Flags of our Fathers / Letters from Iwo Jima

from what i gather the movie was rather confusing and hard to follow the characters' storylines

 

Saw the making of the other night and it looks good. Agree with Von Poop that it would be good to see the two films back to back.
The making of mentioned how there was two flags and how much confusion this caused.

 

See clips from the film....


http://www.orange.co.uk/entertainment/film/21398.htm?linkfrom=entertainment_film_default&link=box_main_pos_1_2_link_title&article=entertainmentfilmmainhomesecondstory

 

Letters from Iwo Jima, a great movie. Perhaps one of the most authentic war based movies I have have seen. Clint Eastwood directed and produced this along with the more advertised Flags of Our Fathers but with Letters being from the defending Japanese soldiers standpoint. The entire movie is in Japanese (with subtitles) which to me, defines and adds the authenticity to it. I would strongly recomend this movie to any of you war buffs, as it accuratly captures the desperation of the Japanese Military as WWII began to wind down.

Has anybody else seen it, if so what were your views?

 

I haven't seen it yet, but I am anxious to. This will be a hell of a viewpoint, certainly one that I, as an American, have never seen in cinema. The moment I heard about this movie, I was intrigued, and I love that even though such movies aren't going to break the bank, some people with the artistc cred and the cash to do whatever they want, still make them.

I thought "Flags" was pretty good, and by all acounts "Letters" is better, so I look forward to it.

 

It was spectacular! As Hawkeye said all war buff must see this movie! Now here is a question to all who have seen it or who have not. On Fox News they reported that Letters from Iwo Jima is an anti-war film. I cannot see in any way how this film would depict as an anti-war film! Now I could possibly see it in some way, but one would have no knowledge what so ever on the war in the Pacific.

 

Looks like these movies need to be reviewed. Haven't seen either of them. Not fond of Hollywood's movie efforts. Band of Brothers was good but many others are downright laughable like they were made by third graders.

Other movies have been made from the Axis perspective, Das Boot, Stalingrad, Cross of Iron...Most are what one would call anti war movies

With lines like

Oberst Brandt : "What will we do when we have lost the War?"

Hauptman Kiesel: "Prepare for the next one."

Hauptman Kiesel: "Steiner is a myth. Men like him are our last hope and in that sense, he is a truly dangerous man."

Obergefreiter Schnurrbart: "Rolf, What are we doing here?"

Feldwebel Rolf Steiner: "We are spreading the German culture throughout a desperate world."

 

Has anybody read the book Flags Of Our Fathers i have to give it a 9.5 out of 10 it gives a realistic experiance of what it would be like on Iwo and the "Mighty 7th" i actually knew nothing about the pacific theatre before i read this book i knew alot about mostly Europe, and of course after i read the book i had to see the movie.

"That flag means the Marine corp for another 500 years."

 

Ive seen the film, which i thought was good. I will have a look for the book and give it a read

 

I read the book before I saw the movie and enjoyed the book much, much more. My only complaint about the book was that it dragged just a little in the beginning with the backgrounds of all the guys. That being said, I highly recommend it.

 

I recently read the book and found it interesting but i would echo the complaint about it having the background to the men at the start. That section would interest social historions not military ones!

I would give it 6 out of ten.

 

Has anyone seen this movie yet? It was directed by Clint Eastwood. I picked up a copy of it today in a car boot sale and it is subtitled in English and impossible to understand. Its like the translator pasted the japanese text into an English language translator and posted what came up.
I got the general jist of what was happening but the Japs speak very fast and when the translation is all over the place it did not help.
I am cross eyed after it.
Maybe they will correct it?
Tom.

 

I saw at at the cinema & had no problems following the English subtitles. Presumably the car boot sale DVD didn't have the 'official' subtitles.

I thought that it was an excellent film & that it was interesting to see the Japanese viewpoint.

 

Maybe that was the problem.
Regards.
Tom.

 

Is it subtitled? Aw that spoils things. More authentic maybe, but by the time you've finished reading the subtitles, you've missed the picture.
or is it available in English too?

 

Letters from Iwo Jima was great. Kuribayashi really made Iwo Jima from a burnt porkchop to a fortress.

 

Flags of Our Fathers was also a great movie. It beats every war movie (Except for Bridge too Far) I've watched. The F4U-4 Corsair scenes were one of my favorites.

 

it was a pretty good movie i thought. personally i'd pick it over flags because i feel that it captures the grit of combat and the desperateness of the situation a little better. as to whether it is an anti-war movie, i suppose that is always debatable. the movie does indirectly touch on suicide to preserve honour and in some ways saigo's character may be considered anti-war, given his reluctance to fight in an impossible situation and his willingness to surrender. not completely sure on this but thats my take