Flags of Our Fathers / Letters From Iwo Jima Region-Free

I am thankful that after all these years movies like this are still being made. I am a younger person and it is sad, very sad that my generation and younger seemingly do not care for history, especially such as this.I always had an interest in history while in school and did well in it but like many young people you tend to forget and get wound up in all the wonderful THINGS that we have. THINGS that indeed if not for these brave men and their sacrifices I/We would not have.I have read the book and others on this subject and cannot fathom some of the things that went on. Bataan, Unit 731 and so much more.For me the movie shows much more then just battle for Iwo but also the patriotism that is seemingly lost now a days. The scene in New York, Times Square with hordes of people turning out and the fact that this bond drive which had a goal of somewhere in the billions SURPASSED what was set to me shows that this.... sadly, probably could never happen again.Ever since I woke up to the sacrifices these men AND women made I have been going to the Veterans Day parade now every year for the past 3 years and am appalled at the turn out. I always make it a point to shake a hand or three and would love to engage in conversation with them but I never do.Meanwhile low life, coked up sacks of garbage such as Paris Hilton, Lindsey Lohan, Nicole Ritchie, Britney Spears and the like will produce turn outs similar to the ones shown in this movie for TRUE HERO'S!!! Where have our priorities gone? What a sad statement on my generation indeed.It seems like I am getting off the track of reviewing this film which in essence I am not. I am showing how it helped to open my eyes and hopefully others.Scenes where the soldiers hit the beach thinking that perhaps the previous days of shelling wiped out the Japanese and the camera pans to the Japanese peering out from their pillboxes and taking aim gives a feel of actually being there. There is no dramatic music, no rambo-esque talk or actions just a simple feel of what went on.Some reviewers actually trash the camera work. I feel otherwise as again it gives somewhat of a feel that indeed perhaps the camera was being held by a soldier and you are watching the real thing.I learned about the true story of the flag raising from this book/movie as I never learned this in High School. This aspect alone makes one think how sad to say that the govt on many levels through out all wars have used our brave servicemen and afterwards threw them away. Every time I see this image I look at it in a very different and more appreciative light.The scenes where Rene Gagnon received so many job offers but when the drive and war was over no one accepted his calls and he became an ordinary maintenance worker shocked me and made me feel a little disheartened. If anything these men and women should be given first priority to jobs and health care. Instead I read about the high percentage of homeless vets out there.My heading states that this should be viewed in all High Schools and believe this whole heartedly. So many young people think its cool to play all these shoot'em up war games on there Play Stations and X-Boxes but do not realize what it means to pick up a gun and kill and the fear that goes along with it. Instead they're biggest fears are did they're mommies buy enough twinkies to stuff they're overweight behinds.In the end of they're "tour" they go to bed nice and comfy while some of the REAL men went to bed only to never sleep right again. Making this mandatory watching and discussion I think is essential on many levels.As for this box set. I was in fact expecting a little more. I thought it would be chock full of extras. The extra s are a dvd called The Battle of Iwo Jima which is a short very basic documentary that would only be good if you have no or almost no knowledge on the subject. If you cannot afford this set you can buy that one dvd alone used here on Amazon cheap.I thought the box would be a lot more "cooler" designed. Instead its just a typical cardboard box. I have nice metal casings for other WWII documentaries that I have but of course this is a minor personal thing.Basically you are not getting anything different if you purchase this stuff separately.I could never stomach Clint Eastwood as a director or actor. Hated Dirty Harry and his westerns. But I love him for this and have a new respect for him and for keeping this important piece of history alive for hopefully many more years to come.Another great book that should be read is The Other Nuremburg by Arnold Brackman. It is out of print but can be found here on Amazon. It gives great insight to the japanese mindset which many might not admit was very interesting in itself. The atrocities committed not all that long ago makes one wonder how humans can do this to one another.I am also using this forum as a way of saying THANKS to ALL those who served past and present. I am not sure if I could do what you did/done and in a time where it may seem like not many care there are those out there that do and I am one of them. I would love to have the privilege to talk to those who served in WWII, Korea, Nam as you guys are true heroes in my book. Thanks so much for doing what I might not ever be able too

