Flags Of Our Fathers (DVD)

If you have watched the excllent 'Letters from Iwo Jima' - the parallel story showing the Japanese perspective of the war on that island you may, like me, be a litle disappointed by its US counterpart. Somehow it felt slower and less gripping for all of its outstanding direction, cinematography and action scenes. The storyline follows the 'fortunes' of the surviving US soldiers who planted the eponymous flag after the capture of the legendary Mt Suribachi. There are gripping moments which show with alarming clarity the sheer bravery and stupidity of war. However the storyline left me feeling disjointed overall although there are some memorable lump-in-the-throat moments too. I think if I had watched this film first and then watched 'Letters from Iwo Jima' I might have been writing something different. 'Flag of my Fathers' is a great American war film - just overshadowed by its Japanese brother. West is great but East is better.

A very good film with very realistic action shots and some quick emotional scenes.In short well worth watching.

An excellent film - The exposure of the treatment of US Ethnic minorities during WW2 was well done - A dark film - not "Gung Ho!" at all - Had me riveted all the way through. A true tragedy for five of the six men involved - as this was a true story. I bought it because Clint Eastwood is always excellent - This film was no different.

I Bought this film and its sister film Letters From Iwo Jima, both directed by Clint Eastwood. If you're looking for a gung ho WWII film, then look elsewhere. Neither of these films is gung ho, which you might think is good, except that these are two war films told without the war. So little of the battle scenes are shot, and so cut up and displaced are they, that you could wonder if its all been worth watching anyway. Yes, "Letters" is a good film, I think better than "Flags" but I think I expected more from Eastwood. If you are going to watch them then watch "Flags" first, as I think they will sit better that way around.