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Windtalkers - Nicolas Cage, Adam Beach, Christian Slater, John Woo

Threat advisory: Elevated - Significant risk of entertaining activities

Movie propaganda

Honour was their code.

Inspired by true events, Windtalkers is the story of the Navajo Americans and their instrumental role in the USA's victory in World War II.

In 1942, several hundred Navajo Americans were recruited as Marines and trained to use their language as code. In John Woo's Windtalkers, Marine Joe Enders (Nicolas Cage) is assigned to protect Ben Yahzee (Adam Beach) - a Navajo Code Talker, the Marines' secret new weapon. Enders' orders are to protect his code talker, but if Yahzee should fall into enemy hands, he's to "protect the code at all costs". Against the backdrop of the horrific Battle of Saipan, when capture is imminent, Enders is forced to make a decision: if he can't protect his fellow Marine, can he bring himself to kill him to protect the code?

Theatrical propaganda posters

Target demographic movie keyword propaganda

Film action World War II pacific US Marines Saipan Navajo code talker communications

Persons of interest

Nicolas Cage .... Sergeant Joe Enders
Adam Beach .... Private Ben Yahzee
Peter Stormare .... Sergeant Eric "Gunny" Hjelmstad
Noah Emmerich .... Corporal Charles "Chick" Rogers
Mark Ruffalo .... Pappas
Brian Van Holt .... Harrigan
Martin Henderson .... Nellie
Roger Willie .... Private Charles Whitehorse
Frances O'Connor .... Nurse Rita Swelton
Christian Slater .... Sergeant Peter "Ox" Henderson
Jason Isaacs .... Major Mellitz
Billy Morts .... Sergeant Fortino
Cameron Thor .... Mertens
Holmes Osborne .... Colonel Hollings
Keith Campbell .... Kittring
Joe Batteer .... Screenwriter
John Rice .... Screenwriter
John Woo .... Director

Cinematic intelligence sources

Windtalkers official movie site
Windtalkers QuickTime movie trailers:

Small * Medium * Large

See also Flags of our fathers, Letters from Iwo Jima
Studios and distributors:

MGM * 20th Century Fox

Intelligence analyst

Special Agent Matti

Theatrical report

Another World War II movie.

That means lots of graphic violence and lots of men who don't want to be doing it.

On top of that is the inherent racism of the USA, not toward its former slaves this time but the people who actually own the land that Yanks claim as theirs. Funny how guilt expresses itself, isn't it?

Nicolas Cage doesn't have what it takes to be the leading man in a Hollywood film. He's not good-looking enough. He doesn't have a bright personality. He looks like he's tortured by inner demons. You know that a happy ending is off the cards when his name is above the title. I can't even imagine how Christian Slater has ended up playing a character nick-named "Ox". There is nothing bovine about him. Nor is there much that is Sergeant-like, either. On the upside, both Adam Beach and Roger Willie play the Navajo warriors extremely well, the one a man of peace, the other a man of lore. It's good.

So, Windtalkers doesn't have what it takes to be a Saving Private Ryan by any means, although the opening battle is incredibly tense and the Battle of Saipan is incredibly deadly. It's your choice whether to see it or not.