Flags of Our Fathers

Theatrical Release Date: 2006 10 20 (USA)

UPC: 097361235042

Studio: Dreamworks Video

MPAA Rating: R   Contains:[Graphic Violence, Not For Children, Profanity, War Violence]

Summary: Clint Eastwood's adaptation of the non-fiction book Flags of Our Fathers concerns the lives of the men in the famous picture of soldiers raising the American flag over Iwo Jima during that historic WWII battle. Battle scenes are intercut with footage of three of the soldiers - played by Ryan Phillipe, Jesse Bradford, and Adam Beach -- who survived the battle going on a goodwill tour of the United States in order to sell war bonds. Many evening they are forced to reenact their famous pose, something each of them finds more and more difficult to do as they suffer from survivor's guilt. Eastwood frames the story by having one of the men's grown son (Tom McCarthy) interview his father's old comrades in order to find out more about what happened to his father. Eastwood followed this film with Letters from Iwo Jima, a second film about the battle of Iwo Jima, but told from the Japanese perspective. Flags of Our Fathers was produced by Eastwood and Steven Spielberg. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

Category: War

Awards: Best Picture – National Board of Review Best Director (Runner-up) – Los Angeles Film Critics Association Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion – Broadcast Film Critics Association Best Director – null Best Picture - Drama – Satellite Awards Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion – Satellite Awards Best Director – Satellite Awards Best Adapted Screenplay – Satellite Awards Best Adapted Screenplay – Satellite Awards Best Original Score – Satellite Awards Best Visual Effects – Satellite Awards Best Visual Effects – Satellite Awards Best Visual Effects – Satellite Awards Best Visual Effects – Satellite Awards Best Editing – Satellite Awards Best Sound – Satellite Awards Best Sound – Satellite Awards Best Sound – Satellite Awards Best Sound – Satellite Awards Best Sound – Satellite Awards Best Sound – Satellite Awards Best Art Direction/Production Design – Satellite Awards Best Art Direction/Production Design – Satellite Awards Best Art Direction/Production Design – Satellite Awards Best Picture – Las Vegas Film Critics Association Best Picture – Dallas/Fort Worth Film Critics Association Best Art Direction in a Period Film – Art Directors Guild Best Sound Editing – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Sound Editing – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Sound Mixing – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Sound Mixing – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Sound Mixing – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Sound Mixing – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Supporting Actor – Satellite Awards Best Supporting Actor – Broadcast Film Critics Association Best Director – Hollywood Foreign Press Association

Features: cc

Flags of Our Fathers

Format: DVD

Release Date: 02/06/2007

Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Pre-1954 Standard

Audio: DD5.1 Dolby Digital 5.1, DS Dolby Surround (4.0)

