Rating: 
Summary: horrific
Review: I had this. I threw it away. That's how bad it is. It's entertaining, well choreographed, but it's just plain awful. Soldiers cluster up, people are running everywhere screaming and firing wildly, there was clearly almost no consultation from a military historian or combat specialist.....or one of any worth. the movie is garbage! terrible. it's a shame to waste the audience's time with a poker faced so-called "actor" such as nick coppola and not try to actually develop a story around the native american radio-men OR the actual events in Saipan!! John Woo's DP makes a beautiful movie, some battle scenes are huge and awesome in their scope, but there is no redeeming content, no reason to watch the movie. it's a mindless running-screaming-shooting movie, with little historical basis. Do NOT give MGM anything for this poor effort!
Rating: 
Summary: A MOVIE WORTH REMEMBERING! A DVD WORTH COLLECTING!
Review: "Windtalkers" is another great WWII epic that depicts a little known and seldom-told story of the war: the Navajo Code Talkers. The film did not deserve the bashing it received by critics. One of the reasons it was bashed was because the film was a bit uneven in the editing. It jumped too much in some areas. But that has been cleared up thanks to John Woo's impressive "Director's Edition" of the film. The 134 Minute film has been extended to 153 Minutes, and is much more exciting and balanced in editing and emotion. This just proves that war films work better at a running time in excession of 150 Minutes! As for the DVD, it is incredible. Disc two features a documentary on the real Navajo Code Talkers as well as a Tribute that will have anyone tearing up. As for the rest, pure entertainment (Warning: the Special Features are almost 100% identical to the ones found on the "Pearl Harbor" Vista Series Director's Cut DVD, but this does not take away anything at all)! A must-own DVD!!!!
Movie Grade: A+
DVD Grade: A+
Rating: 
Summary: A VERY good movie - it does NOT deserve the bad press at all
Review: The 3 CD director's cut of WINDTALKERS is actually very good! I heard horrible reviews for this dvd and I was not a big fan of JOHN WOO's "Mission Impossible 2" (even though I respected his approach to action). WINTALKERS has some excellent performances by not only NICHOLAS CAGE but the NAVAJO actors too. Christin Slater actually does a very good job too!!! There is 20 EXTRA MINUTES re-edited into the DIRECTOR'S CUT. I never saw the original.. only this version and it is 2 HOURS and 30 MINUTES long. Just when you want the movie to pick up, it does!!! I was very suprised! I thought that I would be board but the movie is paced well. I am a tough guy too. I never cry at movies but I have to admit, I GOT CHOKED UP TOWARDS the end.. There are also some very good twists in the movie. The BONUS features are also very interesting. THE CODETALKERS documentary is great and there are many different commentaries too!!! 3 DVDs.... Do NOT let the bad press ruin this movie for you. SEE it for yourself and MAKE UP YOUR OWN MIND.
Rating:
Summary: Pointless
Review: To have taken such a fascinating story and turned it into such a piece of blancmange is sheer artistic incompetence. Windtalkers is a prime example of a director with no knowledge of - or indeed interest in - the realities of combat. At no point in the film is there even a suggestion that Wu was concerned about accuracy. The characters are cliched, the sets are straight out of the 1950s, the action is stilted and unconvincing. Rather than a *rating of 1-5, there should be a set of minus ratings for this film. Windtalkers is embarrasingly bad.
Rating: 
Summary: "Saving Private Navajo"
Review: Seriously, sometimes while watching this movie I fealt like it was the Pacific war version of Saving Private Ryan. It had its good points, don't get me wrong, but in the end the story behind this movie is over-dramatic fluff. The idea is a good one...hell, its a great idea for a film! The true story about how the Navajo language was used as a code against the Japanese in WWII? I'm surprised no one had tried this before (or have they, and I'm just ignorant about it?). Even with the good acting, and amazing battle scenes (still not as graphic as SPR, but still quite good), it falls WAY short of its intended mark. The backdrop of the story is, of course, the use of Navajo's and their language to help win WWII. The actual story in the film, however, centers on two Marines, played by Nic Cage and Chris Slater, who are ordered to protect two Navajo code talkers (two actors who's names I didn't catch...sorry). Thats all well and good, but it gets really kinda sappy and melodramatic, and it feels a lil too much like we're watching a Hollywood movie, and not enough like we're watching a serious war story about an important part of American history that is long overlooked. The comparrison of this movie to Saving Private Ryan come from the fact that Cage has to do everything he can to protect the life of a younger soldier. The main differences here are that its through the whole movie and not just the last 30 mins, as in Private Ryan, and in this story if the Navajo is caught, the protector must kill him to protect the code. Anyway, I think if you watch this movie you'll pick up on what I'm getting at. This is a movie that had a lot of promise, but who's sappiness and over-dramatic Hollywood style of story telling almost ruined.
Rating: 
Summary: A great shame.
