Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: GtoRA2 on October 20, 2006, 12:53:57 AM
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And WOW.
An amazing movie.
I will go and see it again, I got promo tickets through a friend so it was free even.
The end had black and white photos of the real men, and the island, they did an amazing job making Iceland look like Iwo Jima.
Clint and all the actors did a fantastic Job, I wish I could have paused and slow moed some parts, like the corsair strafing runs.
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Gawwwd, I envy you. Will have to wait 2 more months:(
Here's a linkie to the invasion:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNAWomu8Al0
Hehe, I saw the movie already, from behind though ;)
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Angus, why will you have to wait 2 more months???
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Movies are not simultaneously released worldwide. Every country has different licensing and dubbing or subtitle requirements. Some Hollywood studios do not allow theater release in some countries until after they go to video or cable in the US.
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The movie was spectacular. Clint Eastwood did a very good job portraying James Bradley's book. This is one of those movies that gives the book justice...
But yea, the move was excellent...very emotional at the end....
hope you see it
*by the way, the corsair footage is awesome....looks and sounds amazing
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I'm going to see it in about an hour. Can't wait. Glad to hear it's good, but I didn't expect it to flop.
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oohh, well that blows!
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Clint might be here at the premium, - at least he is invited. They haven't issued the date precisely, but it's somewhere between 22nd and 26th of December. Depending whether he shows up I guess.
I met him last year, - now that is quite a guy :aok
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yawn... Spielberg already did this. Come up with something new, Hollywood.
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I heard there's a sequel. Anyone gonna watch the 2nd part? I heard the 2nd part will be released in Feb '07
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Originally posted by mandingo
yawn... Spielberg already did this. Come up with something new, Hollywood.
??? :confused: when link?...
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Originally posted by mandingo
yawn... Spielberg already did this. Come up with something new, Hollywood.
Didn't take Nath too long to start posting under his alias in the O'club...
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Looks like Saving Ryan's Privates set in the Pacific to me.
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well, I guess I can see where mandingo is coming from....same era, same war, same generation of americans doing the fighting. only difference is the fighting was on opposite sides of the world - one on the vast european continent and the other a tiny island in the pacific. yeah, there must be a boring resemblance between the two movies
:rolleyes:
Here is an interview with Eastwood. I wouldn't be suprised if this movie was actually better than SPR.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvBIZILnA3o
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I spy Buck Compton from "Band of Brothers", so at least they did a good casting job. :)
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Originally posted by 1K3
I heard there's a sequel. Anyone gonna watch the 2nd part? I heard the 2nd part will be released in Feb '07
I hope part 2 is even better.
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Comparing it to SPR is insulting to Flags of our fathers. Not in the same league.
And I like SPR.
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Originally posted by Yeager
well, I guess I can see where mandingo is coming from....same era, same war, same generation of americans doing the fighting. only difference is the fighting was on opposite sides of the world - one on the vast european continent and the other a tiny island in the pacific. yeah, there must be a boring resemblance between the two movies
:rolleyes:
Here is an interview with Eastwood. I wouldn't be suprised if this movie was actually better than SPR.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvBIZILnA3o
Yup, If you think about it the Army had England to jump off from and a botched paratrooper plan to boot. These guys did all of this strait from the sea.
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I just got back from seeing it...
If any of you haven't read the book, go ahead and do so... I think you'll be pleasantly suprised to find that this is probably the first movie that actually does the book it's based on justice.
Edit - slipped my mind the first time... Just nitpicking here, but I did find it somewhat amusing that for a movie where such a major theme is the "spicing up" of events, etc., for the press, they didn't even bother to include the Iwo Jima Memorial...
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"Edit - slipped my mind the first time... Just nitpicking here, but I did find it somewhat amusing that for a movie where such a major theme is the "spicing up" of events, etc., for the press, they didn't even bother to include the Iwo Jima Memorial..."
Really? Wasn't that filmed though? I really think it was.
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Originally posted by mandingo
yawn... Spielberg already did this.
But not having see it, you would really have no idea what "this" is right?
