Flags
of our Fathers on DVD
Clint Eastwood’s Flags of our Fathers is a remarkable movie achievement. On
one hand, it’s a war action drama with enough action and drama-and the
realistic interpretations of the horrors of war- to please war movie fans. On
the other hand, it’s a character study of three American heroes set against
the background of the larger conflict and the heroes that were left behind.
It’s early 1945. The war in Europe is slowly winding down, but
things in the Pacific are still very hot as American serviceman invade the
Pacific Islands to root out Japanese soldiers and establish footholds that
will take them closer to the Japanese mainland and their goal of the eventual
victory.
The “hook” of the film is that famous Associated Press photograph
of the Americans raising their flag on the island of Iwo Jima. On one
level, the film is about that flag and those who raised it, but it’s
so much more than that.
The story follows the three surviving flag raisers (Rene Gagnon, John Bradley,
and Ira Hayes - played by Jesse Bradford , Ryan Phillippe and Adam Beach) as
they are brought back to the United States, paraded around as conquering heroes
and sent on a war bond selling a drive to raise desperately needed cash for
the war effort. None of these three, two Marines and a Navy medic, are comfortable
with the label of hero, and to their credit, during the speeches they give
across the USA, they point out that it isn’t they who were the heroes
but rather the people they left back on that volcanic island hellhole.
Eastwood has crafted a remarkable film here. Not only does it contain
painstakingly staged battle scenes that include the realistic death and gore
that brings home the horrors of the war, but which also uses completely realistic
state-of-the-art special effects to illustrate the unbelievable scale of the
war in the Pacific. In fact, the movie is worth watching by special effects
fans for the Digital Domain effects alone.
But that would be a shame; there’s so much more to this film and it
works on many levels. It’s a highly emotional, extremely ambitious and
complex piece of filmmaking.
Our three heroes, reluctant as they are to be presented that way (and with
good reason), are convinced of the necessity of their war bonds effort. War
is fought in many ways and on many fronts and though they did not see themselves
as worthy, their efforts as servicemen on the war Bond Trail were as important
to the overall conflict as they were while they served on the island of Iwo
Jima.
And they suffered their own type of casualties, which you see as the movie
unfolds. These three were indeed heroes.
Eastwood’s direction is outstanding. And though confusing at times,
the juxtaposition of stateside and battlefield action is extremely well done. For
example, the changing from the rockets’ red glare of fireworks over
an American stadium to the rockets’ red glare of real ordnance on the
battlefield heading toward you and ready to take you or your buddies’ life
packs emotional wallop. The quality of the digital audio doesn’t
hurt either.
The widescreen edition DVD that we received is outstanding, although if you’re
looking for extras you can forget it.
The movie itself is presented in anamorphic widescreen, 2.35:1, 16x9 TV compatible,
and it is razor-sharp. If it weren’t for the “family unfriendly” on-screen
violence this would be a reference quality disc they could use for demonstration
TV’s at your local Best Buy.
The audio, which unfortunately is only presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 for
surround fans (no dts, alas), is also outstanding. A war movie has plenty
of opportunity to show off the low frequency effects channel and to have objects
flying around the listening room. Flags of our Fathers is no exception,
and the audio quality is such that there is real concussion when the rounds
are hitting.
Unfortunately, all you get for extras with this version (There’ll undoubtedly
be innumerable special editions coming in the future) is a couple of trailers. One
of them is for Eastwood’s Letters From Iwo Jima, which apparently tells
the same basic story from the other side. If it’s half as good
as Flags of our Fathers, it should be an excellent film, though I hope it doesn’t
portray the Japanese s innocent victims.
But you don’t have to wait for that movie, when this one is already
here. Highly recommended.
Flags of our fathers, from Paramount home entertainment
132 minutes. Anamorphic widescreen (2.3 5:1, 16 x 9 TV compatible), Dolby
Digital 5.1 surround
Starring Ryan Philippe, Jesse Bradford, Adam Beach
Produced by Clint Eastwood,
Steven Spielberg and Robert Lorenz
Written by William Broyles Jr. and the Paul
Haggis, directed by Clint Eastwood
