Rating: 
Summary: John Wayne teaches young Marines how to "Saddle up!"
Review: "Sands of Iwo Jima" was the first movie I ever saw in which John Wayne played a character who actually died, which was certainly one of the more shocking deaths I can remember ever seeing in a film. Wayne plays Sgt. John Marion Stryker and since Wayne's real name was Marion Michael Morrison there seems to be an additional level of identification between actor and character here, while the power of the name "Stryker" is obvious. Stryker seems a bully to the green recruits he is training to be U.S. Marines in 1943. When the men of the rifle squad learn that Stryker's wife had taken their son and left him they think they know the reason why the man who was once the epitome of the tough Marine has become such a martinet.
Of course when Stryker and his men hit the beach at Tarawa and are fighting for their lives against the Japanese troops defending the island, they understand that his hard lessons are the difference being life and death in combat. Then comes the last hard nut to crack of the islands occupied by the Japanese, the volcanic island of Iwo Jima. As the officer briefing the troops says, "nobody knows exactly what they've got on this island, but they've had forty years to put it there." Director Allan Dwan takes advantage of actual combat footage from the documentaries "With the Marines at Tarawa" and "To the Shores of Iwo Jima" to provide an added dimension of realism to the battle sequences. The reenactment of the flag raising on Iwo Jima involved Rene Gagnon, Ira Hayes, and John Bradley, the only three Marines in the celebrated photograph who survived the battle.
Since this is a Hollywood war movie Stryker's rifle squad consists of not just new recruits but a few veterans, including Al Thomas (Forrest Tucker), an old enemy who is perfectly willing to bad mouth the sergeant at every opportunity, even after he is taken out behind the tents by Stryker to be reminded who is running the outfit. The recruit who absorbs all of this venom the most is young Peter Conway (John Agar), whose father was Stryker's Commanding Officer at Guadalcanal. The old man felt his son was too soft to be a Marine (he reads books and went to college) and the kid resents the particular interest Stryker is taking in his training. Even when Stryker saves Conway's life when the kid is too busy reading a love letter to notice a live grenade gets loose during a training exercise, Conway refuses to show gratitude. So in addition to their relationship and sergeant and private Stryker and Conway are playing out their own familial relationship problems with each other as well.
It is in battle that Stryker is at his best, blowing up a Japanese bunker to save trapped Marines, and once he proves himself to be a warrior god his squad, now tested in battle, finally becomes a true band of brothers. But "The Sands of Iwo Jima" has the elements of a Greek tragedy and at the moment of his apotheosis the hero must fall. Adding insult to injury the blow comes from behind and the shot of a bullet hole beneath Stryker's stenciled name on the back of his fatigues is even more powerful than the reenactment of the raising of the second American flag on Mt. Surabachi.
This is not the best war movie of 1949; that honor goes to William Wellman's "Battleground," which remains one of the very best of the best in the World War II genre. Wayne was nominated for Best Actor, the only other time he was up for an Oscar besides "True Grit," although he arguably gave a better performance that same year in his previous film "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon." Despite the pair of strong performances by the Duke the Academy Award went to Broderick Crawford for "All the King's Men," but "Sands of Iwo Jima" remains Wayne's best WWII movie and one of the few that stands up with his classic westerns."
Rating: 
Summary: The John Wayne War Movie!
Review: "The Sands of Iwo Jima" is arguably one of the greatest recruiting tools the US Marine Corps has ever had, and the image of John Wayne as tough as nails Sergeant John M. Stryker can still be seen throughout the fleet. Yet Sergeant Stryker is a flawed man: a lousy husband, a negligent father, and a near alcoholic who has already been busted in rank. His men hate him, and he doesn't care. His fate is nothing heroic. Sergeant Stryker is certainly a brave man, an able squad leader, and fine Marine, but he is not portrayed as John Rambo. John Wayne turns what could have been a cartoon character into something human and understandable. The movie has its flaws: weak supporting characters and a pointless romance. Yet, in its day, its battle scenes were praised for their realism. Despite the bashing John Wayne received recently for his WWII films glorifying war, "The Sands of Iwo Jima is still one of the finest war movies ever made. Yes, there is blatant flag-waving, but how can you have a movie about Iwo Jima without the raising of the flag on Suribachi? Not only does this movie recreate that epic moment, but actually got the three surviving men, who did the real flag rising, to recreate it for the movie.
Rating:
Summary: The John Wayne War Movie!
Review: "The Sands of Iwo Jima" is arguably one of the greatest recruiting tools the US Marine Corps has ever had, and the image of John Wayne as tough as nails Sergeant John M. Stryker can still be seen throughout the fleet. Yet Sergeant Stryker is a flawed man: a lousy husband, a negligent father, and a near alcoholic who has already been busted in rank. His men hate him, and he doesn't care. His fate is nothing heroic. Sergeant Stryker is certainly a brave man, an able squad leader, and fine Marine, but he is not portrayed as John Rambo. John Wayne turns what could have been a cartoon character into something human and understandable. The movie has its flaws: weak supporting characters and a pointless romance. Yet, in its day, its battle scenes were praised for their realism. Despite the bashing John Wayne received recently for his WWII films glorifying war, "The Sands of Iwo Jima is still one of the finest war movies ever made. Yes, there is blatant flag-waving, but how can you have a movie about Iwo Jima without the raising of the flag on Suribachi? Not only does this movie recreate that epic moment, but actually got the three surviving men, who did the real flag rising, to recreate it for the movie.
