I just saw "Letters" last night and was enthralled. I thought it was far superior to "Flags". The characters in Iwo were so much more likeable than Flags. i actually felt for them, and they were the enemy.

to think that Clint made these simultaneously and actually took the opposing side and made them a sympathetic character is amazing.

what a great film.

one question?

so which did you think was the superior movie?

This poll isn't even going to be close.

Flags of Our Fathers because there is no dubbing for Letters from Iwo Jima and foreign films are prentenious.

Lol, who is 'chuck' and why should we blow him? Isn't there an adult film thread this belongs on???

LFIJ was the better film.

Yep, LFIJ

...

Sometimes I don't like american society... actually a lot of the time. I work at blockbuster and live in a small town in Alabama, I get cussed out and complained to about films being subtitled. Pan's Labyrinth, Letters from Iwo Jima, and Apocolypto have been the biggest pain in the ass ever. My boss won't let me put a sign up saying "The following films are subtitled and in a foreign language". Don't get me wrong, all three movies are really good, but having to listen to ignorant hicks about how horrible subtitles are... ugh i don't know.

Hey mate, Flags of Our Fathers is foreign too. I guess you'll need to stick with Whale Rider and The Piano, eh?

Well, we almost had a bill that would ban all subtitled films but our recent and controversial Anti-Smacking bill got passed instead.

Or Heavenly Creatures, Once Were Warriors and Leon Narbey films. 100% Pure NZ and subtitles free.

Letters is a wayyy superior film.

Letters was the superior film, certainly. But, I still enjoyed Flags.

Maybe the poll should've had a "both" option?

Letters for me.

I didn't like Flags of Our Fathers structure, seem to blow a lot of momentum, but am willing to retry it in the new SE.

Letters from Iwo Jima was much much better than Flags of Our Fathers. I agree that Eastwood was able to make us sympathize with the Japanese soldiers and showed us that they were really no different than we were.

Letters is so vastly superior to Flags that's it not even an arguable point in my opinion. It's like saying "Which is better - Saving Private Ryan or Behind Enemy Lines?" Even then, I'm betting the Owen Wilson movie would draw some votes.

so anyone know what happened to Saigo?

They're both great movies. Letters is the more emotional, Flags the more intellectual. The former looks at the battle, the latter concentrates more about the postwar. They need to be seen back to back for greatest effect because it's then that what Eastwood is doing becomes clear. Both movies are not so much 'war films' in the conventional sense as they are examinations of what happens when the needs of the soldiers conflict with the needs of their culture. In Letters it's the culture of death before dishonor that traps the troops (& the sympathetically portrayed Gen Kuribyashi is as much a victim of this as Saigo). In Flags it's the cultural need to create heroes for a weary public so that politicians can continue to fund the war. Both films are a great achievement for Eastwood.