With the magnificent double feature of FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS and LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA, producer/director Clint Eastwood has given viewers the greatest Memorial Day homage in movie history. I am reviewing a monumental five-disk set that needs to begin with disk five. It includes a brilliant 95 minute History Channel documentary, narrated by Gene Hackman, on America's battle in February 1945 to take Iwo Jima; and also includes an Oscar-nominated Technicolor short from 1945 called TO THE SHORE OF IWO JIMA. Do watch this first in an evening so that you have essential background for the main course Eastwood two-to-four night double bill.Next watch the bonuses to LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA so that you can appreciate an American filmmaker who does not know Japanese making a subtitled Japanese-language war movie about the taking of this small Japanese island in the South Pacific. The cast for LETTERS is all Japanese and completely unknown to me, except for Ken Watanabe as a General. It is a relentlessly grim war film, filmed on Iwo Jima and on various Southern California locations, including military bases. The late Henry Bumstead's production design (with James Murakami) of snaking tunnels all over the island are a wonder, and Eastwood with cinematographer Tom Stern have conceived the movie in bleached out color that is almost black-and-white. The only real color are flame throwers. The Japanese believe in ceremony in life and honor in death; nothing is more glorious for them than to die heroically in a war for the glory of Japan, which is a philosophy that revulses me. So a 140 minute Japanese film with soldiers blowing themselves up or shooting themselves rather than be captured is a bit of a turn-off for me. But Eastwood handles it all flawlessly, helped by Iris Yamashita's poignant script. And subtitles are mercifully full-sized below the letterboxed CinemaScope picture.The bonuses for LETTERS are a filmmaking documentary called RED SUN, BLACK SAND (working title for the movie), meeting the Japanese actors and their characters, and attending a world premiere and a press conference one day apart in November 2006. Seen first, these featurettes provide valuable background material for the movie.I vastly prefer the curiously underrated FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS, which has the American point of view on Iwo Jima for 132 minutes. Only about 1/3 of it has war footage (largely filmed in Iceland); the other 2/3 is stateside after the war going all the way up to the present day. The stunning movie perceptively explores the concept of what makes a hero, with Iwo Jima survivors treated as manufactured heroes in 1945-1980 Anerica to be interviewed and sell war bonds. But for these so-called heroes, the true heroes are those men who lie dead back on Iwo. (We flashback to the three survivors on a podium remembering the battle to take Iwo. Joel Cox is the superb editor.) I was often reminded of Philip Kaufman's THE RIGHT STUFF (1982). FLAGS is flawlessly designed by Henry Bumstead (his last credit before he died at age 90), hauntingly scored by Clint Eastwood and his son Kyle (that evocative forlorn trumpet and the strident piano!), wonderfully written and edited out of sequence (with old men recalling a battle half a century earlier to young reporters), takes us up to a Iwo monument dedication around 1990, and also is shot in ghostly monochromatic bleached-out colors by Tom Stern. FLAGS is a true film masterpiece--and again with a mostly unknown American cast. Eastwood and fellow producers Steven Spielberg and Robert Lorenz can be very proud of their double feature triumph that does justice to two very different cultures re: war. It is the ultimate two-sided Memorial Day weekend movie experience. LETTERS, in particular, helps us understand a foreign culture and a thousand World War Two movies with "the Japs" as the enemy.The bonuses for FLAGS should also, like LETTERS, be watched before that film. They are 105 minutes total, including an introduction by Clint Eastwood, a featurette on the six brave men who survived Iwo (or at least the flag raising), The Making of an Epic, Raising the Flag, Looking Back Into the Past, writing the screenplay (by William Broyles, Jr. and Paul Haggis), the visual effects, and the theatrical trailer. What a towering feat Eastwood, Spielberg, and Lorenz have done here as producers and director. Everyone must have felt the importance of the dual film concept, given their all, and created two towering masterpieces that will endure as long as movies do. Bravo to all!

