The movie "Windtalkers" was a complete disservice to the actual Navajo Codetalkers. Typical of Hollywood mentality to produce a movie of an ethnic subject, casting and storyline using a non-ethnic person in a starring role. The same thing happened in the 1950s movie "Go For Broke", about the Nisei Battalion of WW2 and more recently "Glory" about African-American soldiers in the Civil War. Discuss.
shareI would discuss, but you just shot the entire argument right there.
ChristheDude
It may be inaccurate but at least an attempt was made to bring this story to the surface. I was never taught this in high school or college and that, my friend, is the real disservice.
shareAccording to the film makers the surviving Code talkers liked the film, but maybe they just liked the idea that they were getting some recognition...finally. To compare Windtalkers to other films is a disservice to other films. Windtalkers stands alone in the history of film making.
As to your whining about the ethnicity of the principal characters the film industry is about selling film and not about making mocumentaries. The business is making films that people will pay to see and certain actors attract audiences no matter what they are in. I rather doubt that Go For Broke attracted much of an audience because of the subject and I'm not so sure Van Johnson was a big attraction. He certainly took a chance with his career by starring in the film.
Nicolas Gage for some mysterious reason draws audiences. That was his principal purpose in the film. Good, bad or indifferent without Cage this film would probably have never been made. The producers were probably elated that got Woo and Cage for this project and thought the film had to be a sure financial winner. Any information about the Code Talkers that leaked through was incidental to getting people into the theater and the sale of copies.
I try to view film on multiple levels and the first consideration is was I entertained for my money? I long anticipated the release of Windtalkers because the posters and trailers were out long before the film was released. I had previous knowledge of the Native American Code Talkers but I had no illusions that this film would provide much information in that regard.
I found the film as entertainment a painful experience. I had never seen a John Woo film because I find martial arts films so silly. Trying to insert martial arts type action into a war film made since Saving Private Ryan was released was dumb and didn't work. I was bored and wanted to leave but kept saying to myself, "this has to get better." If nothing else I was genuinely interested in the Code Talkers but was really ambushed at the end with that mysticism nonsense. IMO the Code Takers were ambushed as well and this film was a disservice to them.
Glory did feature black stars that were box office then and now. Bigger stars than Matthew Broderick who played Col. Shaw the commanding officer of the regiment. He was the bridge between the anti-slave sentiment and the regiment of black soldiers. Broderick’s role was critical to understanding how the Regiment was created but the real focus of the film was the 54th Massachusetts and character development of the three principal black actors went well beyond all other films, including Go For Broke, that have tried to explore ethnic issues. People went to the theater to see Morgan Freeman and Denzel Washington and they were cast for all the right reasons.
Memorable scene in Glory: The Regiment is marching into South Carolina; Morgan Freeman stops and tells a small black child that the soldiers ran away from slavery and are returning free men.
Wow...any honest to goodness adult review. It's nice to see an intelligent comment; it gets tiring reading comments by what amount to as semi-literate children. Your comment gets to the heart of any review and that's whether or not the film entertained. Of course, you''re right: Studios typically make movies they think people will pay $10 to see and they use A list actors to help. This is such a no brainer I find it incomprehensible that one even needs to bring it up but apparently for the clueless commentators of this movie that's necessary to do.
Unless you happen to know any Navajo, I think it's awfully presumptuous for you to suggest Code Talkers liked the film because it finally gave them some recognition. That's rather like saying Russell Means might have liked Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee because it exposed an execrable US Army event to the general public. I have no idea why Code Takers liked this film but I accept their approval at face value.
Nicolas Gage or Nicolas Cage? I think you meant Nicolas Cage.
I can't watch movies with Nicolas Cage. He has been in so many movies that he is not believable for me. He has been in so many movies that he seems like the McDonalds of actors. I am sure producers like him because he is reliable.
Some audiences just want entertainment; they don't care about truth. Many people however do care about accuracy very much. A historically accurate movie that is a reasonable representation of reality gets the attention of those that care about those things. Many people care very much about the correct ethnicity of the principal characters.
I really, really want a movie that is honest, sincere and accurate about the Code Talkers. I see this is not like that; it is just another assembly-line style production. As best as I can tell, any movie with Nicolas Cage is like that.
Three words. "The Last Samurai".
Actually, seven words. "The Last Samurai...is Tom Cruise. WTF?" :/
Comparing Windtalkers to The Last Samurai is an insult to TLS.
Windtalkers was terrible, The Last Samurai was actually pretty good. Much, much better than Windtalkers and King Arthur, which was also mentioned on this board.
I think to be honest you have to take this, and all the other films mentioned for what they are.....Hollywood fiction. Sure there may be some actual historical event that provides the premise for the story, but they are just fiction. The best thing is to use them as a spring board for actually finding out about some of the great historical events that have actually happened.
obviously a Hollywood film is going to focus on the (usually white) BIG star, Tom Cruise, Nicholas Cage, Matthew Broderick etc. That is what they think the cinema going audience is interested in (rightly or wrongly, depends on the level of intellect usually!) Somehow the characters the film should be about, get pushed to the background. But at least those with the wit to take an interest, are made aware that events like The Satsuma Rebellion, The use of Navajo codes and the deployment of the 54th Volunteer regiment are out there to be researched should you so choose. Most of us don't get taught about any of these subjects at school so it is nice for them to get any recognition at all.
I got an idea for a movie, The Last N*gga on Earth, starring Tom Hanks.
shareIt has been a while since I have seen this movie, and I have forgotten most of it, so I am watching while I am rained in on Memorial Day. My SIL met the last three remaining Navajo Code Talkers at their "Convention" about a month ago. She and her sister just happened to be where they were having it, in NM. That is why I thought I would revisit it. If nothing else, it made me research what and who these men really were. I have followed them, as they unfortunetly have died. Their obits are in the paper now, since they have been declassified and are getting the recognition they deserve. According to Wikipedia, the Cherokees were the first code talkers in WWI, then the Choctaw, then other tribes followed but it was the Navajo that were chosen because their language wasn't written at that time and it was so difficult for a non native speaker to learn. So, at least this movie may have brought an interest to these heroes finally. Maybe a better movie will be made in the future.
shareI believe you that it is Hollywood fiction.
A few years ago they tried to make Nicholas Cage into a superstar but I think they were unsuccessful. Has he actually gotten an Oscar? If he has then someone should update his biography; it only says that he has been nominated.
I hope the movie is not as bad as Stand and Deliver, the story of Jaime Escalante, a high school math teacher. I noticed that there was not much love in the movie. Then I saw an interview with the real Jaime Escalante and he said the movie did not show the love. A teacher that expresses appreciation of his/her students can be highly successful and that is the most important part of successful teaching but Hollywood does not know how to do that. Hollywood is real good at showing people being verbally abusive and that is what they showed in Stand and Deliver.
share