Windtalkers

Rating:
Summary: Where Is Woo? And His Styles?
Review: Where is John Woo? While I was watching "Windtalker," I was wondering if someone else was actually sitting in a director's chair, and Woo just lent his name. At best, this is just another war movie that we saw in the 50s or 60s, with Aldrich or Fuller as director, and they made a better one.

The original idea is laudable one, which is about "Navajo Code Talkers." During the WW2, the US army invented a new code system based on Navajo language, and they recruited Navajo soldiers as cord talkers. But in case of their being captured and tortured by the Japanese army, the headquarters ordered another soldier to always accompany them, to protect the code from the enemy -- no matter how.

Thus Nick Cage, after surviving a battle that killed his men all, comes back to the war, with cordtalker Adam Beach. As you expect from this situation, they initially don't understand each other, but gradually come to share camaranderie. But that means much trouble in carrying out the mission for Cage in case of emergency.

The premise is good, and Woo is always fascinated with describing the friendship between men. So far, good. However, once those battle scenes start, we know that part of friendship is missing from the result. At first, the battle sequence is magnificient. The scale is grand, the extra probably exceed one thousand, and cross-fire battle is real. But the script is just repetitive, leading us nowhere. The worst thing is somehow the director chose to express the gradual development of their emotions through talks, where Woo's cinematic strength never lies. Yes, sometimes, the film is talk, talk, and talk. And you see cardboard characters such as a white soldier, who, constantly looking down on Navajo soldiers, suddenly starts to humiliate one of them. But soon, he regrets it because he is saved by ... why, that Navajo soldier. Too easy.

But the most disappointing thing about the film is that it never displays the significance of the code talkers on the battlefield that they should deserve. In many of the battle scenes, how and why certain code system is so crutial to the war is never fully explained, undermining the potential of the original idea. This underdevelopment of the intriguing true story about Navajo code talkers, perhaps, comes from the weakness of the script, which often looks ridiculous even to non-experts of war like me. At one scece, to obtain a radio equipment from the Japanese army, Nicholas Cage pretends he is captured by Adam Beach, who also pretends that he is a Japanese soldier. I, being a Japanese, can say that it is highly improbable that this kind of ruse would succeed, especially when Beach only knows and repeats one Japanese phrase, "Horyo-da" (roughly meaning in Japanese "He's POW.") in front of the excited Japanese soldiers who are shouting him -- "Doko-no Butai-da?" -- asking what unit of the army he belongs to.

Probably this material of Navajo code talkers is best treated as a documentary film. Among this historical settings, John Woo, who shows his best skills in most outrageous situations -- see "Face/Off" for instance -- has no place to flourish his usual styles, which made his name of today. Of course, I never expected flying doves or burning tires of motorcycles. But if his signature is missing to this degree, what's the point of calling in him? But this fear of Woo's Hollywoodnized is shown back in the ominously insipid "MI2." "Windtalkers" is an OK film, but I prefer "Hardboiled" or "A Better Tommorow" very much.

Rating:
Summary: Just another war film.
Review: Windtalkers is the latest (and probably the last) in a long line of seemingly never-ending war films. It all began with Enemy at the Gates and since then, we've had Pearl Harbor, Uprising (yeah, it's TV, but it counts), Black Hawk Down, Hart's War, We Were Soldiers, and now Windtalkers, a John Woo war film that is, unsurprisingly, graphically violent and combat-oriented.

The movie itself claims to tell the story of the Windtalkers, Navajo codetalkers who were vital to the U.S. military in the South Pacific during the second world war. Adam Beach plays one such codetalkers and Nicolas Cage is his bodyguard assigned to protect the code "at all costs." If you go into the film expecting an in-depth look at these codetalkers, you're going to be pretty disappointed. The actual film plays more like a series of deadly situations that a squad faces, which serve pretty much as excuses for John Woo to show his action prowess.

The battle scenes, the film's true selling point, are mostly effective for what they are, though there are a few clunkers. The massive-scale fight for Saipan is impressive and quite a tense, lengthy sequence. It's probably the most epic modern infantry combat scene featured on film since the D-Day opening to Saving Private Ryan. A skirmish in a Japanese village definitely features John Woo's signature kinetic touch, and it's probably the movie's most exciting action sequence. Unfortunately, not all these moments work. The battle on the mountain, for instance, is hard to swallow. At one point in this segment, four U.S. marines manage to kill around fifty Japanese soldiers, as would be my rough estimate. Hell, there's even a scene where Nicolas Cage, lying on the ground, whips out his colt .45, and without properly aiming, fires four shots in quick succession and takes down four enemy soldiers charging down a hill!

