Flags of Our Fathers (Widescreen Edition) | 
| Director: Clint Eastwood
Actors: Ryan Phillippe, Jesse Bradford, Adam Beach, John Benjamin Hickey, John Slattery
Studio: Dreamworks Video
Category: DVD
List Price: $14.99
Buy Used: $1.98
You Save: $13.01 (87%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  254 reviews
Sales Rank: 3203
Format: Color, Dolby, Dvd-video, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), Korean (Original Language), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 132
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.3 x 0.6
MPN: PARD117824D
UPC: 097361178240
EAN: 0097361178240
ASIN: B000M4RG42
Theatrical Release Date: October 20, 2006
Release Date: February 6, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
The life stories of six men who raised the flag at the battle of iwo jima a turning point in wwii. Studio: Paramount Home Video Release Date: 08/19/2008 Starring: Ryan Phillipe Paul Walker Run time: 132 minutes Rating: R
Amazon.com
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 dramatizing the ultimate futility of war. Eastwood's follow-up film, Letters from Iwo Jima, examines the Iwo Jima conflict from the Japanese perspective. --Jeff Shannon Beyond Flags of Our Fathers 
Other World War II DVDs | 
Essential DVDs by Director Clint Eastwood | 
Flags of Our Fathers by James Bradley | Stills from Flags of Our Fathers (click for larger image)
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| Customer Reviews: Read 249 more reviews...
 Flags of our Fathers January 7, 2009
War is hell and thats what shows in this movie. Its also about the men who raised the flag and how the government used them to raise money.
 Ambitious but dull December 23, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
In Flags of Our Fathers, director Clint Eastwood attempts to deliver a stirring and thought provoking film that honors the sacrifices made by the veterans of World War II, while at the same time fixing a critical gaze on the U.S. government for their exploitation of those vets to promote public support of the war. Kudos to Clint for thinking big, but he seems to have bitten off more than he can chew in this case.
The movie shifts back and forth between the bloody battle of Iwo Jima, where we watch young men afraid and dying as they fight for each other more so than their county and, the home front where three soldiers who were part of the iconic flag raising picture travel around the country encouraging people to support the war. The idea that the movie is driving at is that the photo, considered one of the most famous of the 20th century, wasn't what the public thought it was. It was actually a picture of soldiers replacing the initial flag that was planted. The soldiers in the picture never felt that their flag raising act was heroic, but that's how the government wanted it spun in order to keep hope alive among the masses.
The movie attempts to portray the conflicted emotions carried by the soldiers as they play the role of heroes even though they know the truth, but none of the characters is developed well enough to make us care about what they are feeling. As for the war scenes, they are well done but they feel like Saving Private Ryan warmed over. There is no immedicacy or fear. Eastwood isn't able to put you there in the thick of things the way Speilberg did.
The end result is a movie that often feels muddled and confused and lacks a center. It's a movie about ideas and questions, but it forgets to engage the audience in any real or meaningful way.
 Captures the sacrifices of the Vets December 20, 2008
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
Having seen this three times now (once in movie theater and two times on DVD), it makes me appreciate the sacrifices of the Marines in the island hopping campaigns of Pacific during WW II. Clint Eastwood has done a marvelous job in capturing the suffering of those who were involved in the Iwo Jima battle. Also, it was an informative movie to me. I had no idea about the 2nd flag rising and the fate of those who did it. Job well done!
Falls a little short December 13, 2008
A big ambitious film, this one tries very hard but ultimately falls short of being the majestic look at the meaning of it all that Clint strove for. The story behind the Iwo Jima flag raising is an intriguing one and this film lays it bare, though the structure of flashbacks may not help. Is it about the misplaced idoltry, the meaning of war, the Greatest Generation, the stories of the soldiers involved? Yes, yes yes etc. It just doesn't quite achieve those goals. Still, it's a valiant effort, well worth watching as Clint keeps cranking out the best work of his career.
FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS November 30, 2008
AWESOME MOVIE. CLINT EASTWOOD DOES IT AGAIN. HE PROVES HOW GREAT A DIRECTOR HE IS AND HOW MOVIES SHOULD BE PLUS IT CELEBRATES A HISTORIC TALE.
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