(Credit: Amazon.com)
Directed by
John Woo
Cast:
Nicolas Cage …. Sergeant Joe Enders
Adam Beach …. Private Ben Yahzee
Peter Stormare …. Gunnery Sergeant Hjelmstad
Noah Emmerich …. Private Chick
Mark Ruffalo …. Private Pappas
Brian Van Holt …. Private Harrigan
Martin Henderson …. Private Nellie
Roger Willie …. Private Charlie Whitehorse
Frances O’Connor …. Rita
Christian Slater …. Sgt. Pete ‘Ox’ Anderson
Jason Isaacs …. Major Mellitz
Billy Morts …. Fortino (as William Morts)
Cameron Thor …. Mertens
Kevin Cooney …. Ear Doctor
The Movie:
Of all the great film makers of the late 1980’s and early 90’s in Hong Kong, no director was better than John Woo. While film makers Tsui Hark and Ringo Lam achieved their own notoriety for action packed spectacles, Woo imbued his pictures with a soulfulness amongst the chaos. Woo’s “heroic bloodshed” mantra gave his films an energy and emotion attachment lacking in other films of Hong Kong cinema. The Killer, Hard Boiled, and Bullet in the Head are all some of the finest examples of Hong Kong cinema from that period, making Woo a desired commodity in the U.S.
Unfortunately, while Woo has had one bona fide success with Face/Off the jury is still mixed about every one of his other Hollywood ventures. One of the least appreciated is without a doubt Windtalkers, a big budget war picture depicting the story of Navajo Code Talkers during WWII. Featuring Woo veterans Nicholas Cage and Christian Slater, as well as a very good actor in Adam Beach as Code Talker Ben Yahzee, this film should have been a major success for the director. Normally Woo’s heroes struggle to fight their way out of churches surrounded by gangsters, so why would soldiers surrounded on a battlefield not translate just as well? To that degree, Windtalkers works, but unfortunately, the film stumbles when bombs are not bursting.
The film’s biggest problem is that the movie’s main character isn’t the fresh faced Ben Yahzee played by Adam Beach, it’s the shell shocked war veteran played by Nicholas Cage. Cage plays Sergeant Joe Enders a decorated Marine with a constant grimace, unhappy with his assignment of guarding the important, yet very green Yahzee. For all of Woo’s strengths as a director of action, subtlety has never been one of his highest qualities. Here the weakness is paramount in bringing the picture straight into mediocrity.
For those that complained how Crash handled its subject matter of racism too heavily, it’s nothing compared to Windtalkers. Woo and Screenwriters John Rice and Joe Batteer don’t do themselves any favor by battering us over the heads with scenes of school yard racism by Noah Emmerich’s Private Chick. In one scene Chick takes it upon himself to go ahead and start a fight with the innocent Yahzee. In a combat setting, where the lives of you and hundreds of other could be in the hands of this man, would you really not be able to put your petty differences aside?
Also, every conceivable War film cliché makes an appearance here, as soldiers talk about their wives and one man, who was marked for death as soon as he spoke, tries to make another man promise to send his wife his wedding ring upon his demise. Others talk about their families and sexual experiences in the most contrived dialogue I’ve ever heard. The film would be a total wash if not for the film’s nearly constant action scenes.
It’s when fiery explosions detonate and men fly through the air that Woo finds the opportunity to find his visual poetry of old. Other sequences feature harrowing combat as relentless forces bombard our heroes in John Woo fashion. Watching men die in horrible fashion is a John Woo hallmark and he doesn’t miss a beat here.
This Director’s Cut of the picture features even more bombastic footage for action junkies, as well as more screen time to develop the relationship between Enders and Yahzee. Too bad this is all still undermined by many of the film’s quiet interludes. With another screenwriter, this film could have been a masterpiece. Instead, what we’re left with is a deeply flawed movie with tremendous action.
Score: 6.0 /10
The DVD:
The Video
This DVD does look tremendous as the various tropical locations as well as Monument Valley are shown in picturesque detail. The film is presented in Anamorphic Widescreen with an aspect ratio of 2.35:1.
The Audio
The audio track is also very good, highlighting the film’s many action scenes, putting you right into the combat. The film’s sound is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1.
SPECIAL FEATURES: Introduction, 3 Audio Commentaries, Trailers.
On Camera Introduction by Director John Woo – From the moment he comes on camera, you can see that Woo is actually quite proud of his work and very happy that MGM would give him the opportunity to present the best version of this possible.
Audio commentary with Director John Woo and Producer Terence Chang – This is a really nice track as Woo and Change show a lot of humility where it comes to the subject matter. Woo actually gives a lot credit to all involved and seems to really love all the actors he worked with. This track is full of anecdotes on the productions, a lot of scene analyzation and reverence for this material.
Audio commentary by Nicolas Cage and Christian Slater – This track is less informative. Cage and Slater seem to be having a good time, but don’t seem to have any real insight into the film’s production.
Audio commentary by Roger Willie and Navajo Code Talker Advisor Albert Smith – This track is full of enlightening moments as these two have a ton of info regarding the historical aspects of this production and the actual events by which they are based. These two are also a wealth of info when it comes to the film’s themes and how it pertains to the Navajo people.
Trailers – This disc features the Theatrical and Teaser trailers for Windtalkers as well as MGM releases Hannibal, Dances with Wolves and Die Another Day.
Score: 5.0 /10
