"Letters".

This is coolbert:

Here with a movie review.

The movie being reviewed is: "Letters from Iwo Jima".

I rate this movie as only good. Worth seeing, but in my judgement, only good. I had expected something better for some reason, but did not see what I had hoped for.

"Letters from Iwo Jima . . . is a 2006 war film, directed and co-produced by Clint Eastwood, and starring Ken Watanabe and Kazunari Ninomiya. The film portrays the Battle of Iwo Jima from the perspective of the Japanese soldiers and is a companion piece to Eastwood's Flags of Our Fathers, which depicts the same battle from the American viewpoint."

This movie did win critical acclaim - - but I give it only a good rating? Well, this is just my opinion.

Comments:

* Japanese plans to defend an island bastion always included a combined arms concept. Combined arms consisting of NAVAL forces and an AIR ARM to complement the ground troops. After Guadalcanal, such combined arms never was able to materialize.

The boast of the Japanese commander, Tarawa - - Betio atoll, that a million men fighting for a hundred years could not assault and capture Betio was predicated upon such a combined arms concept. But, again, this sort of cooperation and joint effort never seemed to materialize.

* As was shown in the movie, once the battle began, Japanese communications [as at Betio too] suffered a severe breakdown. Plans, once disrupted, could not be altered or new commands given and received as means of communications were broken and beyond repair.

* The firing of a spigot mortar is seen. Two men alone are seen loading the mortar. In actuality, a much greater number of troops would be required, in addition to a hoist of some sort of apparatus for man-handling the mortar round? Those spigot mortars were good for only a minimum of shots and that was that?

* The tunnel complexes as seen in the movie do not correspond to reality? My impression is that the tunnels were designed by mining engineers and dug to some extent by professional miners imported from Japan. The various scenes with mist or steam coming from the interior of the earth is true. Iwo is a volcanic island, relatively young, still giving off noxious gases and vapors.

* The assumptions and plans of General Tadamichi Kuribayashi were correct? A beach landing could not stop the U.S. Marines and defenses at the waters edge were inappropriate? Inland defense was the only way to go? Such was the assessment of the GERMAN GENERAL STAFF AS WELL, having been queried as to the feasibility of beach defenses against allied amphibious landings.

* Revisionist historians have severely questioned the entire Iwo operation. The very reason for invading are questionable. An emergency landing strip for B-29 bomber aircraft is the major rationale for capturing Iwo. About 21,000 aviators made landings at Iwo, presumably aircrews that would have otherwise had to ditch in the ocean and run the risk of drowning. This is all in dispute, with hindsight of course.

* Marine General H.M. Smith has said that General Kuribayashi was the most redoubtable enemy commander the Marines faced during the war. Probably so.

* "Letters" in Japan is entitled "Red Sun, Black Sand". And in Japan was widely popular and also won acclaim, perhaps even more so than in the U.S.

* Clint Eastwood is undoubtedly one of the all-time greats in cinema. An actor [in a variety of genre'], producer, director, writes his own musical score, involves himself in material no one else will touch, and has been active in the movie making business for over five decades now! Hard to beat the man!

coolbert.