L'avis des consommateurs

Windtalkers (Special Director's Edition)

Flawed but Important Look at a lesser fact in World War 2., Avril 29 2004

Directed by John Woo (Browne Arrow, Face/Off, Hard Target) who made a strong and unique War Picture about the Navajo Soldiers who were used the Protect Themselves, the Soldiers from the Enemies and to bring down their war strategies. Adam Beach is the stand-out of the film & Woo stages War Scenes and it becomes much more brutal as the film develops. We wish, We knew more about the Navajo Soldiers during that peroid, but the movie focuses more on Cage's Incompetency as a Leader. The film is Centainly Different from previous War Pictures. DVD has an terrific anamorphic Widescreen (2.35:1) transfer (also in Pan & Scan), and an sharp Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. Alternate DVD runs more than 20 Mintues in a Three Disc Set. All in All, I enjoyed this movie trememdously because of the Acting, Directing and the Story. Super 35. Grade:A-.

Aidez d'autres clients à trouver les commentaires les plus utiles   Ce commentaire vous a-t-il été utile ?

Signaler ce commentaire

Compelling story, good blend of action and character study., Fév 12 2004

The story revolves around Sgt. Joe Enders (Nicholas Cage), who is assigned to protect Ben Yahzee, a young and naive Navajo "code talker". Enders is carrying both physical and psychological scars from an earlier encounter with the Japanese that left him as the sole survivor after his squad was wiped out. He is portrayed as a quiet, sullen, and downright hard character. His no-nonsense demeanor and brutality in combat is contrasted by Yahzee's youthful freshness and healthy fear of enemy bullets. The two make a very unlikely pair, to say the least.

The other main characters are Sgt. Anderson (played by Christian Slater), whose charge is another code talker named Charlie Whitehorse, an older Navajo whose traditional roots run deep. Anderson is much more light hearted and conversational than Enders, having not shared the same hard combat experiences. Both sergeants, however, have a common mission -- "protect the code at all costs," which is translated as "kill your code talker if he is in danger of being captured." There are a couple suspenseful scenes where the sergeants are put to the test on whether to carry out this order -- 'nuff said.

With this stage set, the story carries forward as a depiction of four different men thrown into a common crisis, each dealing with it in his own way but unavoidably influenced by those around him. Generally speaking, the action is riveting, intense and realistic, and definitely does not glamorize war. Rather, it puts a horrific face on it in a way that has become much more the norm since the advent of films like "Platoon", "Full Metal Jacket" and, more recently, "Saving Private Ryan." Several of the combat scenes are absolutely sweeping (epic?) in their scale, and do a great job of capturing the magnitude of some of these large military operations.

My only criticisms would be these: first, the Marines' ability to dodge bullets while mowing down their enemies with return fire (compared to the lack of such ability in their Japanese counterparts) was unrealistic -- just a little Rambo-esque. Second, the characters of the code talkers were a bit underdeveloped and even somewhat stereotyped. Third, I thought the ending was a bit corny and cliche -- did not do justice to the rest of the film.

Overall I would rate this as a very good movie that missed an opportunity to be a great movie. Absolutely worth watching -- and rewatching. Well done.

Aidez d'autres clients à trouver les commentaires les plus utiles   Ce commentaire vous a-t-il été utile ?

Signaler ce commentaire

A pretty good film depicting the battle for Saipan in WWII, Oct. 6 2003

Par	Joseph H Pierre "Joe Pierre" (Salem, OR USA) - Voir tous mes commentaires

I've been on Saipan. The terrain is lush jungle surrounded by the clearest ocean I've ever seen. The water was so clear you could see the crabs scuttling on the bottom fifty feet down. The last time I was there was 55 years ago, on my way back to CLUSA after two years in China and on Guam, also in the Marianas.

This was a good movie. It centered around our Navajo code-talkers, which we used in WWII in the Islands. Talking in their own language, they confounded the Japanese code breakers, and were quite effective.

That's about where the realism ends in this movie. It's true that the bullets flew fast and furious, and that many thousands of American Marines died on the beaches and in the jungles. Some of the scenes here were obviously shot in the American Southwest. There was no desert on Saipan, nor on its sister island, Guam.

The most obvious innacuracy is the depiction by Nicolas Cage of a Marine sergeant standing up in plain sight, with a Thompson submachine gun holding a 20-round magazine, firing literally hundreds of rounds, mowing down Japanese soldiers (who also have weapons in their hands)like there was no tomorrow! Man! With two more guys like him we wouldn't have needed a Marine Corps! They could've taken all the islands in the Pacific by themselves. No wonder the code-talker he was assigned to protect (unless he had to kill him, depending on circumstances) stood around with his mouth open in amazement.

