Windtalkers

Rating:
Summary: EXCITING AND EMOTIONAL!
Review: The battle for Sai Pan sets the stage for this rousing and exciting WWII epic. For all those that hated the film, I thought it was ten times better than John Woo's exciting but ludicrous film "Mission: Impossible 2." For anyone who loves history, action and emotion, you won't wanna miss "Windtalkers." Grade: A+

Rating:
Summary: Awful- Hambone Cage Strikes Again
Review: I guess Nicholas Cage isn't being offered the good scripts anymore- and for good reason, the guy is so formulaic now- the surly sufferer- that his acting range is really limited to a short list of registering basic emotions. And John Woo- what a flash in the pan this guy is. The action scenes are awkwardly staged...something Woo is supposed to be great at. The fighter planes are clearly matted in digitally. Explosions occur before guns have fired.There's so many predictable cliches from other battle films stretching back to WW2 films that you get a feeling you've seen everything before- and you have! ...

Rating:
Summary: Duck!
Review: Synopsis: In the Pacific theatre in World War II, the U.S. armed services developed a secure radio code based on the Navajo language. Navajo servicemen recruited as radio operators, or "codetalkers," were assigned guards to protect them and the vital code they carried - or kill them if they were in imminent danger of capture by the Japanese. Windtalkers tells the story of Marine codetalker (Adam Beach) and the sergeant assigned to guard him (Nicholas Cage) as they participate in the invasion of Saipan. It also follows a similar relationship between another codetalker (Roger Willie) and his protector (Christian Slater).

Joe Enders is a guy with a lot on his mind. First, there is the guilt. As a corporal in the Solomon Islands invasion, Enders abruptly inherited a small unit command when both his superiors were killed - and then just as quickly lost all his men in a Japanese counterattack. The lone survivor of the attack, he is sent to a naval hospital in Hawaii to recuperate, but he conceals a painful injury in order to return to combat. Instead of being allowed to return to the front lines, Joe is assigned to protect a wet-behind-the-ears codetalker named Ben Yahzee. Already traumatized by failing to save his old unit, Joe is in no mood to make friends with Ben, knowing that he might someday be forced to kill him in order to protect the code he carries. You know just where this movie is going.

There's a point somewhere in Windtalkers when the viewer begins to ask questions. And that's not a good thing. Like, with about a bazillion Marines on Saipan, how come there aren't any officers? You've got a gunnery sergeant (Peter Stormare) running what appears to be about a battalion of guys. No knock on sergeants, but I don't think that's the way it's supposed to work, even in the Marine Corps. And at the end of the movie, when a couple hundred Marines with tanks, trucks, and such are getting the snot kicked out of them by Japanese artillery: why is it up to one lone codetalker - in an entirely different location, separated from his radio and pinned down under fire - to call in an air strike? You mean to tell me there isn't a single radio in that whole convoy of beleaguered grunts? How are they communicating with each other, semaphore? I guess that's what happens when you don't have any officers around.

And there are other questions that are ultimately more ruinous to the success of this movie. What is the story about? The codetalkers? Joe Enders? The contrasting relationships between the codetalkers and their protectors? The conquest of Saipan? And how does any sort of relationship develop between Enders and the people in his life when he doesn't say two words to anyone? Early in the movie, the obligatory beautiful nurse (Frances O'Connor) falls for Joe, cares for him, pursues him with unanswered letters throughout the rest of the film - and he never gives her the time of day. Why does she bother? For that matter, it's hard to see why anyone does anything they do in this picture. Characters turn about-face in attitude and behavior so often at the whim of the plot that there must have been a minor epidemic of whiplash during the filming.

Even that wouldn't be such a bad thing if the plot were worth all the contrivances necessary to advance it. Unfortunately, Windtalkers is an encyclopedia of the hoariest war movie cliches: the haunted soldier who watched others die due to his mistakes; the medical condition (call it "Old Movie Disease") that debilitates the hero while somehow allowing him to fight on; the bigoted antagonist who is brought around to see the light; the young newcomer who proves his worth to the unit by an act of stupendous bravery; and so on.

Windtalkers is cliched visually as well. War films like Saving Private Ryan, Black Hawk Down, and HBO's Band of Brothers have raised the bar when it comes to realism and viewer involvement. In their wake, John Woo's trademark pyrotechnic style seems dated, even quaint, and his material trivial.

The biggest problem with Windtalkers, though, is Nicholas Cage. Cage is capable of being a very fine actor with a good emotional range, as evidenced by roles in movies as varied as Leaving Las Vegas and Moonstruck. Here, though, he seems clearly uncomfortable in a monotonous, clench-jawed performance as Joe Enders. The script, by John Rice and Joe Batteer, is execrable; but a lower-key actor like Billy Bob Thornton could probably have redeemed it somewhat by injecting a bit more nuance than Cage can summon. The rest of the casting is uneven as well, with Stormare particularly distracting as a Swede trying to fake an American accent.

The wartime contribution of the Navajo codetalkers is interesting grist for a movie. It's too bad Windtalkers doesn't come near to doing it justice.

