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Letters From Iwo Jima

2006

Clint Eastwood

Ken Watanabe, Kazunari Ninomiya, Tsuyoshi Ihara, Ryo Kase ...

7.4

52,438

War Letters From Iwo Jima is a recreation of the events that transpired during the American invasion of Iwo Jima during World War II, as told from the Japanese perspective. In February of 1945, some 22,000 Japanese troops defended the island against the overwhelming American forces that outnumbered them nearly five to one. Like a memoir, the film will follow the personal stories of two close friends serving in the Japanese army as they ... [+]

	Media	Author	Review
		Peter Travers Rolling Stone	"[It] is quality from first frame to last, a war film that is almost a tone poem (...) Eastwood’s film burns into the memory by striving for authentic detail. The result is unique and unforgettable (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 4)"
		A. O. Scott The New York Times	"Another masterwork from Clint Eastwood's astonishing late period, and one of the best war movies ever."
		Stephen Hunter The Washington Post	"a necessary movie; too bad it's not a great movie (...) In the last half-hour, the story, like the Japanese, loses its way; lacking any clear-cut goals except survival, the movie becomes repetitive"
		Ty Burr Boston Globe	"Eloquent, bloody, and daringly simple, the movie examines notions of wartime glory as closely as Flags of Our Fathers dissected heroism."
		Joe Morgenstern The Wall Street Journal	"It is the second, and artistically superior, half of a single epic film that springs from a single, stunning act of compassionate imagination."
		Roger Ebert rogerebert.com	"Eastwood empathizes with the 'expendable' soldier on the ground, the 'poor bastard' who is only a pawn in a war (...) some of whom have never come anywhere near a battlefield or a combat zone (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 4)"
		Dan Jolin Empire	"A sharper account of the 'Iwo Jima' conflict than 'Flags', this balances its unflinching handling of the horrors of war with its touching portrayal of those who face them (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"
		James Berardinelli ReelViews	"Eastwood makes some interesting stylistic choices (...) [It] offers an imperfect but interesting interpretation of history (…) Rating: ★★★ (out of 4)"
		Philip French The Guardian	"Eastwood's masterpiece finds human dignity and compassion amid the horrors of war."
		Lisa Schwarzbaum Entertainment Weekly	"Eastwood’s profound, magisterial, and gripping companion piece to 'Flags of Our Fathers'."

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