Home :: DVD :: Art House & International :: Asian Cinema  

Asian Cinema

British Cinema
European Cinema
General
Latin American Cinema
Windtalkers

Windtalkers

List Price: $14.95
Your Price: $13.46
Product Info Reviews

<< 1 2 3 4 5 6 .. 23 >>

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: A remake of corny, hammy old Hollywood war-movies.
Review: We do need an updated Pacific-war film as a companion to 'Private Ryan', perhaps, 'Beach Red', 'None but the Brave', 'Sands of Iwo Jima' or even Jeffrey Hunter's entertaining 60s duo 'Hell to Eternity' and 'No Mans an Island' updated to current production values: Well, a movie about a very obscure and specialised aspect of the Pacific War was probably never likely to be it, it subsequently failed to teach us much about the role of Navajo code-talkers in the war, and failed to be much of a regular war-film to be taken seriously either.
Opening close quarters Marines vs Japanese battle-scene on Guadalcanal was actually promising and rather graphically impressive, this seems to be a pattern with mediocre war-efforts lately, an impressive staged opening battle-scene, then its all downhill from there. 'Harts War' did the same thing.
After that, cliches abound, accuracy to any typical Pacific-Island tactical war situation that Im familiar with eludes me, and consists of Japanese soldiers repeatedly springing -out individually or in small group, charging yelling down little hills and being over and over again put away with Chicago choppers. (Like a Japanese imitation of the old 'Combat'TV-show Germans) Caje doesnt really work even in casting, doesnt really know how to go about portraying the cliched stressed-out traumatised veteran, to be fair he probably gets about as far as expected with a 50s pedestrian script and a director who by the sound of his name cut his teeth on Hong-Kong chop-sockey movies, and if it had Kung-Fu instead of rifles artillery and bayonette charges, this would actually be an above-average contribution to that genre. He must have been instinctively- tempted to make greater use of the sword-wielding Japanese-officers.The two Native-Americans and their knife-fights hand-to-hand with the Japanese troops are actually well-done and a highlight in a low dark landscape, , theres that martial-arts film experience shining again.( Was this revenge for the Japanese Samurai that messed up all those native-American warriors in the cornfield in that cool Charles Bronson-Toshiro Mifune western years ago?)

Sets and costumes are ok, credit where its due, the Japanese strong-points with a camouflaged period field-gun look about right.

Like 'U-571' and 'Harts War', ok for keeping the kids out of your hair for a couple of hours. Other than that, Native-americans would be the only other target-audience.Even so, Im not aware that Native-American Code-talkers actually made possible the Allied victory over Japan, I'd need more convincing than this sensationalising, misleading melodrama.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: FANTASTIC MOVIE
Review: THIS DVD IS THE INTEGRAL VERSION OF THE MOVIE WITH 20 MN MORE THAN THE ORIGINAL I CAN TELL YOU THAT IF YOU LIKE JOHN WOO AND THE WAR MOVIES MAYBE IT IS THE BEST OF THE KIND IF YOU HAVE THE COURAGE TO SEE IT YOU WILL BE VERY DEPRESS THE WAR SCENES ARE SO VIOLENT AND NICOLAS CAGE SO SERIOUS
WELL I LIKE IT TO MUCH
THE ONLY DECEPTION IS THE LACK OF DTS THE JAPONESE DVD IS IN DTS BUT ONLY THE CUT VERSION SO THIS IS THE DVD
OF WINDTALKER FANTASTIC BUT TRAUMA

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Wow
Review: I bought this movie hoping that it might be good. I was dead wrong. this is the worst movie i have ever seen. This movie seems like a comedy the way cage tries to act. Since when does a thompson hold fifty rounds? See U-571 if you want a good code movie.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Oh, Brother...
Review: I knew that going into this movie that it wasn't going to be great. After hearing all of the terrible reviews and hearing people after people express their disliking of the movie, I knew that it wasn't going to be pretty. Still, I was watching the movie with the impression that if it was a terrible war movie, it'd still make an entertaining action flick--well, I couldn't had been more wrong. As this was a TERRIBLE movie on all fronts. "Windtalkers" is a horribly flawed movie with very little positive in it, if any.

The movie is centered around WWII. Navajo soldiers are used to transmit codes that the Japanese can't understand or decipher. Such a code-talker is Ben Yahzee. Sergeant Joe Enders is ordered to watch over him and make sure nothing happens to the code... and to insure that the Navajo soldier doesn't fall into enemy hands.

