Windtalkers (DVD, 2007, Director's Cut)

Rated R - The Windtalkers movie provides a very good view of WWII in the Pacific islands and an excellent portrayal of the Navajo role as code talkers. The Navajo communication code was never broken during the entire WWI era.

For those not familiar with Navajo, the language includes both tonal and guttural sounds, in addition to most sounds heard in English. Tonal sounds mean something different based on high or low pitch, and guttural sounds include clicks made with the tongue.

I was privileged to attend a lecture by two former Navajo code talkers in April 2008. They said the movie was accurate and portrayed their roles well. The code was created by the Navajo who used Navajo words for land animals, flying animals and water animals for the various types of equipment and ordinance used by the military. They also had a short code for each letter that couuld be used to spell out any words that were not already in a specific code.

The Navajo culture was portrayed very well and included good insights into the clashes between growing up Navajo and also being forbidden to speak Navajo in the schools. It was a surprise to the Navajo soldiers when they were asked to use their language for military purposes. The WWII era fight for the Pacific islands was shown in lots of detail in the movie.

If you purchase this movie for your home, would recommend viewing it after any young children are off to bed. The R rating is due to very graphic war violence, shown very up close, including lots of blood, gore, and body parts. For those looking for an excellent historical action movie - this one is highly recommended.

Action packed WWII film that's VERY interesting. THE current memorial to the windtalkers. Not recommended for children due to graphic war scenes. Wish I could rate it higher but the director didn't follow his expert advisors and "Hollywood-ized" an otherwise interesting story. If you're a militaria collector, you need to know this story and realized it's fictionalized based on some true experiences. Note that this is the 2007 issue of the film in a DVD format.

I love the bombing of the cannons when they speak in their native language. And then tell the ones on the ship to raise higher to bomb out more

I have watched many war films, and the sheer body count in this one seems much higher than average. Realistic, yet it takes the focus off the Navajo Codetalkers and places it on Nicolas Cage stalking Rambo-like through the field killing everyone in sight. Cage is an incredible actor. You can still sympathize with him even after watching him kill dozens of Japanese soldiers and some U.S. Marines. Ben Yahzee, the younger Codetalker, at first comes off so weak and inept in battle that it's embarrassing. On two separate occasions he stands with a gun pointed at a Japanese soldier while Cage shouts "Kill him! Kill him!" Even then, Cage has to do the killing the first time. The second time, after what seems like an eternity, Ben stabs the guy with his bayonet. Didn't the Codetalkers have to go through basic training? Strangely, it is not his friendship with Cage, but a rift with him that transforms Ben overnight into a killing machine. The older Codetalker, Charlie Whitehorse, is clearly holding out on his comrades; he stays in the background until one battle where he suddenly pulls a knife out of his boot and dispatches about a dozen Japanese, single-handed. This film succeeds as a bloody war movie, and as a glimpse into the tortured psyche of Cage. But I would have liked to see more on the Codetalkers, especially their training, how they were selected, and what they were instructed to do during battle. This film makes it appear the Marines drove down to the reservation and rounded up any man willing to go, gave them classroom training in languages but no basic military skills, then dumped them onto the battlefield with instructions to stay behind the Marine assigned to protect them. Maybe that IS the way it was, but it's not spelled out, so I was left wondering if the military had railroaded the Navajos or if Yahzee was just especially naive. In any case, this film sparked my interest in the Codetalkers and made me want to learn more.

We were looking for a movie that was more focused on the Navajo Indian Windtalkers. There was very little in the movie about them. It was more about the war activity.

Nicholas Cage is one of my favorite actors and it was hard to find his movie windtalkers. So I went on ebay and found a great deal on the DVD including directrs cut...and is new THANKYOU