Review: John Woo films have always had a tendency to rely more on explosive action sequences than masterful acting to pull the crowds. Face Off was loud but intriguing. M.I. 2 was loud but fairly stylishly done. Unfortunately, Windtalkers is really just loud. The central plot is actually very good. Two U.S. marines must escort a pair of Navajo Indians who are trained to use a secret code to make transmissions to allies without Japanese troops earwigging. A factual plot too-this really happened. So all the potential was there, but the main problem from my point of view is that this movie was simply overdone. Although the action sequences themselves are well done, nearly all of them are accompanied by dramatic war music which spoils the reality of them. There are also, if you can believe it, too many of them. Great war films like Saving Private Ryan and We Were Soldiers(watch that!) offered respite between the bangs for some thought provoking dialogue. Not so here. The acting is far too over the top. Nicolas Cage is unusually poor, while Christian Slater barely breaks a sweat. I found that I did not care what happened to the characters-NOT a good sign. This movie is a prime example of the fact that explosions cannot make a movie on their own. John Woo has made a good effort, but sadly this movie just did not hold my interest. If you REALLY like war films, you may like this movie, but otherwise, it's not really worth the postage and packaging! ASIN: B00008PBZW
Rating:
Summary: Please do not waste your time on this.
Review: The worst Nicolas Cage movie of all time, this movie appears to have potential but is a disappointment. The movie is about two soldiers (Cage and Slater) who are assigned to protect Navajo Indians during WWII. The Navajos have been trained to use their language as a military "code" to help disguise communications. This concept is actually very interesting, and a story which COULD make a great movie. This movie, however, is FAR from great. The plot is thin, and the story ends up being mostly a cheesy action movie. The main conflict occurs when Nic Cage has to decide what is more important - the lives of the Navajo's or "the code." The problem is, the movie quickly degrades into meaningless sequences of action scenes interrupted by a little dialogue. I think Nic Cage kills about 200 enemy troops in one battle. Another problem I have is that the reason the movie seems appealing (the Navajo language/ code etc...) Is BARELY used to enhance the movie. It is merely a gimmick to sell this otherwise completely carbon-copy war movie. In summary, if what you are seeking is a sub-standard war movie that has already been done many times (and done MUCH, MUCH better) just because you own every other war movie....then you might like this movie. If you want depth of character, real emotion, the suspension of disbelief, and the gruesome reality of war...then buy ANY other war movie.
Rating:
Summary: A story that needs to be told, but needs to be told better.
Review: I have the greatest respect for the Dene (Navaho) culture, and their important contribution to the U.S. winning the second world war. It is a story that very definitely needs to be told. If I were going to tell this story in the best format, it would have been a "Band of Brothers" type format with the real veterans being interviewed at the start of each episode. The movie should have a real gut feeling for the experience, like "Band of Brothers." The same treatment of this story would have made for an exceptionally good movie. The closest this movie comes to this standard is the Native American actors. Their camaraderie felt real, as off screen it probably is real.
I also have to credit the excellent traditional Native American flute playing. Thanks must go to National Geographic for a excellent documentary of the same topic as a follow up to the release of this movie ( 5 stars in my book). The movie alienated me from the first extremely fake battle scene, and it was hard to recover. A Japanese soldier chops off the hand of an American, who has it placed and motionless conveniently on a log. This is followed by a cheap Prom date scream. An American hoses the area with a machine gun and Japanese soldiers eager to die jump into the line of fire. I never heard of this form of "Sepukoo" before. Maybe they were embarassed to be in such a bad action sequence? To be fair, the action sequences improve the farther into the story that you get. However, at times, it feels like the script is being written specifically to chain together the action scenes. John Woo continues to do films with excessive violence. A contrast would be the "designer action" sequences of Corey Yuen in "Kiss of the Dragon" or "The Transporter." Corey has my vote for best action director. In terms of Nicholas Cage's long and interesting acting career, "Corelli's Mandolin" can be used as a contrast to when he is really putting his heart into his acting. I could walk out of the theatre forgiving the shortcomings of the movie due to the importance of the story. But then I am left feeling hungry for the same topic being treated correctly in the future.
Rating:
Summary: Action in war, but it is missing something else...
Review: The Marine Joe Enders (Nicolas Cage) is the sole survivor of previous combat where his whole platoon was massacred after which he had to take command upon the death of the platoon leader. At a military hospital he regains his strength, but he suffers from permanent hearing loss and a damaged balance system. However, a caring nurse helps him cheat on a hearing test, which enables him to regain his combative status. His survival in combat is observed as useful by the Marine Crops and they assign him on a mission to protect the Navajo solider, Ben Yahzee, whose objective is to send code in his own language. This code is an unsolved enigma for the Japanese forces, however, they are attempting to capture and torture anyone who knows the code in order to help themselves. Thus, it is essential that Joe protects the code at all costs as they invade the island of Saipan. Windtalkers is a fascinating story and the moral dilemma which Joe faces is equally interesting. However, the score in the film is played all too frequently and it generates a cheesy atmosphere that seems contradictory to the dilemma. In addition, there is some awkwardness in the combative scenes that resembles Achilles' godlike presence, which seems far fetched and similar to the shooting scenes in John Woo's earlier films. The enemy also seems to be far too stupid, in comparison to what they really were, which diminish the feeling of realism. Lastly, Windtalkers provides an action packed cinematic experience, which fails in addressing the questions at hand and leaves the audience with an empty reaction.
Rating:
Summary: All balls no brains
Review: In true John Woo style, it's all action, action, action!
Sound mix and transfer are both very good. Unfortunately the story and script are bottom-rung.
It kind of ends up looking like a montage of cool explosion scenes, stuck together with scenes of Cage trying to pull off the 'deeply disturbed' yet 'caring' battle veteran. I'd recommend it for you sound freaks, you'll no doubt get off on the audio picnic (mind you it is only 5.1).
But for anyone looking for a deep, 'thinking persons' war flick, steer clear. A, Platoon, Thin Red Line...even Saving Private Ryan it is certainly not.
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