Windtalkers

Rating:
Summary: John Woo, meet John Wayne. John Wayne, meet John Woo.
Review: ... instead of giving another synposis of the film, I'm going to give you my first gut instinct about what I thought the movie was like to the senses.

OK, I, probably like many, missed the film in the theaters, and so when I found out that it was coming out on DVD so soon, I was both shocked and excited. Shocked that it was coming out so soon, excited because I missed it in the theaters. So gladfully I pre-ordered the DVD early on. I rccently received it and I gave it a spin. I do have a surround sound system, but it's out of commission getting my sub-woofers replaced, so therefore I was left watching it without full sound effects. But nevertheless, after several of the battle scenes, (and there were many), I felt like I was watching a conglomeration of about every Pacific Theater John Wayne movie ever made with today's production values and special effects of course.

Now then, I asked myself, is that bad? or is it good for a change? Especially coming off of films like SPR, Thin Red Line, and Band of Brothers, I feel a change would be welcome. The film is refreshing in one way, while extremely hoaky in another. It was refreshing in that for once our senses were treated to a more light-hearted war movie that didn't have all the emotional baggage with it like Thin Red Line did. On the otherhand, it was hoaky because the battle scenes just seemed so surreal due to that it appeared that no one bullet was fired that MISSED its target. I mean, when our heroes had run out of rifle or SMG ammo, they resorted to pistols. In on scene near the end, Cage pops off several rounds of his pistol and every bullet hits and kills a Japanese soldier at probably maximum range of the pistol. And if that was unbelievable, every round from a rifle or SMG seemd to hit their mark. I mean when you turn around and spray a hill with Thompson SMG fire and you kill the half dozen soldeirs running down that hill, something tells me that really couldn't happen that way.

But with that bit of hoakiness set aside, the battle scenes, of which there were many, were quite entertaining to watch and I assume to listen to as well. Lots of explosions from Japanese artillery and Hellcats dropping bombs. I noticed some of the sets used looked very similar to sets used in older Pacific Theater movies, which gave me the idea of the John Wayne connection.

But anyway, I give the film 3-stars. An average rating. Not the best, but surely not the worst either. It's fun to watch, you just gotta put aside any WWII knowledge you might have and enjoy yourself. Oh yeah, better pop some popcorn too.

Rating:
Summary: Windtalkers? This was about Cage's character!
Review: How misleading. This film about the famed Navajo code talkers, or windtalkers, of WWII is really the tale of Nicholas Cage's torment in battle, with the Native Americans used only as a device for setting up the story. The windtalkers are a means to an end and are only, at best, supporting characters in this movie named for them. Cage is a great actor and he does good in a limited, stereotyped role. Not so for Christian Slater, who plays another marine whose job it is to watch over a windtalker -- and if capture is imminent, to kill the man in order to "save the code." Slater's performance is as one-dimensional as you can get and is just another long line of roles that demonstrate how little range he has as an actor. The Monument Valley scenery is stunning, but as an Arizonan who's been to the Navajo Reservation on numerous occasions, the towering spires of Monument Valley make up a fraction of the desolate beauty of the reservation, which for the most part does not have wind-worn towering spires but is beautiful in its own way. Perhaps someday a movie ABOUT the windtalkers will be made. This one gives them lip service and tries, but fails, to bring them fully to life. The movie struggles to tell their tale while also keeping focused on Cage's Philly-native character. Ultimately, that's what prevents this from being a top-notch film.

Rating:
Summary: About time a story that needed to be told was told!
Review: One of the lesser-known events of WWII was the use of Navajo "code talkers" who, an an effort to create a code the Japanese could not break, created a code based on the Navajo language and effectively allowed the U.S. to rule the airwaves in the Pacific. The few efforts to tell their story have been few and feeble. This movie by now means is the definitive tale. It's more a tale of the conscience and rage of the Nicholas Cage, with the Code Talkers added to give it depth. The movie ultimately focuses on two code talkers and the two marines (Cage, and an over-earnest Christian Slater) who are supposed to guard the code talkers but also, if capture is imminent, to kill the code talkers to "save the code." The movie focuses on the invasion of Saipan, as the U.S. island-hopped north to Japan. I liked Cage's internal struggle over is earlier pre-code talkers' "lost comand" (I can't give away the movie), and alone would have made a compelling story. Sadly, it gets a little in the way of giving credit to the Navajo code talkers' contributions and they are relegated to support actor status. Don't get me wrong. This 2 hour, 14 minute movie is very, very good, but if you are looking for a tale that focuses on the code talkers then this isn't it. The code talkers are strong characters, but ultimately it's a tale of Cage's character's emotional demons. Four stars for a very good effort, but THE tale of the code talkers is still waiting to be made.

Rating:
Summary: Clichés abound.
Review: I like the idea of shining some light on how the Navaho language was used as code in WWII, but the rest of the movie was so full of clichés it was hard to watch. Sure the action is good, audio very good, but there are so many unanswered questions left for me. If your looking for an action film and don't mind all the cliché - lines, background music, acting, one liners, then it's great. Otherwise Saving Private Ryan, Black Hawk Down and even We were Soldiers are a much better choice.