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Originally posted by Angus
"Edit - slipped my mind the first time... Just nitpicking here, but I did find it somewhat amusing that for a movie where such a major theme is the "spicing up" of events, etc., for the press, they didn't even bother to include the Iwo Jima Memorial..."
Really? Wasn't that filmed though? I really think it was.
Nah, this is really, really, nitpicking... The filmed the Marine Corps memorial (in DC I believe?). It is a very common misconception for people to call this the "Iwo Jima Memorial." It isn't.
The Iwo Jima memorial is in New Britain, Connecticut. It is again a statue of the flag raising, though obviously different due to their faces not being visible in the photo.
As of six years ago, it was the only memorial devoted to Iwo Jima in the nation... So, unless that changed, it still is.
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How beautiful did those corsairs sound? I really liked the fleet fly by, and then the part where the corsair lobbed two rox into surabachi
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They filmed the F4U's in the US, don't know much about it though.
(There were no aircraft above the landing scenes)
But what you see, tanks firing, howitzers firing, .50 cal's firing, explosions throwing sand over the soldiers is actually REAL. It wasn't done with computer graphics, but the old fashioned way. (Actually the cannons fired a real projectile, for the recoil to be real!). The noise on the set was awesome, it was frantic and smoky, you had chaos, cartridges, screaming sergeants, Vehicles stuck in the sand - the works!
I'm a bit disappointed that the colour is somewhat faded (green guys on black sand with blue sea looked really cool), but again that's the artist's power, and I haven't seen the whole thing yet so....;)
Just got to wait....
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Saw it last night - it was very good if not exactly light entertainment. Once again I gave thanks for having been born in an era that didn't involve being drafted into a war.
Don't understand why people applaud at the end of films here in the States though. Seems kind of strange to me.
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applaud?strange
i never saw people living cinema so quietly as yesterday
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Originally posted by ramzey
applaud?strange
i never saw people living cinema so quietly as yesterday
Guess you never went to see The Pianist, or Schindler's List, etc. in the theatres then.
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Originally posted by cav58d
How beautiful did those corsairs sound? I really liked the fleet fly by, and then the part where the corsair lobbed two rox into surabachi
You know, I didn't really think they sounded as I remembered them? Where were the whistles?
(Good chance I've just spent too much time near blasting music and have gone deaf)
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Originally posted by ramzey
applaud?strange
i never saw people living cinema so quietly as yesterday
At the end of the film, the audience kind of split in two - there were people who applauded and left almost immediately and another group who stayed and watched the photos of the real people and were - as you say - very, very quiet and reflective.
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i havent seen flag of our fathers yet and but i know it wont be better then SPR.
and why do people applaud at movies? kind of dumb.
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mega, just because a tree falls inthe woods with no one around doesn't mean it doesn't make a noise.
:huh
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some people say cucumbers taste better pickled :eek: :confused: :huh
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Originally posted by megadud
i havent seen flag of our fathers yet and but i know it wont be better then SPR.
Well, then I'll sure it will meet your preconcieved conceptions. :rolleyes:
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I thought that movie was very good. Had great details (like blood and guts) and on some of the scenes you could see the bullets flying past soldiers heads. Hope those that saw it liked it, and those that haven't, I recommend you go see it.
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oops didnt see the other flags of our fathers post. Everyone forget mine. HTC or admins just delete this.
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Man that movie rocked Flags of our Fathers. I thought it was very good.
Best war movies from 90s up.
1st: Saving Private Ryan (Its just none stop action, kinda)
2nd: Band of Brothers (this movie just rocks)
3rd: Patriot (Just an awsome Revolutionary War movie)
4th: Flags Of Our Fathers (was just awsome, kinda hated the going back from war, then over sea scenes)
5th: Gods and Generals (I thought it was an awsome Civil War movie, If you got base, play this movie really load, and it sounds like war)
6th: We Were Soldiers (Good Vietnam movie)
The rest just seem to hollywood like Code Talkers.
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i have reasons, i wouldnt just say it is better without seeing it unless i had reasons. SPR better director, better cast, better story. Spielburgs ego is to big to let a movie he produced be better then a movie he directed.
vooHoo I disagree but you got the first one right :aok
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For the love of God get "The Patriot" off that list :lol
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I dunno Megadud, this one's a true story, and doesn't go overboard with the emotional stuff like SPR did... Some scene's from that movie were pretty cheesy.
