Flags of Our Fathers (Two-Disc Special Edition) [HD DVD] Sale
Studio: Paramount Home Video Release Date: 05/22/2007 Run time: 132 minutes Rating: R
Description
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 |
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Flags of Our Fathers (Two-Disc Special Edition) [HD DVD] Customer Review
This DVD is blu ray and really looks crystal clear on my HDTV! Great interactive menus and docudrama included.
The picture is set in WWII and has that "look" about it. It's NOT your TV, it's the way it was filmed. You know the story, six Marines raise the flag on Mt. Suribachi, in February of 1945. A picture was taken that mesmerised the country and the three marines that weren't killed, in the meantime, were sent on a bond tour that raised more money than ALL previous Bond tours combined! You learn about the men who raised the flags(yes there were TWO flags raised that day. The flag that became famous and which the picture won a Pulitzer prize was hardly even noticed when these Marines changed the first flag out, because a politician wanted that first flag) in a way that was never told before. Great story, well filmed! The actual war scenes are graphic, but the main story is about the men who raised the flag and less on the actual battle.
★★★ Read More Reviews ★★★
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