[Colonel_Sanders]

My dad and I went to see it last night...

it was amazing. Clint Eastwood is a genius. The thing that this movie got across more than any other war movie I've ever seen before is just, how callous and unfair war is. Not that I feel how the soldiers felt then, but it gives you a brief glimpse.

-Spoiler-
A scene where one of the main characters, a guy who got kicked out of the secret police because he couldn't shoot a child's dog, (which made him not tough enough) decides to surrendure to the Americans. He runs away, and finds a squad of marines upon which he promptly surrendures. Unfortunately, the marines have to move out and the two assigned to guard him get bored, so they shoot the prisoners, main character included. This scene made me tear up, even in a movie theater.

Anways, I really suggest that people see this movie. If you don't, you're missing out. (There's also some incredible battle scenes, such as the American beach landing and bombing runs.)

[khanaris]

I saw it when it opened. It is not a "fun" movie, nor was it filmed like a typical war movie. But it is really worth seeing if you want to understand something of Japan at that time.

[Colonel_Sanders]

Khanaris, you have a good point that is definitely worth noting.

There were parts in the movie where I thought: "just another battle," the kind of weary feeling where you truly don't feel excited by it.

[captain_octavain]

I really wanna see it, but it looks like it has scenes from flags of our fathers in it (judging from the ads)

[Blazork]

Yeah, Clint Eastwood has turned out to be a really great director. Bloodwork comes to mind as does Mystic River and Space Cowboys. I just checked imdb and was surprised to see some of the movies that he directed.

[Colonel_Sanders]

Originally Posted by Far_Shot, High Priest of Tlazcotl

I really wanna see it, but it looks like it has scenes from flags of our fathers in it (judging from the ads)

Actually, that's supposed to be happening. Clint didn't want to have the Iwo Jima story be biased due to Flags of our Fathers, so while filming Flags, he also filmed Letters from Iwo. The latter is in Japanese, with English subtitles, and only about Japanese people.

[khanaris]

I should also note that since parts of both movies were filmed on Iwo Jima itself, they needed to make the most of the time they had. Iwo Jima is held as a monument by the government of Japan, and access to the island is very rarely granted, particularly for something as potentially disruptive as filming a movie.