Perfect gift for that person on your gift list that loves patriotic movies. Clint Eastwood directs and is great as usual.

Companion films showing both sides of the Iwo Jima island campaign. The US side "Flags of our Fathers" focused as much is not considerably more, on the men who raised the flag on Mt. Suribachi, and the aftermath of what followed them as a result. It was in fact, more focused on the events of their tour of the US selling war bonds, and the problems that dogged Ira Hayes , the American Indian marine, as a result. The companion film, Letters from Iwo Jima, focused on the Japanese defenders of the Island, and their essentially last stand. All in all, I found the Letters from Iwo to be the more interesting of the two movies, at it portrayed in much greater detail the hardships of the battle from the Japanese side. I wish Flags of our Fathers had done the same for the American side. Due to its focus on the flag raisers, the Flags of our Fathers seemed to give short shrift to the depravations suffered by the US marines in the Iwo battle. As such, it is not quite accurate to say the two movies are truly companion pieces, since the focus on the US side is as much about the War Bonds effort as the battle. While the story of that effort, and the impact it had on the flag raisers is significant, I feel it should not have been the centerpiece of the Flags of our Fathers movie, hence 4 rather than 5 stars. The Blu-ray transfers were of high quality..

First the good bits - Letters From Iwo Jima is a beautifilly done film, you get drawn in by the characters, and it’s a cracking story, enjoyable to watch and thought provoking. Having said that, I wonder if it’s overly sympathetic to the Japanese army at that point in history. The soldiers are portrayed as everyday innocent boys, waiting for the bloody US war machine to inevitably destroy them on their home soil. No real hint that Japan at that time was a militaristic society, who had previously invaded mainland China in an attempt at local empire building, and commited atrocities such as the Rape of Nanking. Or the so-called “comfort women”, essentially young japanese girls enslaved to provide “comfort” to soldiers (you can guess what this involved). Or the basic fact that it was Japan who struck first by bombing Pearl Harbour and thus dragging the US into a war it never wanted to fight. And finally, when all was lost, and they were threatened with an atomic bomb, still refused to surrender. And after the first bomb, still refused, so a second had to be dropped. The alternative for the US being a land invasion of Japan, with a likely cost of millions of American lives. Anyway, if you park all of that history, and appreciate that neither side were angels, as I say it is actually a very good film, and it perfectly captures the sheer misery, intense fear, and ultimately barbarism of war.Flags Of Our Fathers, on the other hand, I found quite pedestrian and boring, and the acting decidedly hammy (unlike the actors in Letters From Iwo Jima, who were all fantastic). The central thrust is of the film is really a dig at the cynicism of wartime propaganda. Of course propaganda is shallow, one dimensional, and cynical, but I think you just have to realise that sometimes propaganda is entirely reasonable, if it serves a desirable outcome, such as mobilising a war effort to rid the world of evil, e.g. Hitler’s Nazis, or, at that time in history, Imperial Japan, who were after all allied with Hitler. In other words, WWII in my view was a just war, and the propaganda was justified as a means to an end. At the end of the day, the flag raising on Iwo Jima was a powerful symbol of freedom and democracy, and the power of the US as a champion of this in the world. And critically, it did actually happen as a fact, and brave young men gave their lives for it. The fact that the propaganda photo was a staged reconstruction of the actual flag raising, does not really change the meaning in my view, and it was still a rallying call for freedom, and ultimated helped to galvanize a US victory. So I think this is the main reason the film was a bit cliched, predictable, and a disappointment for me.I hasten to add that today, Japan is a lovely country, one of the best in the world probably, and another great example of the benefits of freedom, democracy, and capitalism. The people are wonderful, so respectful, peace-loving, and kind, and the country appears very stable and entirely at peace with itself. Maybe the US isn’t quite so at peace with itself, but its always had its ups and downs, and always come through in the end. Never bet against America, as Warren Buffett always says.Like I said above WWII was a just war in my opinion, if it never happened then Western Europe would currently be a Nazi fascist empire. Obviously though, not all wars are just, and some of them look just at first, then turn out to be a monumental mistake. Arguably the Vietnam War would be one, or the last Iraq War, both of which might have been high in the public consciousness at the time these films were made. Which might explain the underlying message of the films. But in the context of WWII I don’t think it completely works. Just my opinion. Although maybe it does work in the sense of provoking thought, as I’ve ended up writing a massive review here, which I never normally do.

