Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2287 in DVD
• Released on: 2007-07-09
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Formats: PAL, Subtitled
• Original language: English, Japanese
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 262 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Thematically ambitious and emotionally complex, Clint Eastwood's Flags of Our Fathers is an intimate epic with much to say about war and the nature of heroism in America. Based on the non-fiction bestseller by James Bradley (with Ron Powers), and adapted by Million Dollar Baby screenwriter Paul Haggis (Jarhead screenwriter William Broyles Jr. wrote an earlier draft that was abandoned when Eastwood signed on to direct), this isn't so much a conventional war movie as it is a thought-provoking meditation on our collective need for heroes, even at the expense of those we deem heroic. In telling the story of the six men (five Marines, one Navy medic) who raised the American flag of victory on the battle-ravaged Japanese island of Iwo Jima on February 23rd, 1945, Eastwood takes us deep into the horror of war (in painstakingly authentic Iwo Jima battle scenes) while emphasizing how three of the surviving flag-raisers (played by Adam Beach, Ryan Phillippe, and Jesse Bradford) became reluctant celebrities – and resentful pawns in a wartime publicity campaign – after their flag-raising was immortalized by Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal in the most famous photograph in military history.

As the surviving flag-raisers reluctantly play their public roles as "the heroes of Iwo Jima" during an exhausting (but clearly necessary) wartime bond rally tour, Flags of Our Fathers evolves into a pointed study of battlefield valor and misplaced idolatry, incorporating subtle comment on the bogus nature of celebrity, the trauma of battle, and the true meaning of heroism in wartime. Wisely avoiding any direct parallels to contemporary history, Eastwood allows us to draw our own conclusions about the Iwo Jima flag-raisers and how their postwar histories (both noble and tragic) simultaneously illustrate the hazards of exploited celebrity and society's genuine need for admirable role models during times of national crisis. Flags of Our Fathers defies the expectations of those seeking a more straightforward war-action drama, but it's richly satisfying, impeccably crafted film that manages to be genuinely patriotic (in celebrating the camaraderie of soldiers in battle) while dramatising the ultimate futility of war. Eastwood's follow-up film, Letters from Iwo Jima, examines the Iwo Jima conflict from the Japanese perspective.

Critically hailed as an instant classic, Clint Eastwood's Letters from Iwo Jima is a masterwork of uncommon humanity and a harrowing, unforgettable indictment of the horrors of war. In an unprecedented demonstration of worldly citizenship, Eastwood (from a spare, tightly focused screenplay by first-time screenwriter Iris Yamashita) has crafted a truly Japanese film, with Japanese dialogue (with subtitles) and filmed in a contemplative Japanese style, serving as both complement and counterpoint to Eastwood's previously released companion film Flags of Our Fathers. Where the earlier film employed a complex non-linear structure and epic-scale production values to dramatise one of the bloodiest battles of World War II and its traumatic impact on American soldiers, Letters reveals the battle of Iwo Jima from the tunnel- and cave-dwelling perspective of the Japanese, hopelessly outnumbered, deprived of reinforcements, and doomed to die in inevitable defeat.

While maintaining many of the traditions of the conventional war drama, Eastwood extends his sympathetic touch to humanise "the enemy," revealing the internal and external conflicts of soldiers and officers alike, forced by circumstance to sacrifice themselves or defend their honour against insurmountable odds. From the weary reluctance of a young recruit named Saigo (Kazunari Ninomiya) to the dignified yet desperately anguished strategy of Japanese commander Tadamichi Kuribayashi (played by Oscar-nominated The Last Samurai costar Ken Watanabe), whose letters home inspired the film's title and present-day framing device, Letters from Iwo Jima (which conveys the bleakness of battle through a near-total absence of colour) steadfastly avoids the glorification of war while paying honorable tribute to ill-fated men who can only dream of the comforts of home. --Jeff Shannon

Synopsis
Clint Eastwood revisits familiar territory with LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA, a companion piece to his critically-acclaimed World War II drama FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS. Where the two films differ is in their version of events; FLAGS… is told from a predominantly American point-of-view, whereas LETTERS… offers the Japanese perspective. This set contains both films.

