Windtalkers

Rating:
Summary: Too much competition..........? Not the only problem.
Review: Sure, we got black hawk down, we were soldiers and saving private ryan.. But is that the only reason this movie is getting bashed so much?

You'd think, jown woo, james horner, and nick cage, going to be a good movie. However, there is much more than just competition that made this movie sub-par. First of all, i am an avid john woo fan. when he hits the mark, he hits it with the thunder (my favorites being face off, mi-2, better tomorrow, killer and hard boiled.) The difference is between those and windtalkers is - character development. john woo is good with the professional killers, gangs, and good vs. evil and where the line fades regarding good vs. evil. That (lack of plot and character development,) combined with the fact that there was no original material in wintalkers (all cliche,) make it a flop. Sure the action scenes were cool and cage was great, but it's not enough to save this one.

Mabye woo was trying to break his double beretta image. Who knows? he knew he was going into competitive territory with war. There's a lot to live up to.

If you liked the woo movies above, it is highly likely you will be disappointed by windtalkers...

Rating:
Summary: A MOVING BUT FLAWED PICTURE
Review: Windtalkers manages to stuff almost every hoary war-film cliche into its two hours. We have the "hold on to this ring and give it to my wife in case I'm killed" speech, the wide-eyed soldier's flashbacks to a gory battle, the "I can't take this anymore" harangue by a soldier to his commander, the American-soldier-gives-chocolate-to-a-young-child-of-the-enemy scene, the racist soldier who has his life saved by the minority character and then becomes enlightened, and so on. On top of that, some of the action is so ludicrous that it could just as well have come from a Rambo film.

Why then does this film get four stars? Well, damned if it doesn't bring a tear to your eye and a lump in your throat at the end. This is because for all the absurdity and melodrama in the movie, there is a real chemistry between Nicholas Cage and the likeable Adam Beach. When one of the character dies, you know you're being manipulated to blubber, but it works.

From the title and previews you might expect that the Navajo cryptographers are at the center of this story, but that is just a gimmick. Yes, Adam Beach gets plenty of screen time, but generally speaking he is used less to illuminate the story of the "windtalkers" than to be a sunny foil against Cage's dark humors and to provide Woo opportunities to make some fairly banal if well-intentioned observations about racism. I for one left the theater wishing that the story of the windtalkers had been more integral to the plot.

The action sequences are well done, but Woo plows no new ground after the breakthroughs in staging battle scenes in Saving Private Ryan and in Blackhawk Down. I wish that he had not diluted the realism of the film by injecting elements of action films and martial arts films in the battle scenes, but this is Woo, after all.

Rating:
Summary: This is far from realism
Review: the idea behind Windtalkers is a noble one, show the unknown heroism of Navajo codetalkers in WWII. But the idea was better left to Spielberg or Ridley Scott. If you want realism, you are better off watching movies like "A bridge too Far," "Black Hawk Down," and "Saving Private Ryan." Or even better yet the HBO series "Band of Brothers." Woo's attempt to show off his glittering explosions, A-Team like bodies flying in the air from grenades, and death by the thousands masquereaded under a so called "Homage to the veterans and actual windtalkers" is repulsive to me. First off, never were the Windtalkers under personal bodyguard protection, and never were there ever orders to kill the windtalkers to prevent capture, I'm sure this point made the Marine Corp squirm in their seats. Finally, if you are going to make a war movie, make it a good one, it's offensive to fill it full of innacuracies just to add dramatic effect and an excuse for "cool" explosions and stunts. Blackhawk down had some innacuracies also, but at least it followed pretty closely to the actual account in Bowden's book, Windtalkers was pulled out of some $ hungry exec looking to cash in on the "Saving Private Ryan" fever post 1998.

Rating:
Summary: Not what you would expect, but great none the less.
Review: If you go to see Windtalkers thinking you are going to see a film focusing primarily on the Navajo Code Talkers, then you are not going to see the film you would expect. Though one would think that is what the primary focus of the film is given that its what the publicity for the film, and its title, have focused on.

While Windtalkers does grant considerable attention to the Code Talkers, they are not the primary focus of the film's story. The primary story is about a small, fictional unit of Marines who fight in the Battle of Saipan in the Pacific during the war. They are a forward Marine recon unit, with two Code Talkers assigned to the unit.

The two primary characters of the film are Ben Yahzee, a Code Talker, and Sergeant Joe Enders (Nicholas Cage), a battle hardened Marine assigned to protect Yahzee and the valuable code he posseses in his head. If necessary, Enders is to kill Yahzee if he is in severe danger of falling into the hands of the enemy, to "protect the code" at all costs.

The main character dynamics of the film focus on Ender's battles with personal demons and battle scaring from his previous war experiences, Yahzee's experiences of battle for the first time and with racism on the part of some of his fellow Marines, and the complex relationship that develops between these two men. In the battles they fight together, they develop an abiding respect and friendship for one another that is severely tested by events.

Though the Code Talkers are surprisingly not the main focus of this film's story, it is given exploration in two primary ways. 1) We the viewer get to see how the Code Talkers are trained to use the code, and how important it is due to the fact its the only code the Japanese had not been able to break, and 2) How the code talkers used their knowledge to affect the outcomes of battles, and save the lives of their fellow Marines. Some claim this is the only time on film that the Code Talkers have been featured. This is not correct, because they were featured in a 1955 film called "Battle Cry" (albeit briefly). But this is certainly the most attention that the Code Talkers have ever gotten on film, and it is well deserved for their contributions to winning World War II.

