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Windtalkers
2002
WINDTALKERS begins quietly--with widescreen aerial shots of clouds that gradually clear to reveal the beautiful mesas of Monument Valley. A bus collects Navajo volunteers Ben Yahzee (Adam Beach) and Charlie Whitehorse (Roger Willie). It's 1943, and the U.S. has developed an indecipherable secret military code based on the .. Read more
| Starring | Nicolas Cage, Christian Slater, Adam Beach, Noah Emmerich |
|---|---|
| Director | John Woo |
| Genres | Action/Adventure, Drama |
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Windtalkers
WINDTALKERS begins quietly--with widescreen aerial shots of clouds that gradually clear to reveal the beautiful mesas of Monument Valley. A bus collects Navajo volunteers Ben Yahzee (Adam Beach) and Charlie Whitehorse (Roger Willie). It's 1943, and the U.S. has developed an indecipherable secret military code based on the Navajo language. Yahzee and Whitehorse are to be trained as code talkers.
Then John Woo's Pacific war film erupts into violence, with a savage battle that has one survivor, Joe Enders (Nicolas Cage). Badly wounded and feeling guilty at the loss of his companions, Joe recuperates in Hawaii where he is helped by a sympathetic nurse (Frances O'Connor). Joe disguises his hearing loss and he is promoted as Yahzee's battlefield bodyguard. Ordered to "protect the code at all times," Joe must prevent Yahzee from being captured. At first, Yahzee and Whitehorse, whose bodyguard is Ox Henderson (Christian Slater), are subjected to prejudice--particularly from Rogers (Noah Emmerich). But when the unit is shipped to Saipan, the Marines begin to appreciate the code talkers.
Director Woo has created a powerful drama. The visceral battle sequences are strikingly filmed and there is fine acting from Cage, Beach, Willie, Slater, Emmerich, and Frances O'Connor, who portrays the poignancy of love in uncertain times.
| Starring | Nicolas Cage, Christian Slater, Adam Beach, Noah Emmerich, Peter Stormare, Mark Ruffalo, Brian Van Holt, Frances O'Connor, Roger Willie |
|---|---|
| Director | John Woo |
| Studio | MGM ENTERTAINMENT |
| Run time | DVD: 2 hrs 8 mins Blu-ray: 2 hrs 14 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Action/Adventure, Drama |
| Language | DVD: English Blu-ray: English |
| Dubbed | Czech |
| Hearing-impaired | English |
| Subtitles | DVD: Czech, English |
| Released | DVD: 10 Feb 2003 Blu-ray: 14 May 2007 Production year: 2002 |
| Format | DVD |
Windtalkers (2002)
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Critics' reviews (6)
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This booming and bloody Second World War drama had the potential to provide a fresh perspective on the war epic, chronicling the real-life contribution of native Americans responsible for a military code that couldn't be cracked by the Japanese. Yet this fascinating angle is explored with the heaviest of hands by director John Woo, as the nicely performed relationship between genial Navajo Adam Beach and cynical sergeant Nicolas Cage is buried beneath a barrage of gargantuan explosions and melodramatic skirmishes, orchestrated with a surprising scarcity of excitement or energy. Following their moment of Hollywood magic with Face/Off, Woo and Cage seem to be going through the motions — or worse, taking themselves far too seriously.
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"...A fascinating Woo movie....WINDTALKERS is a fresh contribution to the cinematic literature of American WWII movies from a Chinese born-director with a flair for the imagery of spiritual battle..."
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Most helpful member's review
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24 out of 29 people found this review helpful
extremely poor showing
Well what an extremely poor showing from the usually very good Nicholas Cage.
Set during the Second World War, two men (Nicholas Cage/Christian Slater) are given the role of protecting at all costs two American Indian radio operators who use the ancient Indian dialect to deliver orders and so as to stop the Japanese from cracking their codes.
The film starts off very poorly with one of the worst acted war scenes I have ever seen.
The poor acting continues with a very weak acting line up. The story is very lame, the effects shocking, the deliverance of the whole message about the American Indian radio operators extremely poor.
Thank God I rented this movie for free and didn't so anything foolish like paying to rent it or even worse actually buying this pathetic movie.
Sorry to write such a poor review especially when its my first but wish I had been warned off this film by other reviewers. -
Most recent members' review
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3 out of 4 people found this review helpful
The story was good, however John Woo directed this film. So there are far too many slow-mo shots of people flying through the air and big fireball explosions.
If you like explosions you will love this film, if you are looking for 'Saving Private Ryan' realism then stay away. -
News and features
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Red Cliff
- 15 Jun 2009
A mere slip of an epic at 146 minutes (you think I’m kidding, but I watched the original two-part, five-hour Asian-market version), John Woo’s first Chinese film in nearly two decades is both a triumphant homecoming and too much of a good thing. When Woo went to Hollywood in the run up to the handover of Hong Kong in the early 90s he was riding the crest of a wave: hyper romantic urban thrillers like The Killers, A Better Tomorrow and Hard Boiled had earned him a reputation as the... Read more
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- Windtalkers - BLU-RAY Version
- Blu-Ray: £11.03
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Set during World War II, this is the story of two US Marines who are assigned the task of protecting Navajo Marines. The Navajo have been training to use a secret military code based on their own ... -
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Windtalkers
WINDTALKERS begins quietly--with widescreen aerial shots of clouds that gradually clear to reveal the beautiful mesas of Monument Valley. A bus collects Navajo volunteers Ben Yahzee (Adam Beach) and Charlie Whitehorse (Roger Willie). It's 1943, and the U.S. has developed an indecipherable secret ...
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