| | | A Single Shot Can End the War.
Features: DVD, Widescreen, English, Spanish, Dolby, Digital Audio, Dolby Digital (5.1)
From Academy Award-winning director Clint Eastwood (Million Dollar Baby, Unforgiven) comes the World War II epic Flags Of Our Fathers, produced by Eastwood, Academy Award winner Steven Spielberg (Saving Private Ryan, Schindler's List), and Rob Lorenz (Mystic River).February 1945. Even as victory in Europe was finally within reach, the war in the Pacific raged on. One of the most crucial and bloodiest battles of the war was the struggle for the island of Iwo Jima, which culminated with what would become one of the most iconic images in history: five Marines and a Navy corpsman raising the American flag on Mount Suribachi. The inspiring photo capturing that moment became a symbol of victory to a nation that had grown weary of war and made instant heroes of the six American soldiers at the base of the flag, some of whom would die soon after, never knowing that they had been immortalized. But the surviving flag raisers had no interest in being held up as symbols and did not consider themselves heroes; they wanted only to stay on the front with their brothers in arms who were fighting and dying without fanfare or glory.
"...one of the year's best films and perhaps the finest modern film about World War II." Claudia Puig, USA Today
"...a powerful, important and, in the end, profoundly poignant movie..." Ken Fox, TV Guide
"Clint Eastwood has crafted a bold and meticulous epic." Richard Corliss, Time
"...Flags of Our Fathers is to the WWII movie what Eastwood's Unforgiven was to the western..." Scott Foundas, The Village Voice
"...passionate, honest, unflinching, gripping, and it pays respects." Stephen Hunter, Washington Post
Editor's Note
IN THEATERS: OCTOBER 20TH 2006 |Clint Eastwood adapts James Bradley's book FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS for the big screen, presenting a tale of bravery in World War II as six men struggle to raise the flag at the Battle of Iwo Jima.
| Features | Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound, Dolby Digital Stereo | | Audio: French Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound | | Dubbed: French | | Interactive Menus | | Scene Selection | | Subtitles: English, Spanish |
| Entertainment Reviews
 | Flags of Our Fathers - DVD By: Sean O'Connell - filmcritic.com DVD Reviews Published on: 2/5/2007 8:27 PM | |
At some point during the process of adapting James Bradley's nonfiction book about the battle of Iwo Jima, Clint Eastwood decided he'd need two movies to adequately manage the material's scope. The first, Flags of Our Fathers, focuses solely on the American campaign. It uses Joe Rosenthal's celebrated photograph of the raising of the flag as a springboard for a successful war bonds fund-raiser, and debates with timely flair the use of political spin to salvage an unpopular war....read the full review |
| Flags of Our Fathers - DVD By: Alexandra Calamari - Cinema Blend DVD Reviews Published on: 2/11/2007 9:20 PM | | Flags of our Fathers is a powerful exploration of the creation of heroes and the way the media can manipulate a historical fact to serve a larger purpose. The problem is that Eastwood doesn't trust his audience to decipher these themes alone, and so includes corny voiceover to tell us exactly what to think. The movie becomes as obvious as screenwriter Paul Haggis' last film Crash (really, it was about racism')...read the full review |
| Technical Info
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Release Information
| | Studio: Paramount |
| Release Date: 8/19/2008 |
| Running Time: 132 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 2006 | | Catalog ID: 117824 | | UPC: 00097361178240 | | Number of Discs: 1 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: English | | Available Audio Tracks: English [CC], English, French Dubbed | | Available Subtitles: Spanish | | Video: Color |
Aspect Ratio | | Widescreen 2.35:1 |
| Cast & Crew
| Awards |
Nominee (2007) | | | Golden Globe, Clint Eastwood, Best Director - Motion Picture |
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| | Professional Reviews | New York Times
"[H]ere, at age 76, is Clint Eastwood saying something new and vital about the war in his new film....The film works, among other things, as a gentle corrective to Steven Spielberg's SAVING PRIVATE RYAN." 10/20/2006 p.E22Entertainment Weekly
"Eastwood sets his film in two different worlds, cutting back and forth between the Battle of Iwo Jima, in all its shattering chaos and horror..." -- Grade: B- 10/27/2006 p.49-50 Rolling Stone
3.5 stars out of 4 -- "Eastwood's film, a fierce attack on wartime hypocrisy and profiteering, is also an indelibly moving salute to the soldiers who don't deserve to walk alone for following their own sense of duty." 11/02/2006 p.86 Uncut
5 stars out of 5 -- "A film of awesome emotional power....Eastwood handles the film' parallel storylines with astonishing confidence and technical dexterity." 01/01/2007 p.138 Sight and Sound
"It is a dexterous sleight of hand on Eastwood's part that he simultaneously commemorates the dignified humanity of the three servicemen while excoriating the bluster of those in command on all sides." 01/01/2007 p.58 Rolling Stone
Ranked #3 in Rolling Stone's "The 10 Best Movies Of 2006" -- "[A] single, stinging portrait of war..." 12/28/2006 p.118 Film Comment
Ranked #13 in Film Comment's "20 Best Films Of 2006." 01/01/2007 p.36 Film Comment
"Only Eastwood could pull off this act of artistic bravery....We agree, Clint, a picture really can make a difference." 01/01/2007 p.38 Ultimate DVD
4 stars out of 5 -- "[T]he war sequences are brutally realistic and visually arresting..." 03/01/2007 p.110 ReelViews 8 of 10
At its best, Flags of Our Fathers is eye opening and thought provoking. The battle scenes are raw and energetic, while the post-Iwo Jima segments question our established ideas about heroism. The word "hero" has been used often following 9/11, so it's interesting to hear the characters in this movie question what it means to bear that label and whether they consider themselves worthy of it. In fact, most soldiers did not consider themselves to be heroes, but if you asked them, they could identify someone else - a friend, a comrade, a leader - who was. This aspect of the movie differentiates it from any other World War II film to have come before it. - James Berardinelli
Reel.com 9 of 10
Orchestrating the narrative's shifts from the expansive to the intimate with impeccable command, Eastwood succeeds at evoking the horrors and heartbreak of warfare with a visceral intensity graphically evocative of Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan. (Spielberg is one of Flags of Our Fathers' producers.) The grisly realism of the combat scenes in Iwo Jima (filmed in Iceland, of all places) may be difficult to watch, but Eastwood doesn't linger over the gore or depict the fighting as anything but hellish. Whatever glory the men in Flags of Our Fathers savor is fleeting, undercut by the terrible awareness of friends lost in battle...Visually stunning and scrupulously authentic...a towering achievement for Eastwood and his cast and crew. - Tim Knight
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