I just have to say again how pleased I was to finally sit through a movie that did the book it was based on real justice. That is truly a rarity.
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Originally posted by Vudak
I dunno Megadud, this one's a true story, and doesn't go overboard with the emotional stuff like SPR did... Some scene's from that movie were pretty cheesy.
I just have to say again how pleased I was to finally sit through a movie that did the book it was based on real justice. That is truly a rarity.
how did SPR go everboard with the emotional stuff?
Please tell me your not referring to the old man at the cemetary scenes
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Originally posted by DREDIOCK
how did SPR go everboard with the emotional stuff?
Please tell me your not referring to the old man at the cemetary scenes
Well, this is thin ice here... But, yeah, it's just I felt that the cemetary scenes, and other "why we are fighting" scenes, were done in a bit of a cheesy way.
I think they could have been done differently. They had a bit of a hallmark special sense to them.
I'm not saying they shouldn't have been included... I just didn't like how they came out.
Is that ok?
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Gettysburg was FAR better than Gods and Generals. And Band of Brothers isn't a movie.
And where's the Great Raid?
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I haven't seen it yet and I can tell ya'll are all over looking the most obvious reason why Flags is undeniably better than SPR.
No Vin Diesel.
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Originally posted by Vudak
Well, this is thin ice here... But, yeah, it's just I felt that the cemetary scenes, and other "why we are fighting" scenes, were done in a bit of a cheesy way.
I think they could have been done differently. They had a bit of a hallmark special sense to them.
I'm not saying they shouldn't have been included... I just didn't like how they came out.
Is that ok?
Tell ya what.
Those Cemetary scenes were done perfectly.
I've seen a scene just like that for real one day when my father in law was telling me a story about something he witnessed.
He started out ok, then all of a sudden he got that same EXACT look in his eyes the old man did And completely zoned out just like that old man did for about ten minutes.
Posted the sotry in the general forums a while back.
Just did a search and found it here it is
"My father in law who was a gunner on a cruiser in WWII almost laughed when he saw the ships gunnery here. His exact words were and I quote.
"Jeeessus Chrisst, If the )@*)@ g= AA guns were that _@*)$@ easy back then not a single M)($)%^*#!@ Jap plane would have gotten through and Mac would still be alive."
"Mac" From what I've been able to peice together from the bits and chunks of stories he's told me was a buddy of his with whom for whatever reason he switched places with during a Jap attack in 44.
I say "from the bits and peices" because he has never been able to tell the complete story to me all at once and be able to finish it.
During the most complete version he manages to get out he completely zoned out for about 10 minutes.
Abriviated it goes something like this
"This one day Mac and I decided we were gonna change places when the call came out that there were jap planes comming so we ran to our guns see, and we could see em comming in and this one )(#&*$# Jap was comming right at us like this (holding his hand at about a 15 degree angle) and we're trying to blast the hell out of his but this )()(#(*$# just keeps coming like this and...and...and.."
At this point this tough as nails crusty old man completely zones out. and I mean COMPLETELY zones out and he just keeps saying "and..and" while loooking out into the distance and tears rolling down his face.
I was dumbfounded for a moment. Then I realised he was reliving the entire experiance over again.
So Im like "poppop its ok, you can talk about it another time" but he just keeps looking into the distance and saying "and...and" the whole time. And I keep saying "Poppop while gently shaking him but nothing doing, he's completely locked in another place and time.
Like I said. this went on for like 10 minutes before finally he lowered his hands looked at me wiping the tears from his eyes and said "and the next day we (raising both hands in the air) "Whoosh, dumped em overboard and buried him at sea"
"Damn nice guy too. Just found out he had a kid two days before. And if we hadnt changed places that one day. they would have buried me instead of him"
that is a true story.
Now I've never been to war let alone to WWII
So I cant say how accurate the "war" was portrayed.
But I have seen a veteran old man get that look in his eyes and stare out into space as he relived the event.