Customer Reviews

The Exact Opposite Of What Everyone Else Is Saying
I don't get it. Both are decent films and Iwo Jima has the added nobility and novelty of being a story told from the "enemy" point of view - a great idea and about time - but Flags is by far the more entertaining film. It may be slightly flawed structurally (as all war films usually are, from Apocalypse Now to Platoon to The Thin Red Line to A Bridge Too Far, you name it - war just does not lend itself to a classic three act structure), but it is very compelling and has something concrete to say about real versus manufactured heroism. This is far from a jingoistic movie, it is just the opposite. Eastwood is interested in taking the mythology and turning it every which way and examining it's blemishes with a magnifying glass. Why else would the heart of the film be a tortured Native-American hardly proud of his service or living out the American dream? Most of the reviewers here seem to be mimicking the conventional wisdom of the critics. It may also be that the more "American" film is bound to be "overblown", I don't know. The big complaint is that Flags doesn't stick to the battlefield and have more action - I'm sorry, but how ridiculous a criticism is that? They missed the entire point of the film: the incongruity of the civilian world, the glorified ideal of war, with the nightmare of battle these soldiers have to live with the rest of their lives. I had my hopes up high for Iwo Jima and that's where my disappointment lies. For me, it's actually the oddly unsatisfying movie of the two. The actors are excellent and it gets so many things right, so why does it feel leaden, awkwardly paced, static, underpopulated, and worst of all, contrived? I still admire it, but I find it very hard to love. And I wanted to, as I'm an ardent fan of Japanese film. Something just doesn't gel about it or flow right and makes it a chore to sit through once, let alone watch again. They're still both worth seeing, and like I say, Iwo Jima has its moments, but Flags is the one that will stay in my collection and I know I'll come back to again and again. Eastwood is to be praised, no doubt, for such an experiment. And Ken Watanabe is amazing, period.

Two films, two perspectives, one battle. And what is a hero?
The Iwo Jima double film pack is an absolute bargain and is only one of a very few war films that will show you the battle from the perspectives of the two opposing countries.
Flags Of Our Fathers has been compared to Saving Private Ryan, for good or bad, in truth the film is actually aimed at showing how the "heroes" of Iwo Jima were used by the American government to fund the war effort. The action is merely a backdrop to the story of Doc's son finding out about his father, and the history of the symbolic flag raising.
My personal favourite was Letters From Iwo Jima, the film telling the Japanese side of events, it's a harrowing story of how the Japanese garrison were left to wither on the vine by their country. Of how the old Samurai ways of the officers still remained in the twentieth centuries bloodiest conflict, and how even in this hell humanity shines through.
These are not "easy to watch films", at times they are uncomfortable, not because of poor story or direction, but becasue of the content within, because of the pointless waste of life shown.
Worth one watch at least, and a fine addition to anyone's DVD collection.

Pole position
I'm not usually one for purchasing DVDs of films I haven't watched, but felt with Eastwood at the helm it would be money well spent, and wanted to support this ambitious and original venture. At first I was a little disappointed, but then realised that this was because of my expectations rather than the quality of the films. "Flags" suffers somewhat with the story flitting between the US & the island, and the three "heroes" aren't entirely empathetic - but there was obviuosly a side to the story that Eastwood wanted to tell even if it destroyed a few myths. The scenes on Iwo Jima are gritty, realistic and traumatic, not shrinking from the bar set by "Saving Private Ryan", so on the whole - job done.
"Letters" is the stronger of the two. The Japanese soldiers coming across as being more noble that their counterparts with the inevitibility of their defeat established early on. Thier humour is more touching and their motivations more human. It almost feels as if Eastwood, as an American, had to be more sensitive to their story.
There are events obviously connecting the films and these are looked for and anticipated after a time, which adds to the viewers involvement of the second film. I suspect, like me, most will view "Flags" first - it would be intriguing to turn the clock bag and see how watching "Letters" first would change my perception and review, but that's a question that will never be answered.
Overall, I can recommend both of these and I look forward to Eastwood's next venture.