Excellent films, both of them. Flags of Our Fathers is about the raising of the Stars & Stripes on the top of Mount Suribachi on the island of Iwo Jima during World War II and how the iconic photograph was used in the United States to raise money for the war effort. It is a gritty, powerful, and often very moving film. I have just two criticisms: (I) I was frustrated at the film not being clear who was who of the men on Mount Suribachi and the photo, and (ii) people did go to church, especially at that time. Whilst I don't like it overdone, going to church was, and still is, a fact of life.Letters from Iwo Jima is the same battle seen from the Japanese side. The film covers very well the Death Cult aspect of Imperial Japan. It fails to cover adequately the sheer brutality of life in the Imperial Japanese Army at that time. There is none of the face slapping and physical violence that went with being in the Imperial Japanese Army. Also the film fails to cover the endless playing with their equivalent of the Ouija Board that the Japanese soldier indulged in, or, indeed, the more sordid aspect of the comfort women.Whilst I very much appreciated the absence of nudity and / or sex, I have to wonder if Clint Eastwood, Steven Spielberg, the scriptwriter(s) and others didn't sanitise the Imperial Japanese Army just a bit too much in leaving out the face slapping, the Comfort Women, and what is actually the animist beliefs of the average Japanese soldier at the time. Add in the lack of clarity on who was who in the famous picture of the flag raising on Mount Suribachi and maybe the films are only worth four stars, but, firstly, I have watched both films more than once, so somewhere along the line they were very good films, and, secondly, I am feeling generous, so five stars it is.

Directed by Clint Eastwood and jointly produced by Steven Spielberg and Robert Lorenz, both films are set on the volcanic island of Iwo Jima in the Pacific. One is told from the American soldier's viewpoint and certainly is grounded with little of the Gung Ho usually associated with the Hollywood machine. 'Letters...' is shown from the Japanese perspective and does focus on the blind dedication of the Japanese officers, often bewildering to the common soldier who is guided by his unswerving loyalty to his superiors, be that the Emperor or the dedicated but sometimes sadistic superior ranking soldier.Not, in my view, two of Mr Eastwood's best films but good enough.'Letters...' comes in Japanese with an English audio commentary with English subtitles. 'Flags...' is in English with English subtitles.

A handy boxed set of these two films directed by Clint Eastwood, released together and offering different viewpoints concerning the battle of Iwo Jima.As one would expect, they each explore very different aspects of war; “Flags” covers both the battle and the domestic front, while “Letters” is firmly rooted in the conflict. Both films reflect on the effects of wartime propaganda and neither is a straight generic war film.Both are very worthwhile films and the pairing enables the viewer to contrast and consider the experiences of both sides during and (in the case of “Flags”) after the battle was fought.Each DVD is the standard edition available as a single disc; this set offers an economical option to acquire both excellent films at a good price.

These two films are great. Both are insightful and informativeabout the events of Iwo Jima from each side of the battle...This battle was a meatgrinder of human flesh, and both sidedid bad things, and we see the toll of these actions on theAmericans in Flags of our Fathers. The story of Ira Hayeshas been told before in the 1961 film The Outsider, and itis a story of PTSD. War is Hell for the people who have tofight it, and survive it too. Letters from Iwo Jima is also agreat movie, but of the two films, you can see which onethey spent the most money on.Clint Eastwood's films just get better and better. Hehas an economical sense of storytelling, that wastes notime, unlike most Hollywood films these days that goon forever and ever with massive plot holes, ClintEastwood gives you a solid story. I only wish moremainstream American directors would follow suit.