I can tell you that part is not only not "overboard with the emotional stuff" but is entirely accurate.
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Difference of opinion Dred... Not knocking the old man's acting... The rest of the family, music, "tell me I've lived a good life" = hallmark in my eyes.
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Originally posted by DREDIOCK
how did SPR go everboard with the emotional stuff?
Please tell me your not referring to the old man at the cemetary scenes
Yup I thought the end where Hanks says "earn this" summed the movie up pretty good and related it all together. I can honestly say I was teary eyed when hanks said that.
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Thanks for the story Dred.
Ira Hayes drank himself to death trying to escape the pain.
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Originally posted by Vudak
Difference of opinion Dred... Not knocking the old man's acting... The rest of the family, music, "tell me I've lived a good life" = hallmark in my eyes.
Maybe but perfectly accurate. Cept maybe the music
Its called survivors guilt
Something about Hallmark. Is it usually carries a ring of truth to it.
Thats why Hallmark is so good.
and I'd like to think that most families when they see a man who is obviously uset about something like that would rallly around him in that manner.
Wouldnt think much personally of the family that didnt
think about it. How would you feel if say. You were in my father in laws shoes and cept for a freakish twist of fate. Or because you were standing one place and two feet next to you someone else died instead of you
OR someone Gave up their life so that you could live.
Looking back at it in the twighlight of your life
Wouldnt you pause and think if you were worthy?
Wouldnt you always wonder what made you worthy enough to get to live your life, get married, have children when the other guy didnt?
Coulda been you but wasnt. What made you so special that you were allowed to have a life and he or they didnt?
Wouldnt you also wonder if you had lead your life good enough?
I think alot of vets who have witnissed this sort of thing feel alot the same way about it. Thats why you alwyas see thenm giving credit to the guys that didnt make it. The ones they left behind.
In closing I find myself thinking about an article I read after the release of SPR.
It was written by the wife of a man who had served and fought in WWII.
She wrote how they went to see the movie. And of the deafining silence of the ride home. And how she realised how he was reliving that time as looked over at him and saw tears as they flowed down his face.
She spoke of how she reached over and held his hand and said to him "I had no idea"
And his reply
"Welcome to my world"
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I know some vets, and I've seen that look so I agree with what you say Dred :(
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I was completely impressed with the scenery. The view from on top of Suribachi was completely accurate. The view down to Green beach was the same as the real one. I had the privilege of re-enlisting my Gunny right where the raised the flag. Hats off to the CGI guys, dang island looked exactly as it does--especially since they didn't film it there.
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I will see this movie today.
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Very good movie. I thought it might be a little confusing for some who aren't familiar with the story or haven't read the book. The flashbacks and flash forwards are interspersed without much introduction. However took my 13yr old step-grandson and he loved it.
I'm looking forward to the other film Clint shot.
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Originally posted by Stoney74
I was completely impressed with the scenery. The view from on top of Suribachi was completely accurate. The view down to Green beach was the same as the real one. I had the privilege of re-enlisting my Gunny right where the raised the flag. Hats off to the CGI guys, dang island looked exactly as it does--especially since they didn't film it there.
Hehe, I met Bradley on the set. He had then been to Iwo Jima 4 times. He claimed that even the veterans would not see the difference.
The beach was picked after a long search, and basically the geological side of those two islands is quite similar. The sand is black, there are lava rocks etc etc.
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Originally posted by ramzey
applaud?strange
i never saw people living cinema so quietly as yesterday
I saw Tora! Tora! Tora! when it premiered locally on New Year's Eve 1970. The entire audience stood up and cheered when the first Japanese plane went down. It was a different time. Back then WWII was closer than Vietnam is to us now.
My dad was on the light anti-aircraft cruiser Flint (CLA97) which supported the Iwo landing. My brother and I will take dad to see the movie this week. It's kind of a must-see for us. I doubt we'll be disappointed.
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Originally posted by Irwink!
My dad was on the light anti-aircraft cruiser Flint (CLA97) which supported the Iwo landing. My brother and I will take dad to see the movie this week. It's kind of a must-see for us. I doubt we'll be disappointed.