Rating:
Summary: A good idea, that could have been better... way better
Review: Windtalkers is suppose to be a epic war movie place in saipan island during WWII. Right from the get go the movie starts and lets you know the settings and whats its going to be like for the rest of the war parts. There guns and gear are very accurate, and some of the battle sections are pretty huge. As far as the reality of it all, its horrible, like it was edited for little kids. It doesn't feel like there in a real battle, and the over acting in the movie is heartless, no feeling comes from the actors. Its a very good idea, really badly done.

Rating:
Summary: Complete [bad]
Review: This is one of the biggest waste of film I have ever watched. The acting is horrible. The action is boring, repetitive, senseless. The plot and dialogue are thin. The characters are one dimensional. The movie is predictable. Go outside, take a walk, play with your kids, ... Any activity is a better use of your time.

Rating:
Summary: Good Movie
Review: I saw this video when it came out on video/DVD and I liked it. This is a good move. I am a Navajo and we had heard about the Navajo Code Talkers all our lives. They are our heros. I think it is cool that there was a movie made with great people as John Woo, Nicolas Cage, and Adam Beach. It is sad though that Adam Beach got the lead role even though he is not Navajo.

I didn't think that there would ever be a movie about our people and if there was it would be limited to some sort of documentary. I was wrong. I hope every one who watcches this movie enjoys it as much as I did.

Rating:
Summary: hollywood finally recognizes our native-american soldiers
Review: Native-Americans are the most patriotic Americans we have .With more Native-Americans enlisting in the army,navy or air force per Native American than Latin-American,African-American or Caucasian American.It's great to see them recognied.We could never have made it through world war 2 without the code breakers.

Rating:
Summary: John Woo's Worst
Review: I came into this film with high expectations. John Woo is one of my favorite directors, and he was re-teaming with the man he got the best performance out of in all of his American films, Nic Cage in "Face/Off". Add that to my love of war films, and I thought this would be a winner.

Sadly, the film dissapoints on nearly every level. The opening, showing Cage leading a doomed patrol, looks like it was filmed on a soundstage, and is so poorly acted and shot that I had to wonder if Woo had somehow turned the reigns over to Joel Schumaker. Anyway, back to the story.

Cage recovers, and eventually is assigned to protect a "codetalker", a Navajo Indian who's language has been used by the Marines as a code that the Japaneses cannot break. Cage's orders:protect the code at all costs, even if it means killing his comrade in arms if he is in danger of being captured. Cage's codetalker, Ben Yahzee, is amiably played by Adam Beach, and the most interesting parts of trhe story are how Yahzee and his fellow Navajo are trained and how they interact with those who are assigned to protect them. Sadly, not much of this interaction is shown, as Woo goes so far over the top in the battle scenes, both in scale and level of heroics, that you have to wonder if six people took down the Japanese all by themselves against incredible odds.

Other negatives include the cliched "Minority soldier challenged by racist comrade" subplot, that is resolved just as predictably as you might think. The score is also way over the top, with James Horner seeming to forget all the lessons he learned from his Star Trek scoring to his work on Titanic. In all the film is John Woo's worst, worse even than "Mission: Impossible 2", which is hard to top. I worry about Woo now, as he's only made two entertaining American films, "Face/Off" & "Hard Target(For Van Damme, it's fun), and only "Face/Off" is on par with his Hong Kong films. Maybe he should head back home for inspiration, and stop making the formulaic action pics that Hollywood is famous for.

Rating:
Summary: Emotionally charged WWII film now on DVD
Review: The new DVD only reinforces my initial response that WINDTALKERS is one of the best of the recent WWII movies filmed over the past few years. It is a multi-layered and multi-faceted tale told visually through incredible images enhanced with armor piercing sound effects. The dialogue really has to take a back seat to this simple tale of men and their survival because the images of the land, the bleak faces and the carnage tell it all. This film is named WINDTALKERS but the film does not really focus on the code developed by the Navajo Marines. Director Raoul Walsh had peripherally addressed the Navajo code in 1955 with his film BATTLE CRY with Felix Noriego as Marine Crazy Horse where we saw Japanese operators baffled while listening in on radio and field-telephone transmissions. Director John Woo, as did Raoul Walsh, decides to focus his attention on the men and their diverse backgrounds and what makes them Marines. However, Woo narrows his focus on the relationship between a war-weary, shell-shocked and enigmatic Marine sergeant (Nicolas Cage) and a good-natured naive Navajo recruit (Adam Beach) assigned to him. Beach can't understand the actions or behavior of loner Cage's intensity for killing and bloodshed but learns eventually that if you survive you then increase your chances of having your comrades around you survive as well. Woo is a director noted for action and WINDTALKERS contains some of the most frenetically staged sequences ever filmed. These sequences reminded me of some of Sam Peckinpah's cathartic work from THE WILD BUNCH, the montages of the combat maelstrom of his CROSS OF IRON and the intensity of the intimate fighting of combatants from Edward Zwick's Civil War epic GLORY. This is not action for the sake of action that can be easily labeled on John Woo. Woo is making a statement that all this carnage can be addictive yet simultaneously it usually creates and strengthens intimate camaraderie. But you really can never afford to be close to any of your buddies and this is a highly moral conflict. Is battle weary hardness a symptom or a mechanism to survive? This is the price of defending the ideals that we hold so dear. This is a very subtle and great film that can be easily glossed right over for its true meaning and realization. It was interesting to see that this DVD contains both Widescreen and Pan & Scan versions.