Windtalkers (2002)

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

Director:

John Woo

Writers:

John Rice, Joe Batteer

Stars:

Nicolas Cage, Adam Beach, Peter Stormare

1 win & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

WWII. Joe Enders, a decorated Marine who is by-the-book to a fault, is just coming back on duty (by cheating on his medical tests). "Ox" Anderson, much greener, is also getting the same new task: Protect the Navajo codetalkers (Ben Yahzee and Charles Whitehorse, respectively). While Enders is initially frustrated with his assignment, his respect grows as the codetalkers prove their worth in the brutal battle to take Saipan.

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Plot Keywords:

code | military | letter | u.s. marine | radio | 

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Taglines:

America Has The Last Word.

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Genres:

Action | History | War

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for pervasive graphic war violence, and for language

Details

Official Sites:

MGM Official site [kr]

Country:

USA

Language:

English Navajo Japanese

Release Date:

14 June 2002 (USA)

Also Known As:

Códigos de Guerra

Filming Locations:

Santa Clarita, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$115,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$244,595 (Brazil) (25 October 2002)

Gross:

$368,655 (Brazil) (1 November 2002)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), Lion Rock Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

134 min 153 min (director's cut)

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

To add authenticity, MGM bought some genuine WWII-vintage radios from Samuel M. Hevener, a collector from Ohio.

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Goofs

After the combat scene where Charlie is killed Ben looks at his body. Right when Charlie is shown you can see him swallow.

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Quotes

Private Chick: I dont wanna die in this shit hole, Joe.
Joe Enders: You're not gonna die... nobody else is gonna die. We're gonna make it out of this.

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Connections

Featured in The Hour: Episode #7.104 (2011)

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Soundtracks

"IÄ 'OE E KA LÄ"
Traditional
Performed by Kunewa Mook and Hula Hälau 'O Kamuela

User Reviews

Boring and clichéd

In WWII Navajo men were used as code talkers in the war--they translated messages while in combat into their own language, and transmitted it that way. This was done so the Japanese were unable to understand the messages. It's a very interesting little known fact about the war. It's a good thing they made a movie about it--it's too bad the movie is so lousy.

SPOILERS

Every single clichéd line and character found in WWII movies are all here. There's the sergeant who is suffering from a former war trauma; the eager young kid (who you know is gonna get it); the racist (who sees the error of his ways); the nice guy who is horrified by what he sees; the saint-like Navajos etc etc. The dialogue is astonishingly bad. I've heard these same lines from other war flicks--some of them are lifted verbatim (it seems)! Every single line and conflict is predictable. I was able to tell in the first 20 minutes who was going to die--that's how predictable this is!

I almost left but the movie DOES have it's good points. For one thing, war is not glorified. The battle sequences are bloody, loud, very graphic and upsetting...as they should be. However, director John Woo has always been good at shooting violence. Also there's no stupid obligatory romance--heck, there's virtually no females here! There's some good acting also--Adam Beach as one of the Navajos is fantastic--handsome, intelligent if a little too saintlike. Mark Ruffalo is also affecting and Christian Slater (not playing a jerk for once) is excellent. Unfortunately, Nicholas Cage gives another lousy performance as the main character. Can we take back the Oscar he got for "Leaving Las Vegas"?

So, aside from some good acting and extreme violence (be warned...it's VERY explicit...some people walked out because of it), I can't recommend this. Too bad...the subject matter is so interesting.