DVD Talk review of 'Windtalkers (Special Director's Edition)'
05-20-06, 06:54 PM
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DVD Talk review of 'Windtalkers (Special Director's Edition)'
I read Mike Long's DVD review of Windtalkers (Special Director's Edition) at http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=6608 and...
Couldn't agree more with Long's review. As an avid WWII buff who found the story of the Navajo code-talkers a fascinating facet of that conflict, I'd hoped Hollywood would've given it a more respectful treatment. Instead we have the standard war picture, which as Long mentions, only uses the code-talkers as an excuse to hang the usual action on. There's too many examples in Windtalkers of what's become standard Hollywood treatment in war (indeed all action) films: i.e. slow-motion shots of fighting, shooting, explosions, and the like. Cage comes off as a Pacific Island Rambo, and his character is, unfortunately, just about as shallow. Even the Japanese come off as stereotyped throw-backs to the films made during WWII. This movie so missed the mark that it's sad. By telling the actual story of these men and what they accomplished, in an intelligent and factual manner (and delving into such issues as racial tension) it could've been so much more than just another wartime "shoot-em-up". Sorry to say that "Windtalkers" is more on the level of the atrocious "Pearl Harbor" than the classic "Saving Private Ryan". If you want to know the true story, read a good book or catch a doumentary on the History Channel instead.
Couldn't agree more with Long's review. As an avid WWII buff who found the story of the Navajo code-talkers a fascinating facet of that conflict, I'd hoped Hollywood would've given it a more respectful treatment. Instead we have the standard war picture, which as Long mentions, only uses the code-talkers as an excuse to hang the usual action on. There's too many examples in Windtalkers of what's become standard Hollywood treatment in war (indeed all action) films: i.e. slow-motion shots of fighting, shooting, explosions, and the like. Cage comes off as a Pacific Island Rambo, and his character is, unfortunately, just about as shallow. Even the Japanese come off as stereotyped throw-backs to the films made during WWII. This movie so missed the mark that it's sad. By telling the actual story of these men and what they accomplished, in an intelligent and factual manner (and delving into such issues as racial tension) it could've been so much more than just another wartime "shoot-em-up". Sorry to say that "Windtalkers" is more on the level of the atrocious "Pearl Harbor" than the classic "Saving Private Ryan". If you want to know the true story, read a good book or catch a doumentary on the History Channel instead.
05-25-06, 07:28 AM
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I totally agree, this movie just didn't do anything for me, and I can't stand when somebody makes a movie "based on real events", trying to be period-true and historically accurate, and then giving it to somebody like John Woo to direct. Nic Cage doing his "Rambo" yell and shooting his Thompson full-blast for long periods, from waist-level, in slow motion, just made me laugh.