Aside from all the battle scenes (five in all, if you count the massacre in the opening), there isn't much else worth mentioning. The story is played out in a routine, predictable fashion and some of the characters (whether it's the gung-ho Racist, the scared Greek, or the Guy Who's Afraid His Wife is Cheating on Him) are mostly one-note and stereotypical. I didn't learn much about Navajo Windtalkers, and what codetalking was featured could have just as easily been delivered in plain English without any effect on the battle. To be fair, though, the friendships developed between the codetalkers and their bodyguards is palpable and even slightly touching at times (bolstered by the decent performances from the four leads: Cage, Beach, Willie, and surprisingly enough, Christian Slater, who's almost always awful in everything he's in).

You're not going to learn anything new watching Windtalkers, but it's a so-so effort that war film buffs will probably want to catch just for the blistering action. It's a rather plotless, unoriginal, cliched, and occasionally very dull (when it's off the battlefield) affair that would have worked better had there been greater focus in the script.
** 1/2 out of *****

Rating:
Summary: Saipan Nightmare
Review: The war scenes in the movie are very real and effective (at times, repulsive). The sentimental relationship between the two main characters Joe Enders and Yahzee is well depicted. The only weak point in the movie is that neither the remaining characters nor the Navajo codebreaking are sufficiently emphasized. If you took Enders and Yahzee out, the film would look like a good documentary.
Nicolas Cage is once more very good in the role of an unhappy man who has nothing left to expect from life. The film is advisable even to those who don't like war films, just for the wonderful acting of him.

Rating:
Summary: the navaho
Review: i only watched this movie because i thought it would be about the american native indians and the part they played in the war. i didn't realise it would be such a minor part of the movie. had i known that i would not have watched.
why the five stars, well for whatever little was portrayed, and adam beach and the one who who played whitehorse and all the other indians that took the time to be in this movie. it wasn't a total waste of energy.
i think more movies about indigenous peoples should be brought to cinema.

Rating:
Summary: windtalkers
Review: nicholas cage was great, there are a lot of war scenes which is a bit much to take in every second person was getting blown to pieces. and the island of saipan looked more like the back end of a hawaiian island.
but what i got out of this movie was more from the navaho side and it took a long time to get there. how they dealt with war and kept their spirituality and beliefs close to them is what got them though. the rating represents what i got out of this movie, otherwise i'd give it ONE STAR only.

Rating:
Summary: Fooled by Woo
Review: I thought this would be about Navajo "Windtalkers", and their
special contributions-- WRONG. Did we get to see how the enemy was baffled, allowing strategic success? No. Did they need a Windtalker" to call in artillery support for their overrun position? Of course not;just give the coordinates, for godsakes! ...

Rating:
Summary: ... but 5 stars for Adam Beach
Review: I was so glad to find out that it wasn't just me who thought this film was full of cliches and stereotypes.

Nicolas Cage has an intense proclivity for over-acting. And Windtalkers is nothing more than a vehicle for glorifying the militant male "hoo-ah!" cliche. This film has little substance.

However, Windtalkers does have an important value: it exposes many of the sterotypes that currently exist in dominant North American society regarding Native people. And this film is an excellent demonstration of how the imagery that flows from these stereotypes serves to reproduce and reinforce them, and how it objectifies Native people in a way that makes them appear static and thus passive as political beings. Probably the best examples of this are the scenes of Whitehorse and his flute. Windtalkers very clearly exposes an internalized attitude that seems to be tied very much to the colonial history of North America: that the European colonists and many of their descendents view the Navajo, the Mohawks, the Ojibwe, the Cherokee, etc., as being "our natives".

The only thing I enjoyed about this movie was Adam Beach's performance. Although his character in Windtalkers seems to have been constructed to fit the sterotype of the "saintly Indian", this fact does not detract from Adam's skillful acting.