Cool. My father in law was on the light cruiser Pasadina(CL-65)
which also supported the landings.
Going to ask him if he wants to see it.
Never know with him. Some days hes ok with stuff like that. other days he's not.
Understandable.
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Originally posted by jigsaw
I haven't seen it yet and I can tell ya'll are all over looking the most obvious reason why Flags is undeniably better than SPR.
No Vin Diesel.
when you're right, you're right :lol
but SPR was the perfect war movie action/drama had a balances amount of each with great acting, and great directing. I might change my mind after i see Flags.
Top 5 war for me
SPR
Braveheart
Troy
Don't know about the rest, havent seen all the war movies.
PS Vin Deisal pwned in Chronicles of Riddick! :aok
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Originally posted by megadud
PS Vin Deisal pwned in Chronicles of Riddick! :aok
Pitch Black was good. Chronicles could've been good except for them hosing it in the last 5 mins. Strangely enough, the director's cut was worse than the theatrical release.
Just to keep on topic... probably wont see Flags until it hits video. I'm officially anti-movie theater now.
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I am a marine veteran and a member of the american legion.I think Mr. Eastwood did a good job making this movie.In addition, I particularly liked the fact that he told the viewing audience about the two flag raisings.Obviously, FDR (Franklin D. Roosevelt) ordered the second flag raising picture to be used for the 7th bond drive.
Semper Fidelis (latin "Always Faithful")
wes34th
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Not everyone is happy about it....
http://film.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/Guardian/0,,1928009,00.html
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Uhhmmm - did I miss something or was racism not one of the major themes of the film?
Maybe if everyone stopped reading the Guardian, it'd just go away.
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The Flags of our fathers website has some nice shots in the photo section, more in the behind the scene the the other.
(http://flagsofourfathers.net/gallery/albums/official-photos/flagsofourfathers4.jpg)
Site (http://www.flagsofourfathers.net/)
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Originally posted by RightF00T
Not everyone is happy about it....
http://film.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/Guardian/0,,1928009,00.html
I didnt read the whole little rant trying to soil a very well done movie.
But Flags had Black americans in it.
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This review is good:
http://movies2.nytimes.com/2006/10/20/movies/20flag.html
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was alright.
a bit over-acted in parts i thought.
too many familiar war movie faces i felt.
the pilot views rocked. i could watch an hour of that and be in awe. i hope that they do a good ww2 pacific dogfight movie with all new technology they have. would be sweet to watch. loved the way they rumbled.
great scenery from the gun-nests.
overall, a nice tribute. not the caliber of the original "sands of iwo jima" starring john wayne as lt. stryker.
imho.
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Here is Iwo Veterans thought on the movie:
http://www.calendarlive.com/movies/cl-et-flags21oct21,0,3132862.story?coll=cl-movies
Hy "Doc" Rabeck, 83, a Navy corpsman who had been in combat in North Africa, Saipan and Tinian before Iwo Jima, was particularly pleased with how "Flags" portrayed the Navy medics who follow Marines into combat.
The lead character, played by Ryan Phillippe, is John "Doc" Bradley, a Navy corpsman who helps raise the flag and is sent home to participate in a bond drive as the War Department seeks to capitalize on the surviving flag-raisers' fame.
"The corpsman [character] was exactly right, the guys on the beach were depending on us," Rabeck said. "You'd hear a scream, 'Corpsman,' and then another scream, 'Corpsman,' and you were on the run again."
Tickets were dispensed to mark the gravely wounded for immediate evacuation. "They gave me 50 tickets. They were gone in the first three hours."
The movie also captured the sense of dread felt by troops as they waited to assault a rocky, heavily fortified island, the veterans agreed.
"We could see it was strictly a suicide mission," Rabeck said. "We knew that most of us wouldn't be coming back."
While some movie-goers might be squeamish at scenes of blood and death, the veterans found them realistic, even vital.
"As we got out of the landing craft, I saw eight dead Marines, right at my feet," said retired Master Sgt. William Behana, 81, who was a 19-year-old private when he landed on Iwo Jima. "Nobody has good memories of Iwo Jima."
