The ignorance in this thread is simply mind-blowing.
This fine movie is not a piece of scholarly research. It is not a documentary. It is not a political statement. It is not a policy framework. it is not a history book.
It is a work of art. And a very good example of it, in fact.
How come some people are so dumb, gross and unrefined to be so completely unable to understand art? Comments like some you can read on this thread are what make many people around the world consider Americans in general as unrefined, rude and uneducated rednecks. I like to think they are usually wrong about this. But sometimes one must wonder...
This fine movie is not a piece of scholarly research. It is not a documentary. It is not a political statement. It is not a policy framework. it is not a history book.
It is a work of art. And a very good example of it, in fact.
How come some people are so dumb, gross and unrefined to be so completely unable to understand art? Comments like some you can read on this thread are what make many people around the world consider Americans in general as unrefined, rude and uneducated rednecks. I like to think they are usually wrong about this. But sometimes one must wonder...
Mr. Lennon
Diamond Member
- Jul 2, 2004
- 3,492
- 1
- 81
I wouldn't go as far as to say it was terrible...but I did walk out of the theater towards the end. This movie was just trying so hard to grab tears. Hell, Bambi did a better job doing that.
Iwo Jima on the other hand, had me hooked the whole time. You really got to feel what the soldiers were going through. The war scenes were awesome, especially the scene when they took that huge bombing from the planes.
Whoozyerdaddy
Lifer
- Jun 27, 2005
- 19,216
- 1
- 61
Letters was much better than Flags. I really liked Letters From Iwo Jima. Eastwood got ripped off at the Oscars. The Departed was great but Letters was better.
I was expecting Ichiko or whatever the protagonist's name was to sprout tentacles and wrap them around the ships like the Kraken in POTC.
MmmSkyscraper
Diamond Member
- Jul 6, 2004
- 9,472
- 1
- 76
ok after having a night to recover from this movie.
Spoilers:
things I liked: i liked the portrayal of the General. Showing how he had come to America, liked the place, how he met American officers, was treated well by them. Yet mentioned at the dinner how if his country went to war with America, he would still fight for his country and kill the American officers he had befriended.
I liked the portrayal of regular soldiers that were caught up in the dragnet of war. How a baker and a store owner ended up on an island fighting to the death. Yes they weren't the die-hard warriors sent to the front lines at the beginning of the war like those sent to China, Philipines and other places that commited countless atrocities but were those left over, drafted because their country was on a losing battle and needed men.
I liked the desperation and the will some of them showed that even knowing they were heading towards a losing battle still fought on hard.
I liked the animosity between the commanders, how they felt that Kuribayashi was tainted by Americans and how they still held on to their Japanese beliefs and felt threatened by his different way of thinking. The politics still going on in the midst of the their impending deaths amazes me.
I felt like Kuribayashi's tactics were correct and that for every day they could hold out meant another day alive their children could spend before what they thought was the inevitable invasion of Japan and the fight to the death that would happen. So they shouldn't have wasted their lives commiting suicide but delay and kill as many Americans as they could before they were overwhelmed.
things I didn't: The lieutenant colonel taking in a wounded American soldier and treating him. It was okay, i think the whole point was to lead up to reading the letter and making the audience feel that both sides had similiar feelings. I thought it was a bit too artificial though. They sorta never explained the main japanese feeling that surrender was dishonorable and they would rather die than surrender which was why they were disgusted when Allied forces surrendered. They felt that they were less than men and that they shoulda fought to the death too so they treated them like scum and many allied POWs died. But I guess in this case, the guy was fighting but got shot and didn't actually surrender but was captured since he was bleeding to death anyway.
Shooting of the two Japanese prisoners. Okay, maybe that could explain why there were so few japanese prisoners, maybe since they didn't surrender much anyway a few soldiers thought killing a few they could get away with it anyway since no one would notice in the midst of all these battles, but what proof do they have that these things happened?? I felt this was artificial too.
Finding out that the baker dude Saigo was made up was a huge let down. Since the whole movie's premise is about soldiers who wrote letters back to Japan, having a fake in there diminishes the story I feel.
things I wished for: I actually wish he had made the American side movie just like this too. Following letters from marines fighting in Iwo Jima writing back to their families. That way its more of dealing with how soldiers on both sides had similiar feelings of fear, loneliness, love. And then have the two movies end with a brutal fight to the death battle.
I wish on the final night time charge with the General, that they focused more on the desperate fight to the death like in Saving Private Ryan with that Jewish guy and the Nazi they let go fighting to the death. That would have made the desperation of war more effective. Two movies ending in the same desperate battle to survive would have made for a more compelling two movie set. He could have told Flags of our fathers in another movie or something.
Spoilers:
things I liked: i liked the portrayal of the General. Showing how he had come to America, liked the place, how he met American officers, was treated well by them. Yet mentioned at the dinner how if his country went to war with America, he would still fight for his country and kill the American officers he had befriended.
I liked the portrayal of regular soldiers that were caught up in the dragnet of war. How a baker and a store owner ended up on an island fighting to the death. Yes they weren't the die-hard warriors sent to the front lines at the beginning of the war like those sent to China, Philipines and other places that commited countless atrocities but were those left over, drafted because their country was on a losing battle and needed men.
