Flags of Our Fathers [2006] Movie Reviews on CinemaClock

You might have the sense that Flags of Our Fathers is a gung-ho American war movie designed to rally support for the country's current unpopular misadventure in Iraq. But that's not the case at all. While the film is highly compassionate towards the plight and courage of soldiers, it is a scathing and mournful critique of how they are treated by those in power and then forgotten by their country once the war is over. It is about the real men behind the heroic images of soldiers used to promote the war, about their families, their experiences, their suffering and what happens to them once the war ends. It shows how soldiers are used for the interests of others and how their own needs get neglected. Visually, the film is beautifully shot and painstakingly detailed. It's not for the squeamish, though. The battle scenes are graphic. When the actual historic photographs from Iwo Jima are shown at the end of the film, you really come to appreciate how accurately the battle has been portrayed. The three leads all give very strong performances, especially Adam Beach as Ira Hayes, who has the most trouble coping with what he has been through and whose treatment is truly a national disgrace.