The life stories of the six men who raised the flag at the Battle of Iwo Jima, a turning point in World War II.The life stories of the six men who raised the flag at the Battle of Iwo Jima, a turning point in World War II.The life stories of the six men who raised the flag at the Battle of Iwo Jima, a turning point in World War II.
- Nominated for 2 Oscars
- 16 wins & 28 nominations total
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe story about the flag raising being posed was true. It was started, ironically, by Joe Rosenthal. He did not know he had taken the famous photograph until he returned to the States. He did, however, take a second photograph of the five Marines and one Navy Corpsman gathered around the flag. When people asked if he had posed the photograph, he, thinking they were referring to the second photograph said "Of course". It was only after seeing the first photograph that he realized they were referring to that photograph and not the second one.
- GoofsIn explaining the importance of a successful bond drive, the treasury representative says that the fuel dumps are empty and "our Arab friends only take bullion." At the time of World War II, America was essentially self sufficient in oil production and not dependent on Arab oil. While oil was discovered in some Arab countries before the war, it was not extensively developed until after the war.
- Quotes
[last lines]
James Bradley: I finally came to the conclusion that he maybe he was right. Maybe there's no such thing as heroes. Maybe there are just people like my dad. I finally came to understand why they were so uncomfortable being called heroes. Heroes are something we create, something we need. It's a way for us to understand what's almost incomprehensible, how people could sacrifice so much for us, but for my dad and these men, the risks they took, the wounds they suffered, they did that for their buddies. They may have fought for their country but they died for their friends. For the man in front, for the man beside him, and if we wish to truly honor these men we should remember them the way they really were, the way my dad remembered them.
- Crazy creditsThere is an additional short sequence after the credits have ended.
- SoundtracksKnock Knock
Written and Performed by Kyle Eastwood, Michael Stevens, Andrew McCormack and Graeme Flowers
The problem with war movies about real people is that you have to deal with complexities of character and plot that the genre simply doesn't lend itself easily to.
So when the story at hand aims to pose questions like "what does it mean to do the wrong things for the right reasons" and tries to debunk the popular myth of herodom, there's very little margin for error.
Enter Clint Eastwood. Never one to shy away from challenging stories, this is a much bigger effort than his usual understated character dramas. On the one hand, it doesn't "feel" like a Clint Eastwood movie, but on the other, it feels at home in his themes of used-up heroes -- the person behind the larger than life persona. These are complex characters in very difficult situations, and he presents them in a way that's straightforward and non-judgmental, so we're left to decide the answers to the film's central conflicts ourselves.
To a person, the cast is up to the challenge. It's hard not to admire Ryan Phillippe for a restrained and thoughtful performance, but the real kudos go to Adam Beach. Almost every aspect of Beach's character is cliché, with one minor exception - that's really the way Ira Hayes was. So the challenge was to portray Hayes as a real person despite the cliché, and the result is one of the most heartbreaking and troubling performances in the film. Here's a guy who is portrayed as a hero, who really has no answers at all.
There's a lot not to like about the film. It's not "entertaining" per se, in the same way that any war memorial in DC is not entertaining. Nor is it a particularly approachable film. What it lacks in popcorn-munching entertainment value, it replaces with gravitas. This is an important film, about an important time. It's status as a valuable history lesson is secondary to it's reflections on human nature and our society. As such, it deserves to be seen, and contemplated, and appreciated.
I can't wait for Letters From Iwo Jima (the companion piece, also from Clint Eastwood, told from the Japanese point of view.) Taken together, the scope of this project is breathtaking.
- mrmatt14
- Oct 18, 2006
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official sites
- Language
- Also known as
- Ngọn Cờ Cha Ông
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $90,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $33,602,376
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $10,245,190
- Oct 22, 2006
- Gross worldwide
- $65,900,249
- Runtime2 hours 15 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.39 : 1
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