Directed by John Woo, this so-called "action film" is so clichéd and rancid. The script is wishy-washy and has not a trace of emotional power to it. The movie is melodramatic in every way, shape and form. Not to mention that the film has some of the most god awful acting I have ever seen from Nicholas Cage. I never thought it'd be possible to see him in a terrible movie and watch him do such a horrible job, but that day has come. I do not exaggerate when I tell you this; this is the worst acting ever from Cage. When he "flips out" and unleashes his "violent-furry" against the Japanese soldiers in an earlier war scene, you actually laugh at the way over-the-top expressions on his face. I do admit that the movie has some cool action sequences, but there is nothing that can save this rancid movie. It would've been a lot better had the film dealt more with the actual Navajo code-talkers and the actual process that went behind it all.

I really thought that I'd like the movie if I took it as an action movie, rather than a war picture. However, I was very much mistaken. It took me three times to actually get through this movie. I almost wanted to cry because it was so awful. It's as bad as "Pearl Harbor," if not worse. I just want to ask John Woo, "Why? Why, oh why, John?!" He should definitely stick to regular action movies.

"Windtalkers" is a must-miss flop of cinematic garbage with almost no redeeming value to it. Stay away from this movie at all cost. There are so many other great movies out there that deserve your time. I can't even recommend this as a last resort. While I'm sure that there are people who enjoyed this movie, I have to say that I loathed almost every second of this uninspiring thing that's supposed to be called a "movie."

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: My Review for Windtalkers
Review: Windtakers Didn't Have a Strong script.
Like Saving Private Ryan.
Alltrough It was Silmiler Storyline
set In world war two story About Soldiers
and Of course Violence. The Movie I think
Is more about Joe Enders (Nicolas Cage)
Then The Navajo Codetalkers.
Like In Ryan' It has A little More Focus
On James Francis Ryan. (Matt deamon)
Alltrough Windtalkers Had Violent Sceens
But It was Pale Compared to Saving Private Ryan's
In your Face Nightmarish More Graphic Pychologicly
More Disturbing Then Windtalkers. The camera Just Flies
In Windtalkers But In ryan I'ts Like Somone Had a Hand Heald
Camera Looks more Like a domcumenrty.
Windtalkers It's More Sentimentel Then Ryan
Saving Private Ryan is More Blunt Realistic
Then Windtalkers
I recamend Saving Private Ryan. Then Windtalkers.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Waiting for the misery to end
Review: I don't know much about what the code talkes did during the war but I find it hard to believe if they were so valuable that they would be on the front lines calling in artillery. Maybe massive troop movements, battle plans, or enemy movements but not simple things like that. Also I got sick of old Nick firig five shots only to watch five dead enemy soldiers fall to the ground. I also didn't know soldiers had no fear of enemy fire and rarely took cover. Maybe it was because the japenese just came screaming at the marines instead of firing at them. I could tell this movie would be awful wthin the first 30 seconds and I was right.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: This film is good
Review: I missed "Windtalkers" in the theatres, but I bought the DVD when it came out. First off, if you like WWII films, you will love this one. Second, I can understand how some people could say it lacks in story.

This is meant for action fans, and war film fans. It was NOT meant for the art house people that would rather sit through some French romance film. This is meant to excite, and cash in on the wave of post 9-11 war films. Like a good John Wayne film, it was meant to be a good John Wayne type action film. It wasn't meant to replace "Gone With The Wind".

Afther I owned the DVD for a while, I decided to buy the director's cut edition. It adds to the film, and really makes it more complete, because the original cut of the film left out some details in the story(like the romance between Cage and the nurse). Check it out, but don't look for "Citizen Kane". You won't find it here.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: good battles but doesnt survive the fight
Review: Nicolas Cage(Snake Eyes, Vampire's Kiss), Christian Slater(Pup Up The Volume, Heathers), Adam Beach(Joe Dirt, Smoke Signals), Noah Emmerich(The Truan Show, Monument Ave.) and Mark Ruffalo(The Last Castle, xx/yy) star in WindTalkers, which really means some Native American thing about the soldiers who were Native American....being that Adam Beach is in this one. good battle sequences makes this good for some time but the dramatic side becomes wooden and we dont seem to care about Cage or Beach or anyone after awhile..note: Slater gets beheaded in this one..ouch

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Excellent movie
Review: One of the best movies I have seen. Very realistic like and true. Shows a lot of blood but hey, that was how war was like. There was a flaw in the movie though that the movie should have reflected more on how the navajos used their code rather than World War 2 battle scenes. One flaw, but everything else was good.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: directors cut is great
Review: I saw the theatrical version and thought it was a cool action flick,but not enough was said about the code talkers.Then I upgraded to the directors cut and it now ranks high in my favorites list.The opening fight sequence is longer and nastier,there is a little more info on the code talkers,but best of all a key scene between cage and frances o'conner that leads to a much better ending and a narration explains if he ever returned her letters she wrote to him.The twenty five minutes that are put back in help this story so much its worth checking out,even if you only rent it.


<< 1 2 3 4 5 6 .. 23 >>

© 2004, ReviewFocus or its affiliates