the flag, they are told to Imagine their 3 dead comrades are there too. One of the Marines, a native American, hates everything about being pushed into the spotlight and made out to be a hero (just for raising a flag). He is obviously suffering from a form of what is now called post traumatic stress, after his harrowing experiences on the island and is often drunk. When he is seen to be drunk at a fundraising event he is quickly shipped back to the Pacific to rejoin his unit, which, he says, is all he wants anyway.

One thing that goes for both these movies, and is something i really dislike, is the washed out grey hues the movie is shot in. It's neither full black and white or a realistic, natural colour and is really rather surreal. I also think this colouring makes the CGI special effects look less real, there is something really artifical looking about the invasion fleet and the bombardment of the island by US warships. I realise they ARE arifical but in this movie they make some scenes look like drawings in comic books and i knocked a star off because of that.

Overall i enjoyed this movie and the way it makes you think of what we man when we call someone a War Hero.

4 Stars. 8/10

[Highly rated reviewer]

Disappointed, but not sure why

I read the book a few months ago, and have now seen the movie... Typically one will find a book far more engaging than the movie based on it, but in this respect my reaction to both was the same.

I didn't really know what I was looking for in the book (a decent yarn, aside), but whatever it was I didn't get it. The movie is similar; it neither held me as a war movie, nor as story of three flagraisers' reaction to overnight fame during (and the PR spin of) the War Bond Drive.

I also recently saw Letters from Iwo Jima. Letters was a simpler, more focused story, and perhaps the stronger of the two for that reason. While the tone and focus of the two films are very different, I suspect a better story would have been achieved by combining the efforts.

The central theme both films shared could be summed up as how 'hero' is defined... The American public saw the three flagraisers as the heros; soldiers said the dead were the heros; the Japanese felt the honor of dying was heroic (or perhaps surviving a lost battle was shameful?).

Two movies are better for box office receipts, and something would have to be sacrificed to keep a single film to a manageable length... I wouldn't miss the War Bond Drive element at all.

Mmmh, well...

It is a bit about age and how we have been raised by our parents ( or flags?) ... big time.... great to watch the other side of the medal as such as the Japanese version...

and to compare ...Nope, I do not want to loose so much on either sides....thank you,

......