Flags of Our Fathers [Blu-ray]

Director: Clint Eastwood Clint Eastwood

Overview

Clint Eastwood's adaptation of the non-fiction book Flags of Our Fathers concerns the lives of the men in the famous picture of soldiers raising the American flag over Iwo Jima during that historic WWII battle. Battle scenes are intercut with footage of three of the soldiers - played by Ryan Phillipe, Jesse Bradford, and Adam Beach -- who survived the battle going on a goodwill tour of the United States in order to sell war bonds. Many evening they are forced to reenact their famous pose, something each of them finds more and more difficult to do as they suffer from survivor's guilt. Eastwood frames the story by having one of the men's grown son (Tom McCarthy) interview his father's old comrades in order to find out more about what happened to his father. Eastwood followed this film with Letters from Iwo Jima, a second film about the battle of Iwo Jima, but told from the Japanese perspective. Flags of Our Fathers was produced by Eastwood and Steven Spielberg.

Product Details

Release Date:	05/22/2007
UPC:	0097361235202
Original Release:	2006
Rating:	R
Source:	Dreamworks Video
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	2:12:00
Sales rank:	17,571

Special Features

An introduction by Clint Eastwood ; Words on the page; Six brave men; The making of an epic; Raising the flag; Visual effects; Looking into the past; Theatrical trailer

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Ryan Phillippe	John Bradley
Jesse Bradford	Rene Gagnon
Adam Beach	Ira Hayes
John Benjamin Hickey	Keyes Beech
John Slattery	Bud Gerber
Barry Pepper	Mike Strank
Jamie Bell	Ralph Ignatowski
Paul Walker	Hank Hansen,Harlon Block
Robert Patrick	Col. Chandler Johnson
Judith Ivey	Belle Block
Neal McDonough	Capt. Severance
Melanie Lynskey	Pauline Harnois
Tom McCarthy	James Bradley,Reporter in Chicago,James Bradley
Chris Bauer	Commandant Vandergrift
Myra Turley	Madeline Evelley
Alessandro Mastrobuono	Lindberg
Stark Sands	Gus
George Grizzard	John Bradley
Harve Presnell	Dave Severance
George Hearn	Walter Gust
Len Cariou	Mr. Beech
Christopher Curry	Ed Block
Bubba Lewis	Belle's Young Son
Beth Grant	Mother Gagnon,Secretary
Connie Ray	Mrs. Sousley
Mary Beth Peil	Mrs. Bradley
David Patrick Kelly	President Harry S.Truman
Ned Eisenberg	Joe Rosenthal
V.J. Foster	Major on Plane
Kirk B.R. Woller	Bill Genaust
Tom Verica	Lieutenant Pennel
David Hornsby	Louis Lowery
Brian Kimmet	Sergeant `Boots' Thomas
Tom Mason	John Tennack
James Newman	Local Politician
Lennie Loftin	Justice of the Peace
Mark Thomason	Military Censor
Steven Porter	Tourist
Dale Waddington Horowitz	Tourist's Wife
Oliver Davis	Young James Bradley
Lisa Dodson	Iggy's Mother
John Nielsen	Senator Boyd
Jon Kellam	Senator Haddigan
Nevin Millan	American Indian Congress Member
Scott Eastwood	Lundsford,Composer
Sean Moran	Waiter
Denise Bella	Luncheon Singer
Vlasis-Gascon	Luncheon Singer
Jenifer Menedis	Luncheon Singer
Joie Shettler	Luncheon Singer
Vivien Lesiak	Luncheon Singer
John Canavan	Jailer,Reporter at Hansen's
Donn Emerson	Navy Lieutenant on Plane
Jayma Mays	Nurse in Hawaii
Yukari Black	Tokyo Rose
John Hoogenakker	Funeral Home Employee
William Charlton	Bartender
Shannon Gayle	Bar Car Beauty
Jim Cantafio	Reporter in L.A.
Barry Sigismondi	Police Sergeant
Mark Colson	Reporter in L.A.
Beth Tapper	Bar Car Beauty
Patrick New	Reporter in Chicago
James Horan	Reporter in NYC
Silas Mitchell	Lab Tech
George Cambio	Lab Tech
David S. Brooks	Sergeant A. Company
Johann Johannsson	Sergeant on Beach
Martin Delaney	Marine at Cave
Daniel Forcey	Marine on Beach
Bjorgvin Franz Gislason	Impaled Marine
Hilmar Gudjonsson	Wounded Marine 4
Jeremy Merrill	Marine in Shellhole
Jeremiah Bitsui	Young Indian
Darri Ingolfsson	Wounded Marine
Michael Cumpsty	Secretary Forrestal

Technical Credits

Paul Haggis

William Broyles Jr.

Ron Powers

Clint Eastwood	Director,Producer
Paul Haggis	Screenwriter
William Broyles Jr.	Screenwriter
Robert Lorenz	Producer
Steven Spielberg	Producer
Gregg Rudloff	Sound Mixer
Walt Martin	Sound Mixer
John T. Reitz	Sound Mixer
Jan Aaris	Special Effects
Ulrika Akander	Sound Effects
Ron Powers	Screenwriter
Dan Abrams	Special Effects
David A. Arnold	Sound Effects
Bub Asman	Sound Effects
David E. Campbell	Sound Effects
Marc Banich	Special Effects
Roy K. Cancino	Special Effects
David A. Poole	Special Effects
Dominic V. Ruiz	Special Effects
George Zamora	Special Effects
Ilram Choi	Stunts
T. Ryan Mooney	Stunts

Editorial Reviews

In this ambitious drama about heroism -- both real and manufactured -- filmmaker Clint Eastwood powerfully re-creates the 1945 battle of Iwo Jima, the United States’ bloodiest single engagement of World War II, offering an ironic, ultimately downbeat look at its effect on three key survivors. Skillfully scripted by William Broyles Jr. and Paul Haggis from the 2000 nonfiction bestseller by James Bradley (the son of one of the three), the movie initially focuses on a handful of the 30,000 troops that landed on that tiny volcanic island to evict 20,000 well-fortified Japanese defenders. On the siege’s fifth day, six soldiers reach the summit where much of the Japanese firepower is concentrated and raise an American flag -- an event depicted in a photo that became a historical icon. Three of the six are subsequently killed, but the surviving three are whisked back to the States to participate in a drive to sell war bonds. Eastwood provides spectacle in the battle scenes, which have the same graphic, visceral quality as those staged by Steven Spielberg in Saving Private Ryan. But the meat of the story is the survivors’ attempts to cope with their newfound stardom and rebuild their lives with the horrors of war still fresh in their minds. Adam Beach is especially moving as Ira Hayes, the Native American who most keenly suffered from the effects of what he felt was undeserved fame. Eastwood delicately acknowledges the nation’s wartime need for heroism while implicitly criticizing the exploitation of its heroes. Powerful, expressive, and superbly made, Flags of Our Fathers is a stunning achievement that will be remembered as one of Eastwood’s finest directorial efforts.