I liked the desperation and the will some of them showed that even knowing they were heading towards a losing battle still fought on hard.
I liked the animosity between the commanders, how they felt that Kuribayashi was tainted by Americans and how they still held on to their Japanese beliefs and felt threatened by his different way of thinking. The politics still going on in the midst of the their impending deaths amazes me.
I felt like Kuribayashi's tactics were correct and that for every day they could hold out meant another day alive their children could spend before what they thought was the inevitable invasion of Japan and the fight to the death that would happen. So they shouldn't have wasted their lives commiting suicide but delay and kill as many Americans as they could before they were overwhelmed.
things I didn't: The lieutenant colonel taking in a wounded American soldier and treating him. It was okay, i think the whole point was to lead up to reading the letter and making the audience feel that both sides had similiar feelings. I thought it was a bit too artificial though. They sorta never explained the main japanese feeling that surrender was dishonorable and they would rather die than surrender which was why they were disgusted when Allied forces surrendered. They felt that they were less than men and that they shoulda fought to the death too so they treated them like scum and many allied POWs died. But I guess in this case, the guy was fighting but got shot and didn't actually surrender but was captured since he was bleeding to death anyway.
Shooting of the two Japanese prisoners. Okay, maybe that could explain why there were so few japanese prisoners, maybe since they didn't surrender much anyway a few soldiers thought killing a few they could get away with it anyway since no one would notice in the midst of all these battles, but what proof do they have that these things happened?? I felt this was artificial too.
Finding out that the baker dude Saigo was made up was a huge let down. Since the whole movie's premise is about soldiers who wrote letters back to Japan, having a fake in there diminishes the story I feel.
things I wished for: I actually wish he had made the American side movie just like this too. Following letters from marines fighting in Iwo Jima writing back to their families. That way its more of dealing with how soldiers on both sides had similiar feelings of fear, loneliness, love. And then have the two movies end with a brutal fight to the death battle.
I wish on the final night time charge with the General, that they focused more on the desperate fight to the death like in Saving Private Ryan with that Jewish guy and the Nazi they let go fighting to the death. That would have made the desperation of war more effective. Two movies ending in the same desperate battle to survive would have made for a more compelling two movie set. He could have told Flags of our fathers in another movie or something.
JEDI
Lifer
- Sep 25, 2001
- 29,391
- 2,738
- 126
"Finding out that the baker dude Saigo was made up was a huge let down. Since the whole movie's premise is about soldiers who wrote letters back to Japan, having a fake in there diminishes the story I feel. "
What? Saigo is fiction?!
were the letters ficiton also? they didnt find any buried in Iwo Jima?
I liked the film. it was MUCH better than Children of Men.
What? Saigo is fiction?!
were the letters ficiton also? they didnt find any buried in Iwo Jima?
I liked the film. it was MUCH better than Children of Men.
I just watched it on my old A-2/HD DVD player.
You'd better tighten up around here pilgrim....... The techs here will hound you for your Blue-Ray remark.
Let's just call it SmurfRay! or BLuRRy!
Did you really just try to compare the way the Japaneses treated our POWs to the fact that we had internment camps? Seriously, are you that dumb?
You're the delusional one.
Clint Eastwood is clearly Nipponese.
imdb ratings favour LFIJ over FoOF and that's partly why I have little interest in the latter. It's usually more interesting seeing from the perspective of the "other". So I do have the HD version of the former which I will get around to viewing eventually.
BurnItDwn
Lifer
- Oct 10, 1999
- 26,376
- 1,885
- 126
1.) I don't think they could have made it better. They did an AMAZING job. This is an incredible movie. I was disappointed with Flags of our Fathers. Too much focus was on who planted the flag and who didn't plant the flag in the famous photo. I gave Flags of our Fathers only a 6. and Clint Eastwood is my favorite director. I give Letters from Iwo Jima a 10.
2.) as Others have said, Clint Eastwood is not Japanese.
3.) There are may Japanese movies that are exceptionally good. Either my sarcasm meter is broken, or you are ignorant or a bigot (take your pick).
Seven Samuri, Battle Royale, Ichi the Killer, Yojimbo, Sanjuro, Audition, Ringu, Sonatine, Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky,
Then there are others that I think are totally awesome, but they really may not be the best movie from a technical standpoint ... Wild Zero, Gozu, Visitor Q, Versus, Tokyo Zombie.
There are a lot more ... these are just some of my favorites. And for the record, my #1 favorite movie of all time is "The Outlaw Josey Wales" ... which is pretty much as American of a movie as you can get.
Vonkhan
Diamond Member
- Feb 27, 2003
- 8,198
- 0
- 71
Originally posted by: JEDI
"Finding out that the baker dude Saigo was made up was a huge let down. Since the whole movie's premise is about soldiers who wrote letters back to Japan, having a fake in there diminishes the story I feel. "
What? Saigo is fiction?!
were the letters ficiton also? they didnt find any buried in Iwo Jima?
I liked the film. it was MUCH better than Children of Men.
Saigo is a fictional character
The part about the letters is true ...
Also, Nishi & Kuribayashi were cordial with each other and not all that buddy-buddy
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