The one thing I was skeptical about was whether John Woo, an action movie director, could pull off making a serious war picture without slow motion Mission Impossible Two like scenes, or Nick Cage motorcycling around Japanese, or other typical straight up action film parlance. I was wonderfully pleased, however, with just how well Woo does in composing this film as a serious story about the violence of war. In fact, he uses some of his action movie directing talents to great effect, with many startling moments in the picture that leave the audience unprepared for what they are about to see in certain scenes. In one scene (which I will not describe in detail so as not to spoil anyone too much) has a battle starting out of no where with a shocking scene showing just how unpredictable combat can be.

All in all, an impressive picture if one takes the film for what it is (a great war picture about the contributions of the U.S. Marines, including the Code Talkers, to the war, and about the relationships of men in combat) and not what they would expect it to be (a film focusing primarily on the Code Talkers).

Rating:
Summary: this movie is gory and badly acted.
Review: Between Cage's ineffective acting, the non-existent screenplay, and explosion style effects everywhere, this came off more as a Rambo type movie then something out of respect for history. Skip this movie, and just stay with the good documentry that was recently done about the Code breakers, on the History Channel.

Rating:
Summary: " A Action packed War Film"
Review: Nicolas Cage betrays a brutal war veteran who is unstopable and kills about two hundred Japenese soldiers in World War II. The movie is quite entertaining , and has decent acting , although
it is not as good as last year's big hit "Black Hawk Down". It has more action than most war films , but it doesn't have as good as acting as most war films. I liked it anyway , as long as it is entertaining , count me in! I would go see this film if you are looking to have an exciting time at the movie theatres!
Starring: Nicolas Cage , Adam Beach , Christian Slater , Mark Ruffalo , Peter Stormare and Noah Emmerich.

Rating:
Summary: Windtalkers
Review: You've seen "Black Hawk Down." You've seen "We Were Soldiers." You've seen "Hart's War".... Okay, wait, not many people saw that last one, but I think the point is clear. This year, young though it may still be, has seen its share of war films. Following these excellent films is no easy task, especially given the public's growing numbness to this in-your-face genre. "Windtalkers" comes a day late and a dollar short, but at least it offers something that the others have not - John Woo. That name should speak volumes to those who follow the industry, because you can't expect realism with Woo onboard. However, you can expect a lot of action, and a lot of heart. The latter works well with "Windtalkers," but John Woo's ballet of bullets and sparks is a little inappropriate for a film about World War II. The explosions and gunfights are more sexy than gritty, and realism goes right out the window. Still, the ever-increasing bodycount and deaths-by-friendly fire present the war as just hellacious enough so that the leaps, flips, and explosions don't become too offensive. At worst, one could label this film a tasteless miscalculation of what war is really like. At best, one could say it's a somewhat refreshing take on an overplayed genre. "Black Hawk Down," perhaps the best film of its kind, demanded that something new be offered in the war films that followed - and yet "We Were Soldiers" offered more of the same (despite its many charms). With "Windtalkers," it's all about the action. The Native code-talkers are little more than a clever afterthought to the slow motion carnage - but, in the end, the film delivers huge thrills and an interesting take on the genre.

Rating:
Summary: Great Movie
Review: Wind Talkers Deserves 5 Stars.
This Movie is One Of The Greatest War Movies Out There.
It Stars Great Actors, And it is Directed By: Award Winning Director John WOO.
This Movie Should Win Awards Coming Up In Award Shows.
This movies Stars Nicolas Cage.
He Is told To Protect A Navajo Man(Who knows The Codes).
He Is Told To Protect The Code No Matter What.
It Is A Great Movie For Anyone.
I Reccomend It For Anyone.
I Went With My Dad To See This, And he Is A Retired Veteran For The Marine Corps, And he Absolutly Loved This Movie.
GO SEE THIS MOVIE IN THEATERS NOW!!!

Rating:
Summary: Great Movie
Review: Wind Talkers Is A Great War Movie.
I Give This Movie 5 Stars.
It's Got Lot's Of Action.
It's Also Starring Nicolas Cage.
It Was A Very Tramatic Movie.
I Reccomend This Movie For Anyone.
Of Course, I Went With my Dad, And He Is A Retired Veteran So He Loved It Too.

Rating:
Summary: Woo-hoo!
Review: What can I say - I've been a huge admirer of Director John Woo since Broken Arrow, Face Off and Mission Impossible 2. His brilliance is again displayed in Windtalkers. But beware . . . Woo is a little too good here. I'm not a fan of war films, for obvious reasons. It really felt like I was part of the action; didn't really want to be there. But, that's war - and that's Woo.

Based on actual events -
Navajo Americans have been recruited to World War II. Their native language is to be adapted and used as secret code, unbreakable by the Japanese. This is the Marines' new secret weapon. Ben Yahzee (wonderfully played by Adam Beach) is one of several hundred Navajo code talkers or "Windtalkers" as they've been called. US Marine Joe Enders (the always amazing Nicholas Cage) has been assigned to protect Yahzee. Enders has seen much of the war and harbors many demons. Enders must "protect the code," not the man, at any cost.

All of the lead actors here were unfamiliar to me. I was pleased with the chosen cast. Christian Slater, like Nicholas Cage, is no stranger to John Woo's work (Broken Arrow). Slater also plays a marine assigned to protect the Navajo code. Slater's acting never disappoints me - huge fan here.

Keep in mind, the story told here isn't just about a war and a code. There's much, much more to it. Don't miss it.