KnotMissPriceless Why so much hype?

Stevecorp Don't listen to the negative reviews

Philippa All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Janis One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

bkoganbing I think the closest film analogy I can come to in describing Windtalkers is that of Go For Broke, the MGM classic film that starred Van Johnson. It told the story of the division formed by the Nisei of Hawaii, Japanese-Americans who fought in Europe in the Italian theater. Johnson's not thrilled with the prospect of commanding them, but he learns to respect their spirit and by the end of the film has bonded nicely with his Asian troops.In the Pacific Theater somebody got the brilliant idea to use Navajo Indian language as the code during battle. Up to that point the Japanese had broken all the codes the Marines had devised. That meant enlisting Navajos in the Marines to be given specific radio training.The catch is that these Navajos become a most valuable commodity and have to be protected lest they fall in Japanese hands as prisoners. That's where Nicholas Cage comes in. His specific assignment is to protect Navajo communicator Adam Beach and his radio. Like a defensive lineman protects his quarterback.Windtalkers unlike Go For Broke is not a story of the program itself. It concentrates on the special bond that forms between both Cage and Beach. To say Cage develops a political consciousness would be about right. By the end of the film Cage is protecting Beach for personal reasons. In fact there's a postscript at the end of the film with Beach back at the reservation that is beautiful and sublime.Of course there's enough blood and guts for any war film fan as well as the Navajo communication program is given its first test in the bloody battle for Saipan in the Pacific. Still the focus is one the respect and friendship that Cage and Beach develop for each other.Windtalkers, a really fine war film.

Wuchak "Windtalkers" (2002) stars Nicolas Cage as a follow-the-orders-at-all-costs soldier who's assigned to protect a code talker (Adam Beach), a Navajo who speaks his native language on radio transmissions to conceal the data from the Japanese. Christian Slater plays a similar soldier assigned to another Navajo (Roger Willie). The movie details the Battle of Saipan and also stars Noah Emmerich, Mark Ruffalo, Brian Van Holt, Peter Stormare and Frances O'Connor.I was surprised by how good "Windtalkers" is. I say 'surprised' because it lacks the mass hoopla surrounding other WWII films, like 1998's overrated "Saving Private Ryan" (don't get me wrong, the first act of "Ryan" is great, but the rest of the movie leaves a lot to be desired. Remember the lame dog tag sequence?). The film was made by John Woo who knows how to make an exciting and colorful action flick, as witnessed by 1996' "Broken Arrow." "Windtalkers" cost a whopping $115 million to make and you definitely see it on the screen; unfortunately, it 'only' made back $75 million worldwide.Both 1998's "The Thin Red Line" and "Windtalkers" involve the Pacific Theater of WWII and the taking of Japanese-held islands. While I consider "The Thin Red Line" a nigh-masterpiece, it's too meditative and spiritual if you're in the mood for a straight war flick. When that's the case, "Windtalkers" satisfies just fine. Remember the incredible air raid sequence in 1979's "Apocalypse Now"? That's the impression I got with the opening scenes of the Battle of Saipan in "Windtalkers." Some complain that not enough emphasis is put on the code talkers, but the two Navajos are major characters throughout the story, particularly the one played by Beach. As for their actual code-talking, what else needs to be shown? The complaint holds no water.Others complain about the utter annihilation of throngs of Japanese soldiers, but the statistics support this: There were 71,000 allied forces and 31,000 Japanese soldiers in the battle. 'Only' 3,426 allied forces died, while another 10,000 were wounded, but 24,000 Japs were killed and another 5000 committed suicide, while 921 were taken captive. On top of this 22,000 civilians died, mostly by suicide, in obedience to the imperial order of Emperor Hirohito encouraging the civilians of Saipan to commit suicide promising them an equal status in the afterlife with that of soldiers dying in battle.Ultimately, "Windtalkers" lacks that special flair or perspective that denotes truly exception war movies, like "Apocalypse Now," "Platoon," "Where Eagles Dare" and "The Blue Max," but "Windtalkers" isn't far behind. The main difference is that it's more of a conventional war flick but, of course, that's all it needs to be.The film runs 134 minutes and was shot in Hawaii and the greater Los Angeles area.GRADE: B+

