with the planes is beautifully stunning! I recommend this film to all war and action film fans alike!

really felt like you got to know who these guys were, and you felt you had a personal stake in their well being. The emotional stresses and fight scenes were savage and realistic, correctly representing the type of war it was in the Pacific. And the historical accuracy was down to a tee.Stylistically the movie differs from "Saving Private Ryan" and "Band of Brothers" in a few important ways. The first two were filmed in a way to put you right there - on the battlefield with a combat camera - to make you feel like you were in the middle of it, and they did it brilliantly. Windtalkers is a little different.......and this is not a fault. Yes, many times you feel like you are participating in the battle. The camera angles are wide enough to encompass that viewpoint, but you also get the sense of witnessing a historic story. Its not that you don't get engrossed in it as much, its more like you are at times observing omnipotently and rooting terribly hard for your team. The editing was nothing like the cliche' ridden "Black Hawk Down", the pretentious "Thin Red Line", or the absolutely absurd and overblown "We Were Soldiers"!! Neither did it have too ambitious of a soundtrack like the cheesy "Pearl Harbor". No - the angles were from behind the soldiers and their sides wide . If a marine shot a Japanese soldier, you saw him go down. It wasn't like you saw the soldier shoot and then the camera cut away to see the bullet hit its mark and some ridiculous death dance. That kind of editing disconnects the viewer I feel. Furthermore, the movie also provides an excellent model of Japanese fighting styles. Much of the fighting was close, bloody, and hand to hand in the Pacific. The Japanese armed with their bolt action Arisaka rifles were outgunned by the plethora of BAR's, Tommy Guns, M1 Carbines, and M1 Garands carried by the better armed Americans. Thus their fighting style was more often than not Banzai and infiltration bayonet!!! That is why on Iwo Jima in 1945, out of 22,000 Japanese soldiers, only 11 surrendered. 21,989 died!!!!!!!!!!! The Marines had 3700+ men KIA in 1 month's fighting on Saipan where this story is set and the Army almost a comparable number. Until now this battle has never gotten its due attention, being that it was launched on June 16th, 1944. 10 Days after D-Day. I guess my point is that the Japanese charging and attacks should not be mistaken for a Rambo-like directorial style.........Some critics have stated that the movie is more about Joe Enders Cage's character than the Navajo codetalkers......... Again, I don't know which movie they were watching. As I stated earlier, the film bears the mark of its director John Woo. Not in any stupid "Broken Arrow" or "Face-Off" fashion but you do realize there is a deliberate attempt at choreography at times. This film will be installed in my Top 25 of All Time. Its no "Saving Private Ryan", but then how many films are........... Just 1.............. I thoroughly enjoyed the film and was touched by it. My wife was almost inconsolable at certain points she was crying so hard. I would eagerly recommend this film to anyone.....and I am pleasantly surprised, to say the least, to see John Woo make a good film again.

movie does very well. this movie was BASED on true events. it never said the movie was totaly true. this movie is also cool because of the body count. the body count in this movie rivals commando. john woo movies have lots of action and so do war movies. this is what you get is you combine them. my only complaint is that nicholas cage didn't jump sideways with 2 pistols like he does in face/off.

is a really good action actor with that special touch of sentimentality without being labeled anything less than being a real man, a hero, or whatever we call these type of strong characters nowadays.A must see for everyone, because of its reality face of war any war, in today's world even , its reality face of humanity & it can also be something pure entertaining if you don't think too much about it.Besides Cage, Adam Beach's eyes talk too! It's hard to come by actors today with talking eyes. Cage's eyes often can burn you with his anger or melt you with his love or sadness, & Beach's eyes just burn with anger & then concern & then... well, you get the picture. Greatly performed, greatly directed, & greatly written. Now, if you'd excuse me, I need to go take care of my tearful eyes.

of Japanese soldiers without even looking at them. Every American soldier killed in the movie takes at least 2-3 bullet hits before biting the dust eventually while the Japanese soldiers instantly die once a shot is fired in their vague direction. However, the film has lots of action, lots of killings, and actually a couple fairly suspenseful scenes to keep you more-than awake. Those of you B-movie fans out there will be pleased to see the triumphant return of stock war footage in place of cheesy CGI for the battleship scenes... though there is light use of CGI later in the film for the airplanes.This is the true victory of style over content. Although the film wanders from its original path and gets lost in the action, you'll be far too entertained to care. Those of you viewers who are like me and like to turn your brain off and just watch hundreds of humans blow each other to bits, those of you who were angered by how WE WERE SOLDIERS kept cutting back to "the home front", should waste no time in seeing this film. It's a classic action-packed and violent war film which pulls no punches and has no romance... just the way we like it. The story of Navajo code-talking is negligible and barely scratched, but the acting is decent, photography and set design excellent, and action/stuntwork absolutely spectacular.The film is mildly repetitive and overlong, but a lot of us out here like this kind of film that way. Now if only they'd make a film presenting the war from the Japanese perspective... besides TORA! TORA! TORA!, which was only 1/2 Japanese anyway

editing and cinematography. Both in big, wide shots and in close by scenes the movie is brilliantly made with great eye for detail with fantastic shots. Of course a number of scenes are not very realistic. Of course John Woo goes over the top completely with explosions, according to some. But search for the described battle: looks like they went over the top there as well.Second reason: as the main character, a marine traumatized by previous experiences and always justifying his actions because he followed his orders and at the same time doubting that principle, Cage showed again that he is a great actor. He was impressive! Never mind the reviews of people who are negative about the film because they don't like Woo and/or Cage. Never mind the people who don't like the film because they only wanted to see Navajo heroics. This is a highly underrated film.

the lead role and a lesser-name-but-good supporting cast. The story, although fairly long at 134 minutes, was never boring.On the negative side, as mentioned, Woo tends to overkill and this movie must have a set record for number of people killed. It also leans on the politically correct side, of course, with Native American spirituality given complete reverence as usual and the Catholic Cage looking like a very weak in his beliefs. In modern-days, you'll never see the opposite shown on film.Anyway, it's a good action movie that certainly entertains. The intense and long action makes it almost too much to watch in one viewing!

budget, without big Hollywood stars put in the foreground would probably have been more satisfying. Maybe that movie should have been done by another director too, I don't know. Enough good "general" war movies have been made. The code talker part of the story should have been made much more pivotal as was done here.I'm a fan of Woo's Hong Kong and Hollywood work. The director's cut of Windtalkers doesn't turn a mediocre Woo film into a masterpiece, but it is certainly an improvement.Main advantages of the DC are more fleshed out characters. You get more background on all main characters, including the two Navajo code talkers. I felt more involved. As a result, the code talker part of the story is served better, but still not enough to my taste. The DC also has more uncut battlefield scenes. Woo really shows his talent here, with raw yet beautifully shot war action. You get the sense that you are in the middle of the action.I was particularly interested if a scene was put back in where a US soldier takes a golden tooth from a Japanese corpse. This scene was described in several documentaries about censorship by the US Army. Not completely surprisingly, this scene was also absent from the DC.If you are a Woo fan or already appreciated the theatrical cut, it may be worth checking out the director's cut.My ratings: 6/10 for the original cut. 8/10 for the director's cut.