Rating:
Summary: Underrated war movie
Review: A CLASSIC! One of the finest stories of courage and sacrifice in wartime ever filmed, it is up there on my list of favorites right beside The Triumph and the Glory and The Bridges of Toko-Ri. Brilliant, the Duke at his best!
Rating:
Summary: "UNCOMMON VALOR WAS A COMMON VIRTUE"-Admiral C.W. Nimitz
Review: Admiral Nimitz was commenting on the marines' successful efforts to secure this very strategic island during the 36 day battle, starting on February 19, against this Japanese stronghold. Of the six marines who raised the flag on Mount Suribachi, only three survived, all of which led quiet lives afterwards, never boasting about their achievements; many of their comrades died there. This movie was made right after the war just when the U.S. government was considering nixing the marines. John Wayne was one of many who came to the rescue, and in the movie, he does so as the brave Sargeant Stryker. The marines were instrumental in taking the island, as the VHS version documents after the end of the actual film. This movie was one of my dad's favorite WWII films; my dad was only 16 at the time the war ended, yet had a friend who survived this battle, yet with the loss of one of his legs. Almost 7000 Americans died, many tens of thousands were wounded. The Japanese population on this small island was very nearly annihilated. John Wayne's first Academy Award nomination for Best Actor came from his role in this film.
Though many of the actors in this film were well known in their day, the only one I had heard of was John Wayne, although I'm sure my dad would've known them all. The movie is very dated, over 50 years old. I didn't get really interested in the story until half way through in that it mainly depicts barracks life for the marines until their deployment. The actual battle takes up only a fraction of the movie's time, the majority of it more concerned with the personalities and conflicts within the corp pre-engagement. I had hoped the movie would contain more historical details than it did since I knew precious little about it; however, probably in 1949, most Americans knew all about it from the news, newspapers and from friends and relatives who knew of people who had fought there. (The quote from Nimitz was not in the movie, nor the historical facts). Still, the movie's a classic, and I can see why my dad loved it. We're not a marine family, but Semper Fi!
Rating: 
Summary: Poor DVD Quality
Review: Although my first thought would not classify this as a recruiting film, the movie does just that. Within the story we see a few people who are trying to earn respect from loved ones, the fellow soldiers, or themselves. This fits most of the themes for WWII movies starring John Wayne. If the formula works, don't mess with it. A hard-core Marine, played by John Wayne, has seen a lot of action, but he has also lost quite a bit of rank due to a problem with getting a bit too drunk on his off duty time. This drinking comes from his trying to deaden the pain from the estrangement from his young son. One of his squad is having trouble dealing with his world also. His father was a famous commander who wanted to see his son be a brave soldier. His trouble with his family leads to friction between him and Wayne. One soldier gets his buddies killed or injured due to his taking a break from the battle. From this, he must try to regain his respect for himself. All these men fight their inner battles as they fight the outer ones. This movie is a tribute to duty and honor. I would recommend watching this movie.
Rating:
Summary: Semper Fi
Review: Although my first thought would not classify this as a recruiting film, the movie does just that. Within the story we see a few people who are trying to earn respect from loved ones, the fellow soldiers, or themselves. This fits most of the themes for WWII movies starring John Wayne. If the formula works, don't mess with it. A hard-core Marine, played by John Wayne, has seen a lot of action, but he has also lost quite a bit of rank due to a problem with getting a bit too drunk on his off duty time. This drinking comes from his trying to deaden the pain from the estrangement from his young son. One of his squad is having trouble dealing with his world also. His father was a famous commander who wanted to see his son be a brave soldier. His trouble with his family leads to friction between him and Wayne. One soldier gets his buddies killed or injured due to his taking a break from the battle. From this, he must try to regain his respect for himself. All these men fight their inner battles as they fight the outer ones. This movie is a tribute to duty and honor. I would recommend watching this movie.
Rating:
Summary: John Wayne at his best
Review: Awesome movie and John Wayne was at his best. The DVD does an excellent job in showing the movie. If you loved it as a VHS you'll really love it as a DVD.
Rating:
Summary: Hyper!
Review: Excellent movie! It is much better than reading history books. A MUST for all WW2 fanatics!
Rating:
Summary: The ultimate tribute
Review: How "real" was this movie to its viewers? Get this DVD. One of my instructors in Amphibious Warfare School told us, a group of young Marine Captains, about the time he first saw Sands of Iwo Jima overseas. He and his brother had enlisted in 1949, right after seeing the movie in their home town in Montana. The wanted to be Sergeant Stryker. Ashore in Sasebo, Japan, the were on liberty when they passed a "theater" with a poster (in Japanese) unmistakeably advertising Sands of Iwo Jima. Intrigued, the put down a couple of yen and went into a long narrow hall, and sat down on the narrow benches provided as seats. The place was jam-packed. They could not fathom why the film would be so popular in Japan. The audience was silent throughout the entire movie, as the Marines moved inexorably toward Japan. Then, in the final scene (and those who have seen it will understand), the audience exploded, leaping to their feet and giving three emotional banzais. Now that is a tribute of the first order. Semper Fi! M. R. McCarty LtCol, USMC (ret)
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