And here:
http://www.mlive.com/news/kzgazette/index.ssf?/base/news-20/1161491226133180.xml&coll=7#continue
Here:
http://www.masslive.com/living/republican/index.ssf?/base/living-1/116141658819370.xml&coll=1
And what they said:
"Charles E. Allard of South Hadley and Donald F. Withee of West Springfield remember it well.
They were there long enough to recall the horrors of Iwo Jima, brought back larger than life yesterday by Clint Eastwood's movie, which is showing at the Entertainment Cinemas on St. James Avenue and elsewhere.
"It was very hard," said Allard, a Navy veteran who was a medical assistant aboard the hospital ship USS Fayette.
"When you get 100 casualties brought aboard at a time, you see everything," he recalled. "You couldn't do triage. It was all bad. You took care of one after another."
Allard and Withee both gave the 2-hour, 23-minute film a top rating. "
Here:
http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2006/Oct-19-Thu-2006/news/10306081.html
"Except for an occasional tear and once in a while a chuckle from his raspy voice, Iwo Jima veteran Chet Foulke sat stoically while the movie screen flashed scenes from one of the bloodiest battles in World War II.
Like those in the Marine Corps League who joined the lanky, 84-year-old veteran for a special viewing Tuesday night, Foulke was gripped by what he described as the realistic authenticity of Clint Eastwood's film, "Flags of Our Fathers.""
Sais quite a bit I think ;)
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Originally posted by RightF00T
Not everyone is happy about it....
http://film.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/Guardian/0,,1928009,00.html
Awwwe Damn shame.
30,000 troops were used in the initial landings. Eventually that number would swell to 70,000
Source (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Iwo_Jima)
And he is upset that none of the 900 blacks were represented?
Not even 1/30th of the troops in the initial landing, and less then 1/70th of the overall troops used were black.
Its not like they were EVERYWHERE.
Not to make light of their contribution.
But they dont HAVE to be included in every historical movie made.
Particularly one where they played such a relitively small role in the overall numbers.
Besides. What does it matter. A marine is a marine is a marine right
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There were blacks in the shootings if my memory serves me.
Since it's still a bit hard to find a black Icelander, AFAIK they were mostly from the U.S. base in Keflavik.
But I recall a few.
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to some.... everything is about race... those are the people I avoid whenever possible.
lazs
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It is a non-issue.
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Originally posted by lazs2
to some.... everything is about race... those are the people I avoid whenever possible.
lazs
Agreed
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"Not even 1/30th of the troops in the initial landing, and less then 1/70th of the overall troops used were black."
600 extras, that would mean some 10 guys, which I belive were around, if not more.
None of the flagraisers or their close camerades were blacks, so this black point is no point. Invalid.
What's next? Black Vikings, LOL
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Originally posted by JB88
was alright.
a bit over-acted in parts i thought.
too many familiar war movie faces i felt.
the pilot views rocked. i could watch an hour of that and be in awe. i hope that they do a good ww2 pacific dogfight movie with all new technology they have. would be sweet to watch. loved the way they rumbled.
great scenery from the gun-nests.
overall, a nice tribute. not the caliber of the original "sands of iwo jima" starring john wayne as lt. stryker.
imho.
It was Sergeant Stryker.
Sands was a great movie, but not even in the same league in IMO.
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Originally posted by Angus
"Not even 1/30th of the troops in the initial landing, and less then 1/70th of the overall troops used were black."
600 extras, that would mean some 10 guys, which I belive were around, if not more.
None of the flagraisers or their close camerades were blacks, so this black point is no point. Invalid.
What's next? Black Vikings, LOL
It gives them something to cry about Angus is all.
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i think i remember a viking movie with Sidney Poitier in it....
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Its an issue to this guy, and he's a veteran. I can understand his sense of disillusionment. Although I agree you can't represent everthing in one movie.
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but SPR was the perfect war movie action/drama had a balances amount of each with great acting, and great directing.
:rofl God you guys get funnier every post.
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Originally posted by lasersailor184
:rofl God you guys get funnier every post.
:huh :huh
I will see flags when it comes out in theaters, too bad it tanked haha :lol
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Number 3 for opening weekend with fewer places showing it then the other two is not tanked.
