Iwo Jima Movies - cougarguard.com — unofficial BYU Cougars / LDS sports, football, basketball forum and message board

Jeff Lebowski · 08-21-2007, 04:03 PM

I finally got around to seeing Clint Eastwood's two Iwo Jima movies:

Flags of our Fathers
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0418689/

Letters from Iwo Jima
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0498380/

As you probably know, Flags is based on the award-winning book by James Bradley, the son of one of the flag-raisers. It recounts the battle for the island and the story associated with the famous photo and the impact it had both on the nation and on the raisers themselves. While preparing for the movie, Eastwood concluded that he wanted to do a companion movie that tells the story from the Japanese viewpoint. Hence, Letters from Iwo Jima.

I thoroughly enjoyed both movies. Like most critics, I have to give an edge to Letters as the better of the two. But I still liked Flags. These are two very different movies. Flags provided quite a bit more action and battle scenes. The scale of the invasion was amazing, as was the carnage. Letters had less of a focus on the battle and more on the human dynamics of a group of soldiers who knew with a certainty that they were all going to die. One thing I appreciated about both movies (especially Flags) is the scrupulous attention to historical detail. Both movies were right on the money historically. As one who despises the altering of history by Hollywood (Disneyfication), I appreciated that.

The Letters DVD had some extras that were interesting. It showed the premiere of the movie at the Budokan in Tokyo. 10,000 people attended the premiere. It was huge. Unlike Germany, Japan has really struggled to deal honestly with its WWII history. Letters features an all-Japanese cast and the dialog is all in Japanese. This is the type of movie that should have been made by a Japanese director, but it took Clint Eastwood to pull it off. I doubt a Japanese production would have had the same honesty. At the premiere, the Japanese actors all commented on how proud they were of having told the story honestly. Maybe this will change things. Who knows?

By the way, these are both good examples of R-rated movies that I wouldn't hesitate to recommend to anyone. The ratings are due solely to some vivid battle scenes. But both are great movies with a powerful message.

bluegoose · 08-21-2007, 07:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeff Lebowski

Flags of our Fathers
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0418689/

Letters from Iwo Jima
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0498380/

By the way, these are both good examples of R-rated movies that I wouldn't hesitate to recommend to anyone. The ratings are due solely to some vivid battle scenes. But both are great movies with a powerful message.

Thanks for the recommendations. I typically avoid most Rated R movies, but am not opposed to watching something that is well done and historically based. Private Ryan is one of my favorite all-time movies. I'll have to check these out.

08-21-2007, 04:03 PM	#1
Jeff Lebowski Charon Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: In the heart of darkness (Provo) Posts: 9,564	Iwo Jima Movies I finally got around to seeing Clint Eastwood's two Iwo Jima movies: Flags of our Fathers http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0418689/ Letters from Iwo Jima http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0498380/ As you probably know, Flags is based on the award-winning book by James Bradley, the son of one of the flag-raisers. It recounts the battle for the island and the story associated with the famous photo and the impact it had both on the nation and on the raisers themselves. While preparing for the movie, Eastwood concluded that he wanted to do a companion movie that tells the story from the Japanese viewpoint. Hence, Letters from Iwo Jima. I thoroughly enjoyed both movies. Like most critics, I have to give an edge to Letters as the better of the two. But I still liked Flags. These are two very different movies. Flags provided quite a bit more action and battle scenes. The scale of the invasion was amazing, as was the carnage. Letters had less of a focus on the battle and more on the human dynamics of a group of soldiers who knew with a certainty that they were all going to die. One thing I appreciated about both movies (especially Flags) is the scrupulous attention to historical detail. Both movies were right on the money historically. As one who despises the altering of history by Hollywood (Disneyfication), I appreciated that. The Letters DVD had some extras that were interesting. It showed the premiere of the movie at the Budokan in Tokyo. 10,000 people attended the premiere. It was huge. Unlike Germany, Japan has really struggled to deal honestly with its WWII history. Letters features an all-Japanese cast and the dialog is all in Japanese. This is the type of movie that should have been made by a Japanese director, but it took Clint Eastwood to pull it off. I doubt a Japanese production would have had the same honesty. At the premiere, the Japanese actors all commented on how proud they were of having told the story honestly. Maybe this will change things. Who knows? By the way, these are both good examples of R-rated movies that I wouldn't hesitate to recommend to anyone. The ratings are due solely to some vivid battle scenes. But both are great movies with a powerful message. __________________ "... the arc of the universe is long but it bends toward justice." Martin Luther King, Jr.