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:

Steve J. Termath was originally cast for the role of Pvt. Nellie. However, the role went to Martin Henderson when Termath took a brief hiatus from acting for actual military service, enlisting in the US Army Reserves.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: When Sergeant Enders sits down with his food during the first time he meets the Navajo radio operators, for a brief moment a modern radar site on a mountain top comes into view.

Quotes:

Sargeant Ryan 'Ox' Anderson: Do your johns have any thing to do with these Navajo radiomen?
Joe Enders: I'm not at liberty to say.
Sargeant Ryan 'Ox' Anderson: [notices a new stripe on his uniform] See you got a new stripe on, me too. So I'm guessin the same orders i aint liberated to tell you is the same orders you aint liberated to tell me.
Joe Enders: This is no democracy Sergant, this is the Marines. They look pretty normal I guess, expectin them to wear war paint.
Sargeant Ryan 'Ox' Anderson: Well we might want to go and introduce ourselves they look a little lost.
Joe Enders: Anderson, I wouldn't get too friendly.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Goedemorgen Nederland: (2002-09-12)" (2002)

Soundtrack:

Everything Goes

Another Decent Modern-Day WWII Movie

It's nice to see World War II films making a comeback, as they have seemed to do since the arrival of "Saving Private Ryan" in 1997. This is another of them and with modern technology the viewers get to experience some very realistic action scenes. The main thing is that the story is interesting.

With a John Woo-directed film, you know are going to get tons of action, almost always too much, and that's the case here. However, some of the scenes are fantastic. You also get some beautiful cinematography.

Still on the positive, the acting was good in here with Nicholas Cage in the lead role and a lesser-name-but-good supporting cast. The story, although fairly long at 134 minutes, was never boring.

On the negative side, as mentioned, Woo tends to overkill and this movie must have a set record for number of people killed. It also leans on the politically correct side, of course, with Native American spirituality given complete reverence as usual and the Catholic (Cage) looking like a very weak in his beliefs. In modern-days, you'll never see the opposite shown on film.

Anyway, it's a good action movie that certainly entertains. The intense and long action makes it almost too much to watch in one viewing!