As the movie is in Japanese, this makes understanding any of the dialog impossible. These items are shipped from and sold by different sellers. Kuribayashi becomes a bold yet almost tragic figure; his war strategy resulted in a battle that was expected to last less than a week, but took nearly 40 days and resulted in the deaths of more than 20,000 Japanese troops. At that time, there were no special features available. The Question and Answer section for Flags of Our Fathers is a great It was in fact, more focused on the events of their tour of the US selling war bonds, and the problems that dogged Ira Hayes , the American Indian marine, as a result. Flags of our Fathers and then Letters of Iwo Jima. Please try again. Ships direct from Amazon! The remaining bonus features chronicle the world premiere of Letters in Tokyo on November 15, 2006. On the bonus fifth disc is an A&E documentary Heroes of Iwo Jima from 2001 narrated by Gene Hackman, and "To the Shores of Iwo Jima," a 1945 short film that was Oscar-nominated for best documentary short. While the story of that effort, and the impact it had on the flag raisers is significant, I feel it should not have been the centerpiece of the Flags of our Fathers movie, hence 4 rather than 5 stars. On the DVDs Like the film itself, the two-disc special edition of Letters from Iwo Jima is predominantly Japanese in content, and that's as it should be. I wish Flags of our Fathers had done the same for the American side. "The Faces of Combat" is an 18-minute featurette about selecting the Japanese (and Japanese-American) cast of Letters, and how they were chosen through the international collaboration of Eastwood's long-time casting director Phyllis Huffman (who turned over some of her duties to her son while struggling with terminal illness) and Japanese casting associate Yumi Takada, who filled important roles with Japanese celebrities (like pop star Kazunari Ninomiya, who plays "Saigo") and unknown actors alike. "The Making of an Epic" is a 30-minute behind-the-scenes documentary covering all aspects of production, from the decision to film in Iceland (where black volcanic sand matched the barren beaches of Iwo Jima) to the individual contributions of key personnel, most notably cinematographer Tom Stern, editor Joel Cox, costume designer Deborah Hopper, the late, great production designer Henry Bumstead, and Eastwood's longtime casting director, the late Phyllis Huffman. Companion films showing both sides of the Iwo Jima island campaign. The following day's press conference (at the Grand Hyatt Tokyo hotel) is a 24-minute Q&A session covering much of the same territory, with additional testimony from principal cast & crew. Reviewed in the United States on February 11, 2009. CD box is included. Discover releases, reviews, track listings, recommendations, and more about Clint Eastwood, Kyle Eastwood, Michael Stevens - Clint Eastwood's Iwo Jima (Flags Of Our Fathers - Letters From Iwo Jima) at Discogs. The original theatrical trailer for Flags of Our Fathers is also included. For those of you wondering, these Blurays play on US and Japanese devices. Top subscription boxes – right to your door, © 1996-2020, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. I have a US address, too bad I didn't get a notice saying are you sure you want to purchase this item because you won't be able to watch it at your shipping address. Clint Eastwood conceived Flags of Our Fathers and Letters From Iwo Jima as companion pieces, telling the same story — the 1945 battle of Iwo Jima — … Flags of Our Fathers is about the raising of the Stars & Stripes on the top of Mount Suribachi on the island of Iwo Jima during World War II and how the iconic photograph was used in the United States to raise money for the war effort. With Flags of Our Fathers (2006) and Letters from Iwo Jima (2006), Clint Eastwood made a unique contribution to film history, being the first director to make two films about the same event. Flags of Our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima: The Movies, Read the Study Guide for Flags of Our Fathers…, View Wikipedia Entries for Flags of Our Fathers…. Seen back-to-back, they grow in artistic vision and emotional wallop. --Jeff Shannon, On the DVDs The two-disc special edition of Flags of Our Fathers offers a fine balance of behind-the-scenes production features and archival history. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. Important films (although inconsistent with the actual history behind the Battle of Iwo Jima and the men who lifted the American flag) that humanize both sides of the war. Flags of Our Fathers Thematically ambitious and emotionally complex, Clint Eastwood's Flags of Our Fathers is an intimate epic with much to say about war and the nature of heroism in America. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. What FOOF showed quite elegantly was that we are all flawed human beings. 