dglink During World War II, Navajos were recruited by the U.S. military to send and transmit messages in a code based on their complex language; the Japanese were never able to crack the code, and the tale of these Navajos and their contribution to winning the war in the Pacific would have made an engrossing film. John Woo's "Windtalkers" starts promisingly with a young Navajo, Ben Yahzee, played by Adam Beach, bidding his family goodbye and boarding a bus to join the army. While the early days of Yahzee's indoctrination and training in the Navajo-based code are touched upon, the film soon veers away and follows Sergeant Joe Enders, played by Nicolas Cage, whose sometimes contrived story is more conventional and less interesting than that of the Navajo recruits. Cage is assigned to protect Beach and his knowledge of the code from capture by the Japanese; Beach is unaware that Cage has been instructed to kill him rather than let him fall into Japanese hands."Windtalkers" does detail the prejudice and persecution endured by the Navajos from both other enlisted men and their superiors, although to say the Navajos resemble the Japanese is an implausible stretch. Beach and Roger Willie as Charlie Whitehorse are the only two Navajo characters with any screen time. While Beach is a Canadian Saulteaux and studied Navajo for the film, Willie is a Navajo of the Wateredge Clan. Although Cage gives a solid performance as Enders and is ably supported by Christian Slater, Mark Ruffalo, Noah Emmerich, and Peter Stornare, the excellently conceived and filmed battle scenes upstage the actors. Often gruesomely graphic, John Woo stages sweeping battlefield scenes that are exhilarating and spectacular. Planes swoop overhead, bombs detonate and send streamers of shrapnel into the air, flame throwers ignite tanks and soldiers alike, and the camera moves in to capture a human torch or a savage bayoneting in closeup. The action and lush green Hawaiian shooting locations are beautifully captured by Jeffrey L. Kimball's excellent cinematography, and a fine James Horner score further enhances the film.A solid cast, good production values, stunningly realistic battle scenes, "Windtalkers" has a lot going for it, but ultimately the film missed an opportunity to recount a fascinating footnote to World War II history. The movie begins and ends amidst the majestic splendor of Monument Valley and does pay passing homage to the contribution of the Navajos to the war effort and final victory. However, the focus has been misplaced on a white solder rather than on the Navajos, which lessens the film's import. Instead of a classic retelling of a near-forgotten story, "Windtalkers" is a well acted, but routine war movie with some spectacular battle scenes that come perilously close to overwhelming the personal stories.

juneebuggy Wow, what a cheesefest. Very much a "Hollywood" war movie in a completely over the top way, with endless rounds of gunfire and big, bright explosions that sees soldiers diving and rolling away from the pyrotechnics (Captain Kirk would be proud).Yeah where to begin with this? Disappointing on almost every level with ultra cheesy battle scenes containing enough fireworkie explosions that after a while your eyes glaze over. We also get a melodramatic Nicholas Cage who borders on (is) comedic in his overacted delivery of a battle fatigued Marine. "Oh no Tommy come on, come on. Noooooooooo!" His character is often so ridiculous that I was actually laughing during scenes that should have been very serious.The story itself is okay and has been loosely (oh so loosely) based on a real-life operation during WWII, following two Navajo radiomen and the U.S. Marines assigned to protect them (at all costs) as they encode military messages in their native language. This idea of the code talkers is compelling but unfortunately lost in this pyrotechnics dream, too bad.I did enjoy Adam Beach as Private Ben and his transformation from naïve reservation family man to eyes wide open, I've witnessed horror soldier. There are some other familiar faces here amongst the troops; Mark Ruffalo, Christian Slater, Jason Issacs. I would have to think though if you were a WW2 veteran this movie would be insulting. 11/15/14