Barnes & Noble

In this ambitious drama about heroism -- both real and manufactured -- filmmaker Clint Eastwood powerfully re-creates the 1945 battle of Iwo Jima, the United States’ bloodiest single engagement of World War II, offering an ironic, ultimately downbeat look at its effect on three key survivors. Skillfully scripted by William Broyles Jr. and Paul Haggis from the 2000 nonfiction bestseller by James Bradley (the son of one of the three), the movie initially focuses on a handful of the 30,000 troops that landed on that tiny volcanic island to evict 20,000 well-fortified Japanese defenders. On the siege’s fifth day, six soldiers reach the summit where much of the Japanese firepower is concentrated and raise an American flag -- an event depicted in a photo that became a historical icon. Three of the six are subsequently killed, but the surviving three are whisked back to the States to participate in a drive to sell war bonds. Eastwood provides spectacle in the battle scenes, which have the same graphic, visceral quality as those staged by Steven Spielberg in Saving Private Ryan. But the meat of the story is the survivors’ attempts to cope with their newfound stardom and rebuild their lives with the horrors of war still fresh in their minds. Adam Beach is especially moving as Ira Hayes, the Native American who most keenly suffered from the effects of what he felt was undeserved fame. Eastwood delicately acknowledges the nation’s wartime need for heroism while implicitly criticizing the exploitation of its heroes. Powerful, expressive, and superbly made, Flags of Our Fathers is a stunning achievement that will be remembered as one of Eastwood’s finest directorial efforts. Ed Hulse

All Movie Guide

Clint Eastwood's adaptation of the non-fiction book Flags of Our Fathers concerns the lives of the men in the famous picture of soldiers raising the American flag over Iwo Jima during that historic WWII battle. Battle scenes are intercut with footage of three of the soldiers - played by Ryan Phillipe, Jesse Bradford, and Adam Beach -- who survived the battle going on a goodwill tour of the United States in order to sell war bonds. Many evening they are forced to reenact their famous pose, something each of them finds more and more difficult to do as they suffer from survivor's guilt. Eastwood frames the story by having one of the men's grown son (Tom McCarthy) interview his father's old comrades in order to find out more about what happened to his father. Eastwood followed this film with Letters from Iwo Jima, a second film about the battle of Iwo Jima, but told from the Japanese perspective. Flags of Our Fathers was produced by Eastwood and Steven Spielberg. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

Product Details

• UPC: 097361235042
• Source: DREAMWORKS VIDEO
• Time: 2:12:00
• Sales Rank: 3,094

This DVD is also available as part of a box set:

• The Battle for Iwo Jima 5-Disc Commemorative Collector's Edition