0 0. cbagc2002. I don't think they are related - just the same director (Clint Eastwood) Flags of our fathers came out in theatres first - I've seen that one but not letters from Iwo Jima yet. This box set was such a no-brainer purchase, I'd recommend it to anyone and everyone. We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Whilst I don't like it overdone, going to church was, and still is, a fact of life. In telling the story of the six men (five Marines, one Navy medic) who raised the American flag of victory on the battle-ravaged Japanese island of Iwo Jima on February 23rd, 1945, Eastwood takes us deep into the horror of war (in painstakingly authentic Iwo Jima battle scenes) while emphasizing how three of the surviving flag-raisers (played by Adam Beach, Ryan Phillippe, and Jesse Bradford) became reluctant celebrities--and resentful pawns in a wartime publicity campaign after their flag-raising was immortalized by Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal in the most famous photograph in military history. Reality". The 15-minute "Visual Effects" featurette provides a detailed analysis of Digital Domain's diligent efforts to achieve convincing photo-realistic images in the film's epic-scale battle sequences, home-front bond rallies, and other sequences where CGI wizardry was required. Minimal wear on the exterior of item. In the 20-minute featurette "Six Brave Men," the actors who played the celebrated Iwo Jima flag-raisers speak about their characters, how they fit into the history of Iwo Jima, and the responsibility of honoring their memories with historically accurate portrayals. 'Letters...' is shown from the Japanese perspective and does focus on the blind dedication of the Japanese officers, often bewildering to the common soldier who is guided by his unswerving loyalty to his superiors, be that the Emperor or the dedicated but sometimes sadistic superior ranking soldier. The culture between the two countries was vastly different.... Flags of Our Fathers study guide contains a biography of James Bradley, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. In an unprecedented demonstration of worldly citizenship, Eastwood (from a spare, tightly focused screenplay by first-time screenwriter Iris Yamashita) has crafted a truly Japanese film, with Japanese dialogue (with subtitles) and filmed in a contemplative Japanese style, serving as both complement and counterpoint to Eastwood's previously released companion film Flags of Our Fathers. Wisely avoiding any direct parallels to contemporary history, Eastwood allows us to draw our own conclusions about the Iwo Jima flag-raisers and how their postwar histories (both noble and tragic) simultaneously illustrate the hazards of exploited celebrity and society's genuine need for admirable role models during times of national crisis. Iwo Jima‘s extras include a couple of 20-minute featurettes that highlight the lengths to which Eastwood and his crew went for accuracy: In ”Red Sun, Black Sand,” he makes the culturally acute point that while our soldiers were sent into battle with the hope of returning home, their Japanese counterparts were ”told they weren’t coming back.” Eastwood’s World War II diptych is neatly complemented by the fifth disc, which contains the A&E-produced Heroes of Iwo Jima documentary and a 1945 U.S. government-produced short, To the Shores of Iwo Jima. The teeth of disk holder are undamaged. Please try again. Entertainment Weekly may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. The companion film, Letters from Iwo Jima, focused on the Japanese defenders of the Island, and their essentially last stand. The subtitles for Letters from Iwo Jima are mostly below the screen, out of view. As for the movies themselves, they are incredible and I never tire of seeing them. Flags follows the lives of the men who planted the flag on the island, the ones seen in Joe Rosenthal’s iconic image. "Looking into the Past" is a nearly 10-minute assembly of 1945 newsreel footage, showing many of the actual events that were dramatized in Eastwood's film, and demonstrating the impressive efforts that went into making Flags of Our Fathers as authentic as it could possibly be. The movie was well reviewed and tried to show the events at Iwo Jima from the American side. First up is a three-minute introduction by Clint Eastwood, who explains his attraction to James Bradley's nonfiction bestseller, how he partnered with Steven Spielberg to coproduce this ambitious production, and the themes of wartime valor and misguided celebrity that he wished to illuminate. Entertainment Weekly is a registered trademark of Meredith Corporation All Rights Reserved. Gen. Tadamichi Kuribayashi, played with poignant terseness by Ken Watanabe. Excellent films, both of them. CD that is used but still in very good condition. Critics have said that FOOF portrayed the Iwo flag raisers in a poor light. There’s a certain inevitability to Flags — we know the outcome of the battle, and we know that ordinary citizens usually have trouble when fame is thrust upon them — but the movie has a propulsive momentum, and the DVD includes a fine making-of doc (it’s always interesting to watch Eastwood’s low-key, let’s-just-shoot-it directing style). The premiere itself is covered in a 16-minute featurette taped at the famous Budokan