Vashirdfel Simply A Masterpiece

UnowPriceless hyped garbage

Console best movie i've ever seen.

Baseshment I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

sol- Tension simmers between a tough-as-nails sergeant and the soldiers who he eventually leads into battle at Iwo Jima in this iconic World War II drama. John Wayne is very good as the moody sergeant with a beating human heart behind his tough exterior and John Agar is excellent as the private who clashes personalities with him the most. The son of a legendary military leader, Agar has to wrestle with the fact that he feels obliged to fight regardless of personal preference. He also has a touching scene in which he waxes poetic about marriage and fatherhood as ways to prove that one's life meant something. None of the other characters or performances are on the same level as Wayne and Agar (though Forrest Tucker has the occasional strong moment) and considering how blatantly flag-waving a film it is, it is understandable that 'Sands of Iwo Jima' might not appeal to some viewers. The two main characters have more dimension than the typical patriotic soldiers out there though, and the film is technically well produced. There are some great montages and gradual dissolves and the film seamlessly incorporates actual battle footage into the filmed action. With lots of zooms and tracking shots, the film is hardly static either. Some of the special effects (backdrops as Wayne drives along) show their age, but this stacks up rather well all things considered.

SanteeFats This is a very well done movie. The casting is excellent, the acting is very good, and the action is well done. A tough, hard bitten sergeant trains his men for combat, during which he beats down a rebellious private, teaches a recruit to do the bayonet drill by dancing with him, and then leads them into battle. John Agar plays a career officers rebellious brat who enlisted and actually comes of age on Mount Surabachi. Unfortunately he does this after the sergeant is killed by a hidden sniper. I admit that I found the last scene a little hard emotionally as John Wayne is shot while he was reading a letter about his son. Earlier in the movie he went back to a women's place, obviously for a sexual liaison, found her child crying in the crib and threw down all his money so the baby could eat. This was a touching scene for me also.

writers_reign This must have been one of the earliest films to celebrate the US marines, paving the way for Halls Of Montezuma, Battle Cry and the like in the next decade(s). It would arguably have had more impact at the time but in the wake of Clint Eastwood's Flags Of Our Fathers it needs to work hard for parity. The tough sergeant (Stryker) was a natural for Duke Wayne and he arguably created the prototype for all who followed. There's actually fine support from a mostly unknown cast although John Agar (who was divorced from Shirley Temple that same year) had made his debut in one of the John Ford 'cavaltry trio' (Fort Apache) and would appear with the Duke in a second (She Wore A Yellow Ribbon), before winding up in science fiction. There's also fine contributions from the two females in the cast, Adele Mara and Julie Bishop, a blending of actual combat footage shot at the time and studio footage plus the presence at the climax, of the three surviving marines who actually raised the flag in the celebrated photograph. Worth seeing but not as special as it might have been.

dbdumonteil "Sands of Iwo Jima " is a good war movie ,unlike Wayne's own "green berets" in the sixties .It is one of his most moving parts .The tough sarge (not so tough,by the way, if you compare it to the military men in "take the high ground" or "from here to eternity")is actually a wounded man in search of a family (as the hero of "the searchers" was) and mainly of a child .His wife took away his boy from him and now he is desperately in need of love and affection (the final letter may be one of the most poignant I've ever heard).His hatred for Conway is actually close to affection;this educated young man represents all he has lost .Another significant scene is the moment when Wayne visits a woman and her baby and gives her/him all his pay.Conway has also a baby and he does not want him to become a marine like him or his grandfather (whose shadow hangs over all the movie ,since he was Conway's father and his sarge's officer).The scene at night on the island when a voice is calling in the darkness is gripping .To be recommended .