Sands of Iwo Jima

Media:	DVD
Directed by:	Allan Dwan
Starring:	John Wayne, John Agar
Release date:	26 March, 2002
List price:	~~$14.98~~
Our price:	$13.57 that is 9% off!

Sands of Iwo Jima

Average rating: Stars

Sands of Iwo Jimo

Great movie but don't EVER forget Ira Hayes. Listen to old Johnny Cash he's aweseome, but this movie is great. the movie and the song are incredible. even more amazing is the vet himself, Ira Hayes who was right there at Iwo Jimo holding up Old Glory herself. God Bless Ira, Johnny, and The Duke. great war film!!! god bless Ira!!!

Sands of Iwo Jima - John Wayne, John Agar

Saddle Up

In 1945 Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal took what is probably the most famous American photograph of World War II, Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima. Rosenthal won the Pulitzer Prize in 1945 for the photograph, five Marines and one Naval Corpsman planting a large American flag on the hard summit of Mount Suribachi. The photograph has inspired memorials, books and movies.
Movies like 1949's SANDS OF IWO JIMA, whose reason for being is to faithfully recreate the flag-raising incident and, coincidentally, nudge John Wayne down the path that took him from movie star to American icon.
Wayne plays Marine Sergeant John Stryker, a tough-as-nails type who has to whip his squad into shape during a rest, refit and replacement stint between battle action in the Pacific theater. Among his charges are John Agar, Forrest Tucker, Wally Cassell, and Richard Jaeckel. Agar plays resentful, Tucker irresponsible, Cassell and Jaeckel provide comic relief that isn't.
Wayne, as usual, plays the tough guy role with great verve, and has the acting chops to handle the introspective moments with delicacy. The real scenes of beach battle are well integrated in the studio stuff to good, if not great, effect. It's interesting to see real flame throwing tanks attack real pillboxes, but for the most part it's a chaotic melange of exploding sand and expiring actors. As usual, the ebb and flow of real battle is ignored.
What isn't ignored, unfortunately, is the story of rancorous PFC Pete Conway, the Agar character, who plays Wayne's main antagonist. Conway woos a USO women, played by Allison Bromley, and the movie sags considerably in the handful of courtship scenes Agar is involved in. The making of feature (hosted by Leonard Maltin) tells us that Wayne wanted Agar in the movie, which goes to show you that great actors don't necessarily make great casting directors.
I'm usually a reliable sucker for tear inducing final scenes, but I didn't lump up at the end of SANDS OF IWO JIMA where and when I was supposed to. SANDS OF IWO JIMA is an important film in the career of John Wayne, and on that basis I tepidly recommend this movie.

John Wayne, John Agar - Sands of Iwo Jima

One of the best war movies ever

John Wayne stars as Sgt. Striker. Striker is a marine who
is given a group of misfits to turn into men. Striker is
also dealing with problems at home. His wife hates the military
and has left him taking their son away. Wayne is obviously
concerned about what will happen to his son in the clutches of
someone who may teach him none of the values of being an
American.

Making it worse, one of Wayne's men is the son of a famous
soldier but has been so brainwashed that he hates America,
everything it stands for and the military. Its obvious that
this guy represents what Wayne fears his son will be turned
into by his wife: an anti-american/anti-military peacenik
liberal weakling.

Wayne is the pure image of the american fighting leader. He is
a machine that crushes everyone in his path. He knocks one
old troublemaker soldier around as an example and that brings
the men into line. By the time they get to Iwo, Striker has
built them into a fighting unit. No personalities, no thoughts
except for battle, no fear. They have been perfectly prepared
for the battle. And having accomplished his task, Striker is
killed during the battle.

His death teaches us as Americans a final and most important
lesson. None of the men are important in their lives or what
they do. Leaders are not important either. Whats important is
that the corps as a big machine keeps going. Striker builds
the new leaders in battle and then the torch is passed to them
to go on and do the same thing.

War builds character and burns away the phony idealogy of
liberalism and peace. Great men like Sgt. Striker are not
created in classrooms, they can only be created in war.