In February, 1945, one of the fiercest battles of the Pacific theater of World War II occurs on the tiny island of Iwo Jima. Thousands of Marines attack the stronghold maintained by thousands of Japanese, and the slaughter on both sides is horrific. Early in the battle, an American flag is raised atop the high point, Mount Suribachi, and a photograph of the raising becomes an American cause celebre. As a powerful inspiration to war-sick Americans, the photo becomes a symbol of the Allied cause. The three surviving flag raisers, Rene Gagnon, John Bradley, and Ira Hayes, are whisked back to civilization to help raise funds for the war effort. But the accolades for heroism heaped upon the three men are at odds with their own personal realizations that thousands of real heroes lie dead on Iwo Jima, and that their own contributions to the fight are only symbolic and not deserving of the singling out they are experiencing. Each of the three must come to terms with the honors, exploitation, and grief that they face simply for being in a photograph.
I felt this movie didn't take enough time to establish the characters. Six men raised the flag at The Battle of Iwo Jima and only 3 of them are followed (because the other 3 died). However, when the 3 who died were being discussed, I had no idea who was playing them in the movie because they didn't really build on their characters into well into the movie. By then, I didn't care about the characters anymore (as painful as that may be to write). This is not Clint Eastwood's best by far and Letters From Iwo Jima is looking better than this (and seems to have actually earned the Best Picture nomination over Flags of Our Fathers).