Are you like 11 or something?
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10 mil opening weekend regardless of how many theaters it was in = tanked to me. Also the fact it lost to a 3 week old movie and the prestige. It beat flicka though! WTG! yea it tanked. It won't do much more then 10 mil a week the rest of it's run time.
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this isnt a movie made for the approval of the masses. It cant be. The masses aren't interested in the story of IwoJima. This is a story for intelligent and thoughtful people interested in the human story and the history. This will of course impact the monetary success of the film.
Also, no matter how wonderful the movie may be, many people are pathetically tired of seeing american soldiers get blown up on the news, let alone in the theater. Still, I plan on seeing this movie on the big screen, of course if it is even playing in my town?
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i saw this movie yesterday
it was nothing new. as expected, the battle scenes looked like exact reproductions of SPR. But i found their impact was lost because the movie is edited in such a way that you jump back and forth in time. I find it really distracting when this is done.
The acting was pretty horrible. The guy who played Ira Hayes was the exception.
There is an end scene where the entire platoon goes swimming off the shore of Iwo Jima. About the most contrived ending ever.
The thing I found most annoying, however, was the digital effects. The film was extremely contrasty, almost as if someone underexposed a negative. It was almst difficult to see the shadow detail in some scenes. THe colors saturation was also very low. I don't know what they were trying to achieve with this type of cinematography. I felt liek i was wearing sunglasses in the movie. Was this some bad attempt at being artiistic??
i give it a B.
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The lack of color is a good representation of what that place looks like. When I was there, obviously it wasn't as de-vegetated as it would have been, but Suribachi and the beaches were still the yellowish-grey (Suri) and pitch black (beaches) as they were during the battle. Walking around the island, it is easy to visualize what type of black and grey world it would have been like devoid of vegetation. Not to mention that with a little bit of overcast, standing on the catwalk of the ship looking at the island from about 4 miles offshore looked exactly like a black and white photo from a history book.
I don't know if it was an overt gesture or not, but I think the effect was appropriate in order to illustrate what a ugly, stark island it was, and still is today...
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Read the book "Flags of our Fathers" and then as well maybe a few other accounts of Iwo Jima as well.
The film makes a great visual companion to the book.
I would bet there may be a directors cut when it comes out on DVD. Probably had to cut a few parts for the theater. They did the best they could in the available time to tell the story.
It's not a war film to go see to be entertained. Every American ought to know the story though.
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Some have been comparing Flags to Saving Private Ryan.
While I rather like SPR, I must point out that Flags is NOT a fiction, - it's pretty much a true story.
So, a true story does not necessarily fit the audience as well as a history based fiction designed for the audience.
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Here's a link for an interview with Barry Pepper and Jamie Bell:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbDFDBGwTmE
What Pepper sais about the filming and the element of natural surprize being applied by Clint is very much true. The extras were in many cases getting jittery about the bombs going up suddenly all around them.
Interesting way to work. Don't get the actors and extras to play scared, just make'm ;)
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Originally posted by DREDIOCK
Maybe but perfectly accurate. Cept maybe the music
Its called survivors guilt
Something about Hallmark. Is it usually carries a ring of truth to it.
Thats why Hallmark is so good.
and I'd like to think that most families when they see a man who is obviously uset about something like that would rallly around him in that manner.
Wouldnt think much personally of the family that didnt
think about it. How would you feel if say. You were in my father in laws shoes and cept for a freakish twist of fate. Or because you were standing one place and two feet next to you someone else died instead of you
OR someone Gave up their life so that you could live.
Looking back at it in the twighlight of your life
Wouldnt you pause and think if you were worthy?
Wouldnt you always wonder what made you worthy enough to get to live your life, get married, have children when the other guy didnt?
Coulda been you but wasnt. What made you so special that you were allowed to have a life and he or they didnt?
Wouldnt you also wonder if you had lead your life good enough?
I think alot of vets who have witnissed this sort of thing feel alot the same way about it. Thats why you alwyas see thenm giving credit to the guys that didnt make it. The ones they left behind.