arena, where we see the red-carpet procession, a full-capacity audience despite cold November weather, and introductory comments from the film's primary cast and crew, many of them quite moving with regard to the satisfaction of working on a film that helps Japanese viewers come to terms with a painful chapter of their history. As such, it is not quite accurate to say the two movies are truly companion pieces, since the focus on the US side is as much about the War Bonds effort as the battle. The film stars Ryan Phillippe as John "Doc" Bradley, James' father, Jesse Bradford (Rene Gagnon), Adam Beach (Ira Hayes), Barry Pepper (Mike Strank), Paul Walker (Hank Hansen), and Jamie Bell (Ralph Ignatowski). These men, who did NOT believe they were heroes were immortalized by Joe Rosenthal's famous photo. I've tried every possible combination of screen zoom/setting in both my Oppo Blu-ray player and Sony Bravia flat screen 4k TV. The story of the battle of Iwo Jima between the United States and Imperial Japan during World War II, as told from the perspective of the Japanese who fought it. --Jeff Shannon, Letters from Iwo Jima Critically hailed as an instant classic, Clint Eastwood's Letters from Iwo Jima is a masterwork of uncommon humanity and a harrowing, unforgettable indictment of the horrors of war. There's a problem loading this menu right now. To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. It's impossible to see the subtitles. --Jeff Shannon. Next, author Bradley recalls the process of seeing his book translated to film (including interview clips with screenwriters William Broyles Jr. and Paul Haggis) and his involvement with the production as an authoritative consultant. Directed by Clint Eastwood. Let’s start with Eastwood’s films. It stars Ken Watanabe as General Tadamichi Kuribayashi and Kazunari Ninomiya. Additionally, the box set is comprised of two stand-alone blueray boxes that can be kept together inside a cardboard sleeve cover. 10 funny mockumentaries to remind us about the absurdity of life, Family-friendly Halloween films for boos big and small. (The making-of feature is dedicated to Bumstead and Huffman, who both succumbed to cancer shortly after production was completed.) Really bummed so much time went by and after all that waiting I can't watch it anyway. Joyce, Meghan. The film is very faithful to the book of the same title. I originally saw "Flags of our Fathers" in DVD format. The A&E film, narrated by Gene Hackman, is first-rate; in fact, it nearly equals Flags as an examination of the famous photograph and its aftermath. Not affiliated with Harvard College. No skipping on CD. While maintaining many of the traditions of the conventional war drama, Eastwood extends his sympathetic touch to humanize "the enemy," revealing the internal and external conflicts of soldiers and officers alike, forced by circumstance to sacrifice themselves or defend their honor against insurmountable odds. As the surviving flag-raisers reluctantly play their public roles as "the heroes of Iwo Jima" during an exhausting (but clearly necessary) wartime bond rally tour, Flags of Our Fathers evolves into a pointed study of battlefield valor and misplaced idolatry, incorporating subtle comment on the bogus nature of celebrity, the trauma of battle, and the true meaning of heroism in wartime. Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 27, 2016, These two films are great. I watched these movies on my Japanese-regionalized Playstation 3 as well as my Xbox One just this past weekend without a problem. Even more critically acclaimed than Flags of Our Fathers, Letters for Iwo Jima was nominated for multiple Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay. The US side "Flags of our Fathers" focused as much is not considerably more, on the men who raised the flag on Mt. I don't know if this is important to anyone, but figured I'd clarify. this link is to an external site that may or may not meet accessibility guidelines. It also analyzes reviews to verify trustworthiness. Disc 1 presents the film in a flawless widescreen transfer, with a Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround soundtrack that perfectly captures the film's wide dynamic range. All in all, I found the Letters from Iwo to be the more interesting of the two movies, at it portrayed in much greater detail the hardships of the battle from the Japanese side. The optional subtitles can be turned off for those wishing to immerse themselves in a completely Japanese viewing experience. A-, Credit: I surely didn't see anything saying it can only be played in a specific region (it really should be listed right next to the title when you search for a movie if it has restrictions as to where it can be played). Pay special attention to "The Misguided Media" and "Perception vs. GradeSaver, 16 October 2010 Web. There was an error retrieving your Wish Lists. The cover art and liner notes are included. Reviewed in the United States on March 24, 2018. A handy boxed set of these two films directed by Clint Eastwood, released together and offering different viewpoints concerning the battle of Iwo Jima.