Windtalkers (2002)

Director:

John Woo

Writers (WGA):

John Rice (written by) &
Joe Batteer (written by)

Release Date:

14 June 2002 (USA)

Genre:

Action | History | Romance | War

Tagline:

Honor Was Their Code.

Plot:

Two U.S. Marines in WWII are assigned to protect Navajo Marines who use their native language as an unbreakable radio cypher.

Plot Keywords:

Navajo | WWII | Battle | Duty | Letter

Awards:

1 win & 3 nominations

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
Holmes Osborne	...	Colonel Hollings

Also Known As:

Wind Talkers (USA) (alternative spelling)

MPAA:

Rated R for pervasive graphic war violence, and for language. (also director's cut)

Runtime:

134 min | Argentina:132 min | USA:153 min (director's cut)

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Navajo | Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Malaysia:18SG | South Korea:15 | Argentina:13 | Australia:MA | Canada:18A | Finland:K-15 | France:U | Germany:18 | Hong Kong:IIB | Ireland:15 | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R16 | Norway:15 | Philippines:PG-13 | Singapore:PG | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | USA:R | Canada:A (Ontario)

Filming Locations:

Dillingham Estate - 68434 Farrington Highway, Mokulë`ia, O`ahu, Hawaii, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

Prior to filming, most of the principal cast joined a core group of 62 extras for boot camp, where they endured a week of rigorous military training as WWII Marines. The production received assistance from the Department of Defense, which made Kaneohe Marine Corps Base available for the actor's basic training. Under the tutelage of Sgt. Maj. James D. Dever (a retired 25-year veteran of the Marine Corps) and his active-duty Marine instructors, the cast learned how to walk, talk and think like Marines.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: In the Training scene where the code talkers are doing a transcription from an audio recording, we briefly see the machine playing the audio. The first Wire Recorder was not manufactured by Webster-Chicago until 1948. The machine used in Windtalkers is the "Webcor Model 181 Wire Recorder" which was not manufactured by Webster-Chicago until 1953. The movie is supposed to be set in the early 1940s.

Quotes:

[after Joe takes Yazi's food]
Charlie Whitehorse: How's your white man?
Ben Yahzee: Hungry.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in 5th World (2005)

Soundtrack:

Early in the Morning

John Woo's World War Two

John Woo (The Killer, Hard Boiled) has finally made "A John Woo Movie" in Hollywood. Finally, hyper-kinetic action and overwrought crises of friendship and conscience in a Hollywood movie.

Nicolas Cage's Sergeant Enders has a Navajo code talker to protect and kill, if necessary. Cage's vet is bitter, ferocious and merciless and some of the violence is truly sickening. Just as it should be.

The Marines are not perfect. Some are damaged, one is racist, and there is friendly fire.

Adam Beach (Flags of Our Fathers) does a good job as Private Ben Yahzee, the code-talker Enders has to protect.

Absolutely superlative stunt work.