Oh can't wait to see this one. Watched the trailer and went to the site this morning. Thanks for the heads up Papa Art.

http://www.flagsofourfathers.net/

Flags of Our Fathers is based on a New York Times Bestseller book (year 2000) of the same name and is about a man's quest to learn more about his father, a medical corpsman in WWII at the Battle of Iwo Jima. More than 22,000 Japanese soldiers would die defending a patch of ground a third the size of Manhattan, while nearly 26,000 Americans fell taking it from them. The battle, the largest sea armada invasion ever assembled and the costliest war ever fought by the US Marines, was also a turning point in the war because control of the island of Iwo Jima (Japanese territory) allowed Allied forces to launch B-29 bomber raids into the heart of Japan with the eventual dropping of the Atomic Bomb that would end WWII.

The battle would produce one of World War II's most enduring images: a photograph of six soldiers raising an American flag on the top of Mount Suribachi, the island's commanding high point.

The heart of the book centers around the tragic life stories of the six men who raised the flag that February day--one an Arizona Indian who would die following an alcohol-soaked brawl, another a Kentucky hillbilly, still another a Pennsylvania steel-mill worker--and who became reluctant heroes in the bargain.

Like the book, the movie is expected to focus on what happened to the men after the famous battle. The men in the photo--three were killed during the battle--were proclaimed heroes and flown home, to become reluctant symbols. For two of them, the adulation was shattering. Only John Bradley truly survived, displaying no copy of the famous photograph in his home, telling his son only: "The real heroes of Iwo Jima were the guys who didn't come back."

The movie script for Flags of Our Fathers will try to show the difference between truth and myth, the meaning of being a hero, and the essence of the human experience of war.

when is it coming out?

Brooke

You'll have to consult their website regarding premier dates...

Here's the writer's site too.

http://www.jamesbradley.com/

How neat that Clint Eastwood is producing this film. I'm sure he'll give it the dignity it deserves. Can't wait to see it!

Jim

Anyone besides me planning to see this movie on Friday (opening day)? I can't wait!

Jim

As much as I want to go and see it I can probably live the rest of my life without visiting the bran new BIG BIG BIG HUGE and BIG multiplex theater located in the heart of cluster f**k city. I usually wait until it's on DVD.

The last time Ed and I attempted to go to the movies (before they moved into the BIG new multiplex), neither of us had been in years. They didn't take credit cards at all and both of us couldn't come up with the $14 in cash to get in.

We may try to go, I do have a Birthday coming up and I really want to see this one. I should have the book finished up by the weekend.

Brooke

I do not go to movies either...UNLESS. The last movie I saw in a theater? Saving Pvt. Ryan... It costs an arm and a leg now for two people to get in, buy a bucket of stale popcorn and 2 cokes...about $30. For that I can BUY the DVD, plus a couple WWII documentaries.

Jim

I'm sure we will wait too and take it out from NETFLIX when it comes out on DVD. We live in a small town anyway and there's only one movie theatre about 15 miles away. I imagine it will show there though. Trust me there are some movies that warrant a big screen, but we haven't seen a show that way since we moved from Detroit, 4 1/2 years ago.

TELL me about it, Jim! Not only that but I always seem to get the necking teens right directly behind me and have to listen to lip smacking all through the movie.

The past few movies I've went to see have been with a friend or on a date. Nothing I really wanted to see, though.

Brooke