Runtime: 132 Minutes

Sides: 1

Number of Discs: 1

Language(s) English,French

Subtitles: English,Spanish

Region: USA & territories, Canada

Perry Seibert

Clint Eastwood's Flags of Our Fathers uses a true story about World War II in order to make timely reminders about sacrifices in wartime. Jesse Bradford, Ryan Philippe, and Adam Beach play three soldiers who appeared in the famous photograph of American troops planting the flag on Iwo Jima. Eastwood economically establishes how this photo affected the mood of the country, but since his tone for the film is not particularly rah-rah, he never indulges in the feelings of patriotism this famous image evokes -- the characters feel it, but the audience does not. Instead Eastwood plunges the viewer into the harsh reality of the invasion. The war footage in Flags of Our Fathers brings to mind the opening passage in Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan, offering a grunt's eye view of the brutal human cost of war. The carnage becomes so commonplace that viewer must accept this new reality, just as the characters must. These brutal action sequences are intercut with the three soldiers on a homefront tour designed to help sell war bonds. The way the media and the government help shape public sentiment around them recalls certain sequences in The Right Stuff, but where Philip Kaufman's film about the early days of the space program plays those absurdities for comedy, Eastwood's downbeat tone plays those same ironies for tragedy. The audience learns that veterans generally didn't talk about what they saw and what they did, but these three young men are forced to relive their experiences every night before adoring crowds. The survivor's guilt affects each of them differently, most notably Adam Beach as a young man so overcome that he begins drinking himself into oblivion. Beach carries the emotional weight of the film, and Eastwood's measured pacing gives him nowhere to hide. His is a difficult performance that earns much audience sympathy, even though he never once asks for it in the performance. These thematic elements are presented so well that the film suffers when Eastwood gets around to tying up the story's framing device concerning one of the soldier's sons. The interaction between father and son never achieves the depth of the earlier sequences in large part because the audience never sees the veterans raising their kids. The screenwriters miscalculate the audience's interest, leaving a half hour of screentime after an emotional scene involving Beach provides the dramatic climax of the story. The fact that Spielberg also serves as a producer on the film, alongside Eastwood, forces one to consider how Flags of Our Fathers compares to Saving Private Ryan in more ways than just the reality of the battle sequences. Ryan, released in 1998, was directed by a baby-boomer shaping a love letter to his father. Part of a wave of WWII veterans veneration that includes Tom Brokaw's The Greatest Generation and the miniseries Band of Brothers, many of these projects felt like boomers attempting to close the generation gap now that they themselves were facing mortality. Flags of Our Fathers, although covering much the same ground thematically, improves upon Ryan for two major reasons. First, Eastwood is old enough to be a World War II veteran himself. He feels no need to sentimentalize these young soldiers, or their reasons for fighting. Secondly, this is a post 9/11 movie, and the culture has been saturated with nearly nonstop reminders that war is hell. Eastwood is reminding audiences that the men on the ground are not thinking about anything other than themselves and their fellow soldiers. Flags of Our Fathers is a sobering reminder that the lessons and experiences of WWII soldiers do not belong only to history, but offer valuable insights for any country that finds itself in a time of war. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Clint Eastwood  Director 
Clint Eastwood  Composer (Music Score) 
Clint Eastwood  Producer 
Steven Spielberg  Producer 
Robert Lorenz  Producer 
William Broyles  Screenwriter 
Paul Haggis  Screenwriter 
Ryan Phillippe  Actor 
Jesse Bradford  Actor 
Adam Beach  Actor 
John Benjamin Hickey  Actor 
John Slattery  Actor 
Barry Pepper  Actor 
Jamie Bell  Actor 
Paul Walker  Actor 
Robert Patrick  Actor 
Neal McDonough  Actor 
Melanie Lynskey  Actor 
Tom McCarthy  Actor 
Christopher Bauer  Actor 
Judith Ivey  Actor 
Myra Turley  Actor 
Joseph Cross  Actor 
Alessandro Mastrobuono  Actor 
Scott Reeves  Actor 
Stark Sands  Actor 
George Grizzard  Actor 
Harve Presnell  Actor 
George Hearn  Actor 
Len Cariou  Actor 
Christopher Curry  Actor 
Bubba Lewis  Actor 
Beth Grant  Actor 
Connie Ray  Actor 
Ann Dowd  Actor 
Mary Beth Peil  Actor 
David Patrick Kelly  Actor 
Jon Polito  Actor 
Ned Eisenberg  Actor 
Gordon Clapp  Actor 
Michael Cumpsty  Actor 
V.J. Foster  Actor 
Kirk B.R. Woller  Actor 
Tom Verica  Actor 
Jason Gray-Stanford  Actor 
Matt Huffman  Actor 
David Hornsby  Actor 
Brian Kimmet  Actor 
David Rasche  Actor 
Tom Mason  Actor 
Patrick Dollaghan  Actor 
James Newman  Actor 
Steven M. Porter  Actor 
Dale Waddington Horowitz  Actor 
Lennie Loftin  Actor 
David Clennon  Actor 
Mark Thomason  Actor 
Oliver Davis  Actor 
Sean Moran  Actor 
Lisa Dodson  Actor 
John Nielsen  Actor 
Jon Kellam  Actor 
Ron Fassler  Actor 
Denise Bella  Actor 
Vlasis-Gascon  Actor 
Jenifer Menedis  Actor 
Joie Shettler  Actor 
Vivien Lesiak  Actor 
John Henry Canavan  Actor 
Donn Emerson  Actor 
Jayma Mays  Actor 
Yukari Black  Actor 
John Hoogenakker  Actor 
Barry Sigismonde  Actor 
William Charlton  Actor 
Beth Tapper  Actor 
Shannon Gayle  Actor 
Jim Cantafio  Actor 
Mark Colson  Actor 
Danny McCarthy  Actor 
Patrick New  Actor 
James Horan  Actor 
Michael Canavan  Actor 
Erica Grant  Actor 
Silas Weir Mitchell  Actor 
George Cambio  Actor 
David S. Brooks  Actor 
Johann Johannson  Actor 
Martin Delaney  Actor 
Daniel Forcey  Actor 
Bjorgvin Franz Gislason  Actor 
Darri Ingolfsson  Actor 
Hilmar Gudjonsson  Actor 
Jeremy Merrill  Actor 
Jeremiah Bitsui  Actor 

Country: USA