Judging by the body of his work so far, Adam seems to use the greatest care and integrity in choosing which projects to take on, and he seems to make choices that respect and that are responsible to his own Native heritage. So, it is quite sad that John Woo took such an important and interesting subject and irresponsibly turned it into a film that pushes the Navajo code talkers to the very margins of the storyline. John Woo completely betrayed the Native people who dedicated themselves to making this film -- I'm sure they could not foresee that Windtalkers would turn out the way it did.

Rating:
Summary: Woo and war...whoa!
Review: "Windtalkers" is supposed to expose the pressures that the Navajo code talkers experienced during World War 2. Well forget all that. Besides its occasional shortcomings, the film is full of stunning action and first-rate acting. The story and characters aren't always emotionally involving, but more than just once the film is believable. It's no KILLER, but it is certainly directed with style and credibility. Watch out for those shock scenes! Nice photography, too. Rated R for violence, profanity, and the dangerous perils of warfare.

Rating:
Summary: Very disappointing; a big, loud, mind-numbing mess.
Review: John Woo fails miserably with his latest film, "Windtalkers". Where do I begin? There are just so many problems with this movie...

The premise is fantastic; Navajo Indians are recruited during WWII to be code talkers, as the militaries latest code is the Navajo language. The Japanese kept breaking all the other codes the military instated but can't seem to break the Navajo language. Since this new code is so valuable to the military; a Marine must protect each Navajo code talker. This is not necessarily to ensure their safety, but to protect the code. This means killing the Navajo if they are in danger of being captured. Nicolas Cage plays Joe Enders, a war-weary Marine who is assigned to protect Ben Yahzee (Adam Beach), a new Navajo code talker recruit.

The premise is interesting, but the script, sadly, is full of:
Cliches - Ben Yahzee saves the life of a Marine who has been bullying him, oh please, how many times has that been done?

Corny Lines - too many that deserve to be mentioned.

Unneeded Gore - I love war movies and have no problem with gore, but most of the gore here was for "visual pleasure" only.

Hong-Kong style action - John Woo, this is not "Mission Impossible".

Unimportant Subplots - Joe Ender's hinted attraction to Frances O' Connor's character went absolutely nowhere and was a waste of time.

Incorrect or "Modified" History - If you're going to make a movie about a real-life event, at least get your historical facts right.

Focuses on the "wrong thing" - Focuses on action when it should belong to the Navajo and honor their sacrifices and spirituality.

Absurd character motivations & actions - Kind and forgiving Ben Yahzee, who forgave so many of Joe Ender's blunders, turned into a monster when it was obvious that Joe Ender's was right.

Annoying self-contradiction from the characters - Joe Enders repeatedly stresses how he must protect Yahzee, but then right after repeating his speech about his protection duty, he willingly sends Yahzee into one of the most dangerous situations possible.

Emotional Staleness - "Windtalkers" never really connected with audiences, which I hated. In order for a movie to be effective, especially a war movie which focuses mainly on action, there MUST be an emotional link to the characters. The ending is supposed to be emotional and tearful, but you find yourself clapping with joy that this overly long, 133 minute mess is finally over.

Nicolas Cage logs one of his worst acting jobs to date, but the delightful Adam Beach picks up the slack. As many other reviewers have pointed out, Cage sports his manic depressed and confused look throughout the film. It gets to be quite annoying. The high-point of the film was definitely in the acting. Not Cage's but the Marine's, who consistently provided comic relief throughout the film. They also brought the war to life with the friendships and bonds between them.

The action, though impressive, is overdone and quickly becomes tiresome. Something happens that definitely should not; the audience, so numb after an hour or so of shooting, flying bodies, explosions, and gore, begins to tune it all out.

I was so disappointed with "Windtalkers". Anyone who saw the amazing trailers should know what I mean.

Rating:
Summary: I Won Tickets to see this ...........
Review: I won tickets to see this, now I wish I had just stayed home and spared myself the agony. It gets harder and harder to beleive that Nicholas Cage has won an Oscar. His performance was absolutely HORRIBLE! This movie should have been more appropriately titled We're Stealing Your Money and You're Watching This Garbage.
Cage seems to think that he can get by on his name anymore, mistake. It may have worked and got him into films (real name is Coppolla) but its not doing anything here. I honestly believe that he has forgotten any acting skills that he may have ever had. I'm still in shock as to the fact that they didn't recast somebody who could properly portray a true story. What's next for Cage to butcher? Superman?