World War 2. God, I Love You!

What can I say? Who hasn't seen American troops charging to shore in those big boats that look like rental bins before, with their machine guns rattling and the sand exploding all around them. And the beach which is littered with those wooden crosses with the barbed wire around them? Yeah, I'm sure that was super effective. I'm sure heaps of guys fell for that one, they run to the wooden cross and get trapped in the wire. Must've sounded mighty good on paper.
Also, I love how every beach the Americans get loaded onto is the worst looking beach ever. It's never a nice, tropical, clean water resort. It always looks like they been sectioned to the banks of the East River. Which would also explain the high number of corpses lying around.

Trust Clint Eastwood to give us another American soldiers on the beach movie. Spielberg definately set the gauntlet, no doubt. But Eastwood is something more of a mystery, meaning this film could mean a lot more than just another foray into double-u double-u two. Besides, the guy's so old he was probably in the war.

His movie is Flags of Our Fathers, and for some reason, I'm feeling this has an awesome opening scene, and then.... it just follows some of Hollywood's lesser talented male leads as they contractually spread propaganda to their mainland. Jesse Bradford is a nobody. Ryan Phillipe gets really good parts, but isn't amazing. And the other guys are just randoms. World War 2 movies are really nice. But I like them to be more about the war, and less about the war effort. War effort is not entertaining. I don't think you'd find anyone in 1942, waking up in the morning, not being able to wait to knit another sock to ship to Iwo Jima. Its uninteresting, and I just really hate the fact that I'll be watching these guys complaining about how they should be back on the battlefield, and I'll be thinking "Yes, just steal a U-boat and get back there. I want to see more air raids and things blowing up."

Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING is so washed out and dark in this movie. That steely blue tint that makes everything look like Clint Eastwood's face in Million Dollar Baby. Weathered and natural. I like it, I'm in no way complaining. The only thing I would say is, this movie might get pretty drab with an assload of scenes where some general talks to a native American non-stop about racism in the ranks and bullshit we've heard bajillions of times before, with no colour stimulation.... that might get a little tedious.


I can say though that the war scene/s look absolutely great, which is what will keep my interest drawn until I see it. I'm thinking this scene will make the rest of Flags of Our Fathers all worthwhile, and why wouldn't it? It's Clint Eastwood. Its WWII. It has beachage. It has ownage. True, it has Jesse Bradford. But it also has Japanese fighters, which may finally get a good name since the abymally bad Pearl Harbour. Bring that shit on.

Flags of Our Fathers - Warner Bros. Pictures
Anticipation Level: Medium - High.
Look out for: Some really good WWII-style action.
US Release date: 20th October, 2006.
Trailer Source