Very few films have impressed me lately as much as Flags of Our Fathers about the real story concerning the famous photograph of the flag raising at Iwo Jima.

Iwo Jima was the bloodiest battle of the Pacific war with Japan. The island was important because of the Japanese air base it held. Take it, repair it, and it becomes your base for American B-29s to raid Japan. It's also Japanese soil so these people will defend it.

Defend it they did, the battle took 29 days with casualties to the U.S. Marines in the thousands, too many of those casualties leaving in body bags. And the number of prisoners taken you could count on both hands.

Everybody was a hero on Iwo Jima, including the men who raised the flag, but not for raising the flag. Mount Suribachi, the dead volcano at the western end cape of the island, was taken on the fifth day with 24 more days to go of the battle. A flag got raised on the site, but as it happened Navy Secretary James Forrestal was in a ship observing the whole thing and saw the flag waving. He thought the flag itself would make a great piece of public relations for the Marines and asked for it.

The guys who ran up under no fire at all and replaced the flag was the picture that Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal took. Three of those men were later killed on Iwo Jima and the three who survived became symbols used by the Marines for their appropriations efforts and to sell war bonds.

Flags of our Fathers concerns Joseph Bradley, Rene Gagnon, and Ira Hayes how the sudden fame and the sudden obscurity afterwards affected them. Ira Hayes's story of course has been well documented and portrayed in a fine film starring Tony Curtis.

The key thing to remember here is that these are three of the most ordinary people you would ever want to meet, thrust by circumstance that was none of their doing to the status of icon. All three of them handle it quite differently. They all know nothing extraordinary was accomplished with the flag raising itself, but that's show business and politics which were always kind of the same thing.

There might be some Oscars next year for Ryan Phillippe, Jesse Bradford, and Adam Beach. Would be a nice tribute once again to our greatest generation.

Steven Spielberg and Clint Eastwood should be commended for producing and directing this epic film, another great tribute to our greatest generation.

The first of director Clint Eastwood's two films detailing the battle for Iwo Jima from the perspective of both armies, FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS is a watchable but hardly life-changing movie. The problem is that it follows too closely the pattern of other recent war epics like WE WERE SOLDIERS and SAVING PRIVATE RYAN; the battle scenes are filmed in the same washed-out ways with earth exploding over the camera and soldiers getting shot all over the place. The problem is that it's all been done before, and better, so the film loses some of its impact that would have resulted from alternative ways of shooting or different ways of showing the battle. Saying that, the film is far more interesting when it details the effects of the battle on three survivors who end up touring the USA in a bid to drum up some fund-raising for the war effort. I've never liked Ryan Phillippe very much but the other actors are very good, especially Adam Beach who steals the show as the Native American conscript who ends up becoming a drunk, unable to deal with what he's been through in the name of war.

The film is well directed, with a good script and music and excellent photography. The story is wide-ranging and the only thing that seems a little hokey is the quality of the CGI effects which is questionable in places. It tells an interesting story, but the familiarity of that story works against it and, aside from Beach's character, Eastwood fails to drum up any sympathy for his protagonists. They're pretty much interchangeable, they could be anybody out there fighting, and even though the likes of Barry Pepper, Jamie Bell, Paul Walker, Robert Patrick, and Neal McDonough all put in more than adequate turns, there's definitely something missing here. An interesting piece, a serious one with a story that should be told, but not one I plan to come back to.

In 1945, the picture of the flag raising on Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima becomes an immediate icon. The six soldiers in the picture become instant celebrity heroes. Three of them are brought back to the states to sell Bonds. Corpsman John 'Doc' Bradley (Ryan Phillippe) continues to be haunted for the rest of his life. He and others Rene Gagnon (Jesse Bradford),Hank Hansen (Paul Walker),Mike Strank (Barry Pepper),Ira Hayes (Adam Beach) and Franklin Sousley (Joseph Cross) train together and sent into Iwo Jima. They are led by Captain Severance (Neal McDonough). Rene Gagnon tells the brass that Ira Hayes was one of the flag raiser which truly angers him and which he denies. Keyes Beech (John Benjamin Hickey) and Bud Gerber (John Slattery) push the tour selling the picture and War Bonds. There is confusion about the two flags and controversy over who the true people in the picture.

It's a darker compelling telling of the battle and its aftermath. It starts moody and even the battle isn't as heroic as expected. A man falls overboard and no ship stops to save him. The battle is ugly and bloody. There is a greyness to the battle that makes it almost black and white. The confusion adds depth to the characters and the reactions add substance. The fascinating thing about this is that their odyssey doesn't end after the battle. This is also a movie about the human condition. Adam Beach is especially good in a juicy role struggling with guilt and pride.