Flags Of Our Fathers DVD Review

If there is anything that Eastwood has continually gotten right is getting the best possible performance out of his actors. The casting of Flags of Our Fathers is dead on, especially in the supporting roles of which there are plenty to go around. Barry Pepper (Saving Private Ryan, We Were Soldiers) gives a particularly fantastic supporting performance as he has now mastered carrying himself like a soldier. Even still, Eastwood seems to bring out the best in his actors, because Pepper has a courageous and heroic quality which seems impossible to fake as you watch him. Another great surprise is a subtly placed Paul Walker, who gives the performance of his career to date. Other great supporting actors scatter the film like the dead soldiers in the battle sequences, and the lead actors aren’t half bad either. Ryan Phillippe is one of the more underappreciated actors working right now due to his subtle and natural performances and in Flags of Our Father he gives a subdued performance as one of the three soldiers who raised the flag.

In a turning point in World War II, an inspirational photograph was taken of a group of soldiers raising a flag during the battle at Iwo Jima. This photograph was a part of a drive in America for war support, and three of the soldiers who raised the flag were pulled from battle to help with the support raising money for the war by giving speeches, making appearances and selling bonds. Each of the soldiers takes the responsibility differently; one soldier (Jesse Bradford) was only a runner delivering messages takes to the task with enthusiasm, another played by Adam Beach is an American Indian and used as an example while still discriminated against throughout most of the United States. The last, played by Phillippe, is a quiet observer, and was also an incredibly brave medic during the battle.

Although there are not many scenes of war action/violence, there are some well executed and simple scenes which follow specific characters rather than show a larger version of the battle. It is an effective way of staying focused where some indulgently graphic images have been scattered throughout the war movies of the recent past simply to state the now obvious horrors of war. There are certainly some difficult scenes of violence in Flags of Our Father, but the camera never strays away from what is important to the story.