BeTheReds
03-08-2003, 03:22 PM
This is a movie starring Nick Cage as a shell shocked Marine who after recovering is given the mission to watch over Adam Beach, who plays a Navajo code talker. The idea is their code is in Navajo language so the Japanese can't decode it. However there is a catch, if they get captured, he's sposed to kill the Navajo to protect the code. And this is top secret.
It's a typical war movie, it takes place in Saipan. Overall it is pretty good, interesting plot, interesting characters, good actors like Christian Slater, and using Jason Priestly as an extra!
It does a good job of showing how the mainstream thinking at the time was horribly racist against indians. This is personified by one character, played by the guy was Biff in "Back to the Future" plays a marine who is racist against indians. In one scene he attacks the code talker saying that the only thing that seperates him from a Jap is his USMC uniform. Calls him savage and whatever. Then when the fight is broken up, he says to his buddies, he thought he was a Jap in disguise and doesnt get reprimanded. His attitude changes later in the movie when another code talker saves his life. His most memorable line comes shortly after, when he is discussing the incident he says that the world is crazy, that yesterday's bad guy is today's friend.. who knows in 50 years or so, we'll be sitting arm and arm with the Japs looking for some other more foreign enemy to fight.
Later there is one scene where their radio is broken, and the indian has the bright idea to wear a dead Japanese soldier's uniform and sneak into the enemy camp to get their radio. He ends up pretending that Nick Cage is his prisoner and they walk into the enemy camp, and the Japanese fall for it. I thought #1, no indian would be that stupid to think he can pass for Japanese up close. #2, more importanly, no Japanese would mistake an indian for another Japanese.
Later Nick Cage gets a medal of valor for that, even tho it was the indian's idea, and he gets all pissed that the army isnt giving anything to him too. They make a big deal out of it, so I think that it was good that they showed that heroes were overlooked and credit given where it wasn't due.
One thing i did't really like is that the indians all throw knives and stuff when they have perfectly good guns they can use.
Overall it was a good movie tho.
It's a typical war movie, it takes place in Saipan. Overall it is pretty good, interesting plot, interesting characters, good actors like Christian Slater, and using Jason Priestly as an extra!
It does a good job of showing how the mainstream thinking at the time was horribly racist against indians. This is personified by one character, played by the guy was Biff in "Back to the Future" plays a marine who is racist against indians. In one scene he attacks the code talker saying that the only thing that seperates him from a Jap is his USMC uniform. Calls him savage and whatever. Then when the fight is broken up, he says to his buddies, he thought he was a Jap in disguise and doesnt get reprimanded. His attitude changes later in the movie when another code talker saves his life. His most memorable line comes shortly after, when he is discussing the incident he says that the world is crazy, that yesterday's bad guy is today's friend.. who knows in 50 years or so, we'll be sitting arm and arm with the Japs looking for some other more foreign enemy to fight.
Later there is one scene where their radio is broken, and the indian has the bright idea to wear a dead Japanese soldier's uniform and sneak into the enemy camp to get their radio. He ends up pretending that Nick Cage is his prisoner and they walk into the enemy camp, and the Japanese fall for it. I thought #1, no indian would be that stupid to think he can pass for Japanese up close. #2, more importanly, no Japanese would mistake an indian for another Japanese.
Later Nick Cage gets a medal of valor for that, even tho it was the indian's idea, and he gets all pissed that the army isnt giving anything to him too. They make a big deal out of it, so I think that it was good that they showed that heroes were overlooked and credit given where it wasn't due.
One thing i did't really like is that the indians all throw knives and stuff when they have perfectly good guns they can use.
Overall it was a good movie tho.