Sixty-one years ago, U.S. and Japanese armies met on Iwo Jima. Decades later, several hundred letters are unearthed from that stark island's soil. The letters give faces and voices to the men who fought there, as well as the extraordinary general who led them, Tadamichi Kuribayashi (Ken Watanabe). With little defense other than sheer will and the volcanic rock of the island itself, Gen. Kuribayashi's unprecedented tactics transform what was predicted to be a quick and bloody defeat into nearly 40 days of heroic and resourceful combat.In an effort to explore an event that continues to resonate with both cultures, Clint Eastwood was haunted by the sense that making only one film, "Flags of Our Fathers," would be telling only half the story. With this unprecedented dual film project, shot back-to-back to be released in sequence, Eastwood seeks to reveal the battle of Iwo Jima--and, by implication, the war in the Pacific--as a clash not only of arms but of cultures.
This is one of those movies that I might have liked a lot more if I would have seen it under different pretenses. The bottom line is that since this was a subtitle movie, I planned on waiting to rent it instead of going to theaters to see it. Then it got nominated for Best Picture and I wanted to make sure to see it before the Academy Awards. Unfortunately, I was then stuck watching this movie for two plus hours thinking nothing other than why in the blue hell was this movie nominated for best picture over Dreamgirls and Children Of Men? It's not that the movie was bad. It actually ended up being better than average. But definitely not good enough to warrant a Best Picture nomination. Again, I probably would have really liked this a lot more if I would have seen it without the imbedded bias in my brain.
I would still recommend people checking this movie out because, again, it's not a bad movie. Just be sure to keep your expectations in check.