Rating:
Summary: Woo Goes to War...
Review: Let's get one thing straight right off - legendary Hong Kong director John Woo does wonderful things for the action genre by turning violence into a sort ballet. Bullets fly, people leap, and sparks splash the screen in slow motion. Woo's take on the action genre has been copied a thousand times by lesser filmmakers... But realism is not Woo's strong suit. This being the case, one must wonder why he chose to direct a World War II film in a day and age when war pictures are more realistic than they've ever been (see SAVING PRIVATE RYAN and BLACK HAWK DOWN, for example). John Woo is perhaps the least likely candidate to head into the hell of war. And, really, did we need WINDTALKERS? War pictures have been so commonplace in recent times that their scenes of graphic violence are beginning to numb our sense of the dreadful. WINDTALKERS is not SAVING PRIVATE RYAN in Saipan (though the duplicate John Williams score will have you wondering). It's more like a throwback to guts-and-glory war films with a flare for the melodramatic. I'm not sure if this was intentional, but one thing is a definite - WINDTALKERS is melodramatic (sometimes the drama works, sometimes it doesn't). Oh, and there's plenty of combat - and not all of it is realistic. Nicholas Cage might as well be Rambo, really, considering the things he can accomplish on the field.

The premise of WINDTALKERS is a good one (even if it's less than accurate in its depiction of things), which places Native Americans in the midst of war as code-talkers who must be guarded by soldiers like Cage and Christian Slater (who does a great job with a fairly minor role). Then again, it's the CODE that must truly be protected, at all costs... And so in comes Adam Beach, who is essentially the hero of the story. Beach does a splendid job with his role, while the name of the picture, Cage, is hit-and-miss. Cage can definitely chew up the scenery if he's not cautious. It worked well in FACE/OFF, but WINDTALKERS isn't going for the same silly tone.

In the end, WINDTALKERS is a fine film that lacks a bit in the credibility department, but still comes up with much of the stuff that makes this genre compelling. Had this film not followed on the heels of BLACK HAWK DOWN and WE WERE SOLDIERS, it could only have helped. As it is, it all seems like too little too late, but it's a good film all the same.

Rating:
Summary: Depression Sets In....
Review: John Woo, who normally makes good films, should fall on his samuri sword for putting his name on this trash. Nick Cage gives a performance second only to the infamous 8MM. This contrived and predictable trash should be fed to death row inmates on a steady diet, the chair cannot compare to the torture. This Rodney King We Should All Get Along Despite Our Differences drabble made me want to vomit. Before you rent this flick, pull the pin from a grenade, put it in your mouth, then duct tape it shut, you'll thank yourself for the sweet release of death...

Rating:
Summary: Bloodbath
Review: this movie was so bad i wish i had never seen it. You dont even find anyhting out about the war all you see is fighting and blood. Nobody describes what is happening in the movie. Digusting and horrible you would two of the many words to describe it. My advice dont see it. it would be the worst exprience of your life.

Rating:
Summary: The best war movie ever made! Much better than Pearl Harbor!
Review: Compared to Pearl Harbor this is the best war action movie! If you are expecting drama, don't rent this get Pearl Harbor, because this movie is nothing but gut wrenching action, well if John Woo is directing the movie, you need to expect that. Check out this action movie NOW! I don't want to give a plot because I normally give it away and this movie needs to be watched. What I like about the DVD is the phenomenal sound quality. The audio is superb. The picture quality is kind of grainy but is pretty nice though. There are two versions of the movie on the disc: the WIDESCREEN (way to watch it!) version on Side A and a FULLSCREEN (don't watch it like this) version on Side B on a double sided dual layer disc! Anyway don't want to narrate to ya, just watch the movie now, its a good way to spend 2 hours and 14 minutes!

Rating:
Summary: TERRIBLE!!!
Review: I came into the movie with high expectations. There was a good story-line, and some slightly-above actors to back it up. Toss in a (usually) great director, and you should get a half-decent movie. This is NOT the case.

Five minutes I found myself laughing hysterically at the shocking acting, and didn't stop until the credits started to roll. Ever see those B-grade action movies where the hero, impervious to bullets, mows down battalions of enemies with his trusty pistol?? This is much the same case as in Windtalkers.

Utilizing every war movie cliche known to man and shocking and thoroughly unbelievable acting, this is possibly the worst WWII movie in film history.

What could have been an interesting story (with the Navajo codetalkers) was barely touched on... we see the code being put to use hardly at all, and in moments when they could have more easily just used plain English (like when giving a battleship coordinates of a Japanese gun battery).

All in all, I would not reccomend this movie to buy. By all means, rent it for a night of comedic genius, but if you're looking for a good WWII movie, look elsewhere.

Rating:
Summary: Its a good movie, but the plot of Navajo's could be better..
Review: First of all, Roger Willie is Navajo from New Mexico and Adam Beach is the only native from Canada who are the main characters besides Nicholas Cage. The person who wrote earlier saying both the natives were natives from canada, should look more into it than making a statement like that(it will discourage other natives to defend where they are from originally).

Ok. To the movie now. I think the movie could have been done better than portraying the traumatized soldier from his last battle. Navajos characterize in this movie, were not given much of a chance other than say a few sentences and all about the code talk. There is much more to that. Although this is more to say on this subject...i need to go.

Rating:
Summary: Take it for what it is
Review: 'windtalkers' was not a bad movie at all. in fact, it was a pretty ... good movie. but i was just disappointed becuz it wasn't great john woo movie. it was no 'killer' or 'bullet in the head'. but it was good. when compared to woo's other american movies, its as good as 'mission impossible 2' but not as well done as 'face/off' or 'hard target'.