In closing I find myself thinking about an article I read after the release of SPR.
It was written by the wife of a man who had served and fought in WWII.
She wrote how they went to see the movie. And of the deafining silence of the ride home. And how she realised how he was reliving that time as looked over at him and saw tears as they flowed down his face.
She spoke of how she reached over and held his hand and said to him "I had no idea"
And his reply
"Welcome to my world"
I never usually open myself up like this, especially on the Internet, but what Dred says is correct, due to my experiences, I take 1 day at a time, I have 1 med to take usually every 4 hours to keep me calm and one at night time to stop me from dreaming, Hard to describe really, I feel guilty almost all of the time, sometimes I even feel happy, It's like carrying a burden that doesn't get lighter.
For the record, I've never seen Saving private Ryan or any of the others that are doing the rounds, I go and see romantic comedies and Harry potter movies with my wife. I don't want to see various war related movies, I wouldn't want to subject my wife to all my emotions in that respect.
Nothing wrong with these movies, I think they tell great stories and these guys should be remembered. They're probably good for a lot of people who want to understand what fighting for your life is all about.
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angus werent you like IN the movie or something?
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(http://www.rockwitch.com/blog/media/hax0r.gif)
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Originally posted by Billy Joe Bob
angus werent you like IN the movie or something?
Yes, was one of the extras. Was on the set for about 4 weeks. In the last days there were rather few of us.
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Good movie, but disappointing in another cliche mood attempt by screwing with realistic color. Ever see such a drab battle in the vivid Pacific theater? Mostly muted browns and blues like Ektachrome 35mm slide film.
Granted, Iwo Jima was blasted to its core black and gray volcanic origin, but there is a lot more vivid blue and green in the Pacific. And scarlet blood, not maroon. Shooting through a dimming filter is not necessary.
It's unfortunate when even directors as great as Clint Eastwood think they have to parrot the prevailing era photographic history by copying only black and white or sepia tones or quasi drabs when those mediums merely reflect what were mostly the best available at the time.
One exception: horror films are always scariest in black and white so the imagination can run amok. Green is too much a basic life color to be frightening even in big lizards and vomit. For example, the original The Thing in b&w vs. its remake in color.
I'll give Saving Private Ryan and Guadelcanel extra credit for not doing the muted drab film filter.
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Look at the gallery here:
http://www.flagsofourfathers.net
There you see the real colour.
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Originally posted by Halo
Good movie, but disappointing in another cliche mood attempt by screwing with realistic color. Ever see such a drab battle in the vivid Pacific theater? Mostly muted browns and blues like Ektachrome 35mm slide film.....
if the movie was shot on actual film, i'd have to bet they probably used whatever kodak is calling their E6 film these days. its nice film, good tight grain.
too bad WWII was fought in B&W and Kodachrome:huh :eek: :O :mad: :p :) :D :rofl
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I didn't really like it.
The visuals were good but I didn't care for the time warps. To much like Pulp Fiction for my taste.
I almost walked out after 1 1/2.
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I thought the FOUF warps were done pretty well, but then Pulp Fiction is one of my favorite movies, and it had just about the most challenging flashbacks and flashforwards I can recall.
Which brings a belated late comparison with Sands of Iwo Jima starring (who else?) John Wayne. I don't remember anything about SOIJ except prettier color and Wayne's one-size-fits-all-scowl.
If we keep making acronyms out of movie titles, someone's going to start a whole new thread on just that. I bet the last thing done to any movie release is a check to make sure the acronym is not something embarrassing.
Which ought to be a thread in itself ...
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Read the book, then saw the movie.
The movie did not disappoint at all.
Very good insight into the whole 'hero' concept.
Timing *is* everything.
Somehow I don't beleive the guys that actually raised the flag appreciated the iconic nature of the photo.. it touched so many on such different levels, while they were wrapped up in 'all we did was stick a pole in the ground'
..it truly became a symbol of Victory.
Loved the reaction to the truth of the matter by the white-house guy.
'What, you guys planted a flag every time you broke for lunch or what?'
(when it was pointed out to him the battle went on for over a month after that 'replacement' flag was stuck up on the hill)
-GE