IMDb > Flags of Our Fathers (2006)
Flags of Our Fathers
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Flags of Our Fathers (2006) More at IMDbPro »

Photos (see all 67 | slideshow) Videos (see all 19)
Flags of Our Fathers (2006) -- The life stories of the six men who raised the flag at The Battle of Iwo Jima, a turning point in WWII.
Flags of Our Fathers (2006) -- Clip: Playing Cards
Flags of Our Fathers (2006) -- Behind the Scenes: Clint Eastwood with Ryan Phillippe
Flags of Our Fathers (2006) -- Interview: Clint Eastwood "On His interest in making the Book into a Film"
Flags of Our Fathers (2006) -- The life stories of the six men who raised the flag at The Battle of Iwo Jima, a turning point in WWII.

IMDb Holiday Movie Guide

Overview

User Rating:
7.2/10   38,655 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Up 16% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writers (WGA):
William Broyles Jr. (screenplay) and
Paul Haggis (screenplay) ...
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Contact:
View company contact information for Flags of Our Fathers on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
20 October 2006 (USA) more
Genre:
Tagline:
A Single Shot Can End The War more
Plot:
The life stories of the six men who raised the flag at The Battle of Iwo Jima, a turning point in WWII. full summary | full synopsis
Awards:
Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 10 wins & 13 nominations more
User Comments:
An amazing accomplishment more (391 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)
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Additional Details

MPAA:
Rated R for sequences of graphic war violence and carnage, and for language.
Runtime:
132 min
Country:
Language:
Colour:
Colour (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Company:

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
The scene in which a sailor falls from a ship and is left in the water as the fleet steams toward Iwo Jima actually happened. The incident is described in "Iwo" by Richard Wheeler, himself a veteran of the fighting. Quote: "According to Coast Guardsman Chet Hack of LST 763: 'We got the man-overboard signal from the ship ahead of us. We turned to port to avoid hitting him and threw him a life preserver, but had orders not to stop. We could not hold up 24 ships for one man. Looking back, we could see him waving his arms, and it broke our hearts that we couldn't help him. We hoped that one of our destroyers or other small men-of-war that were cruising around to protect us would pick him up, but we never heard that they did.' " more
Goofs:
Factual errors: Chandler Johnson, the commander of the 2nd Battalion 28th Marines (played by Robert Patrick), was a lieutenant colonel (silver oak leaf rank insignia) but is shown wearing the eagles of a full colonel. more
Quotes:
[first lines]
Soldiers: Corpsman! Corpsman! Corpsman! Corpsman! For God sakes, corpsman! Corpsman! Corpsman!
more
Movie Connections:
Soundtrack:
I'll Walk Alone more

FAQ

How does "Flags of Our Fathers" relate to "Letters from Iwo Jima"?
A Note Regarding Spoilers
Why aren't African American Soldiers Shown in the movie?
more
208 out of 271 people found the following comment useful.
An amazing accomplishment, 18 October 2006
10/10
Author: Matt Rivenbark (matt@pipeline.com) from United States

I've always felt that when you fictionalize a story about war, you dishonor the memory of so many people who have a compelling story to tell by choosing to make something up instead *cough*privateryan*cough*.

The problem with war movies about real people is that you have to deal with complexities of character and plot that the genre simply doesn't lend itself easily to.

So when the story at hand aims to pose questions like "what does it mean to do the wrong things for the right reasons" and tries to debunk the popular myth of herodom, there's very little margin for error.

Enter Clint Eastwood. Never one to shy away from challenging stories, this is a much bigger effort than his usual understated character dramas. On the one hand, it doesn't "feel" like a Clint Eastwood movie, but on the other, it feels at home in his themes of used-up heroes -- the person behind the larger than life persona. These are complex characters in very difficult situations, and he presents them in a way that's straightforward and non-judgmental, so we're left to decide the answers to the film's central conflicts ourselves.

To a person, the cast is up to the challenge. It's hard not to admire Ryan Phillippe for a restrained and thoughtful performance, but the real kudos go to Adam Beach. Almost every aspect of Beach's character is cliché, with one minor exception - that's really the way Ira Hayes was. So the challenge was to portray Hayes as a real person despite the cliché, and the result is one of the most heartbreaking and troubling performances in the film. Here's a guy who is portrayed as a hero, who really has no answers at all.

There's a lot not to like about the film. It's not "entertaining" per se, in the same way that any war memorial in DC is not entertaining. Nor is it a particularly approachable film. What it lacks in popcorn-munching entertainment value, it replaces with gravitas. This is an important film, about an important time. It's status as a valuable history lesson is secondary to it's reflections on human nature and our society. As such, it deserves to be seen, and contemplated, and appreciated.

I can't wait for Letters From Iwo Jima (the companion piece, also from Clint Eastwood, told from the Japanese point of view.) Taken together, the scope of this project is breathtaking.

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So I must see this before Letters from Iwo Jima... ataraxy2
How did 'Iggy' die? daneh_rawks
Question... sourshock518
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