Like all of the other movies that are trying to portray what that war was like, played by actors who have never seen combat, written by writers who have never seen combat, and directed by directors who have never seen combat, it is perhaps better than should be expected.

I think that the best film of that era was a color documentary made by the Navy called "The Fighting Lady," about the U.S.S. Enterprise, showing real men flying real airplanes, many of whom were actually killed in combat. It was a propaganda movie made during the war. Lt. Robert Taylor, USNR (remember him?) did the voice over.

The best fiction depicting actual warfare was The Bridges at Toko-Ri, written by Michener, who actually spent time on the flattop with the men involved. Of course the reason I like them is because they depicted Naval Aviation, which was my bag. The problem with The Bridges is that the movie shows our jet fighters, the F9F Panthers, hitting the bridges, whereas the actual airplanes used (yes, such a battle was really fought) were propeller driven attack planes known as ADs.

The lead was played by the late William Holden, and the only inaccuracies devolved around his buddy-buddy relationship with an admiral who wasn't his father, and the portrayal of his wife (Grsce Kelly) coming to Japan to be with him. A navy Lieutenant should be so lucky!

But that's another movie. I don't think I've ever seen a movie that accurately depicts a ground-pounder's life in action (and yes, I've seen Saving Private Ryan) Nor do I want to. The poor bastards.

Of those that I have seen, this is one of the best. It is to fact as a Western movie, with all its fast draws and gunfights is to the way it really was in the West. How do I know how it was? My grandmother came to Oregon on a wagon train, and I am old.

Joseph (Joe) Pierre, USN (Ret)

author of Handguns and Freedom...their care and maintenance
and other books

Aidez d'autres clients à trouver les commentaires les plus utiles   Ce commentaire vous a-t-il été utile ?

Signaler ce commentaire

Time for the Native Americans' contributions to be known!, Mars 3 2003

We learn of the enormous contributions our Native Americans' skill helped to deflect the enemy. We owe so much to the folks who really belong here, those who inhabited this country first. Indians are not all alcoholics or slow learners. There are some geniuses as in our Caucasian population.

The questionable loss of life in any war is so apparent here. Because the South conceded victory in 1865, the Southern soldier is portrayed as ignorant with his dialect, though he is proclaiming his pride in representing his country.

Some scenes of the fighting look identical to the Frank Sinatra movie, FROM HERE TO ETERNITY. One shows a beautiful native American in a SOUTH PACIFIC paradise until he is confronted by an "ignorant" soldier from the South telling him, The only difference between you and the Japs is that uniform."

The Indian playing his wood flute accompanied by the GI on his harmonica is a moving interlude as we watch the jeeps transporting a battallion through the jungle, straight into an ambush by their own men. The main windtalker proudly shows a picture of his wife and son George named after the first president of the United States. He is a veritable Alvin York.

Such a waste of young American men who never reach the prime of their lives as all our wars succeed in doing. Our young men are sacrifices to unendurable agony and mental distress.

Nicholas Cage, though not possessing matinee idol looks, proves his worth as an actor. He gave a masterful performance.

The Indians were invaluable to the outcome of this war. It's too bad we put them into reservations and supplied alcohol to dull their memories and demean their achievements on behalf of this country.

This movie shows the realism of the devastation to the human spirit by war.

Aidez d'autres clients à trouver les commentaires les plus utiles   Ce commentaire vous a-t-il été utile ?

Signaler ce commentaire

John Woo's brings Mission Impossible 2 Action to WW2, Janv. 13 2003

If you like John Woo's Mission Impossible 2 action during a historic world war with excellent visual affects plus very grusome blood and body part scenes (on par with SPR Omaha Beach scene), then you will love this movie. If you prefer a good plot and more knowlegeble discussions on windtalkers, then read a book on it *roll eyes*.

I love MI2, and i love this movie, but i will give it only 4 stars because i do agree, the plot could've been better. Let's not make Nicolas Cage as a big hero like John Wayne in the Green Barets because he is no John Wayne. Nevertheless, he is still a good actor in my book.

Aidez d'autres clients à trouver les commentaires les plus utiles   Ce commentaire vous a-t-il été utile ?

Signaler ce commentaire

Où en sont mes commandes ?

• Suivez l'état d'avancement de vos commandes récentes
• Consultez et modifiez vos commandes dans "Votre compte"

Livraison et retours

• Lire nos tarifs & options de livraison
• Voir aussi comment nous retourner un article.

Besoin d'aide ?

• Vous avez oublié votre mot de passe ?
• Offrez des chèques-cadeaux
• Consultez nos pages d'aide