Windtalkers (2002)

Director:

John Woo

Writers (WGA):

John Rice (written by) &
Joe Batteer (written by)

Release Date:

14 June 2002 (USA)

Genre:

Action | History | Romance | War

Tagline:

Honor Was Their Code.

Plot:

Two U.S. Marines in WWII are assigned to protect Navajo Marines who use their native language as an unbreakable radio cypher.

Plot Keywords:

Navajo | WWII | Battle | Duty | Letter

Awards:

1 win & 3 nominations

Cast

Nicolas Cage	...	Sergeant Joe Enders
Adam Beach	...	Private Ben Yahzee
Peter Stormare	...	Gunnery Sergeant Hjelmstad
Noah Emmerich	...	Private Chick
Mark Ruffalo	...	Private Pappas
Brian Van Holt	...	Private Harrigan
Martin Henderson	...	Private Nellie
Roger Willie	...	Private Charlie Whitehorse
Frances O'Connor	...	Rita
Christian Slater	...	Sgt. Pete 'Ox' Anderson
Jason Isaacs	...	Major Mellitz
Billy Morts	...	Fortino (as William Morts)
Cameron Thor	...	Mertens
Kevin Cooney	...	Ear Doctor
Holmes Osborne	...	Colonel Hollings

Also Known As:

Wind Talkers (USA) (alternative spelling)

MPAA:

Rated R for pervasive graphic war violence, and for language. (also director's cut)

Runtime:

134 min | Argentina:132 min | USA:153 min (director's cut)

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Navajo | Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Malaysia:18SG | South Korea:15 | Argentina:13 | Australia:MA | Canada:18A | Finland:K-15 | France:U | Germany:18 | Hong Kong:IIB | Ireland:15 | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R16 | Norway:15 | Philippines:PG-13 | Singapore:PG | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | USA:R | Canada:A (Ontario)

Filming Locations:

Dillingham Estate - 68434 Farrington Highway, Mokulë`ia, O`ahu, Hawaii, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

To add authenticity, MGM bought some genuine WWII-vintage radios from Samuel M. Hevener, a collector from Ohio.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: In the Training scene where the code talkers are doing a transcription from an audio recording, we briefly see the machine playing the audio. The first Wire Recorder was not manufactured by Webster-Chicago until 1948. The machine used in Windtalkers is the "Webcor Model 181 Wire Recorder" which was not manufactured by Webster-Chicago until 1953. The movie is supposed to be set in the early 1940s.

Quotes:

Joe Enders: I ain't that drunk Yahzee, you cut that horseshit out.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Burly Man Chronicles (2004) (V)

Soundtrack:

IÄ 'OE E KA LÄ

Ridiculous

I thought this was a film about Navajo code talkers. Well, it's not. While there are a couple of Navajos in the film, the story revolves around Nicolas Cage winning WWII all by himself. This guy's incredible and makes John Wayne look like a wimp. Every time the Marines are in trouble, up jumps good old Nicolas Cage with his Thompson and POOF! the battle is WON! I wonder how we won WWII without Nicolas Cage? The film has a LOT of combat footage and most of that is very well done. That alone is worth a watch but don't expect to learn much of anything about the Navajo code talkers. You should read about them, because theirs was an important part of history, but they're a minor part in this film. I gave it a 6, only because of the good combat footage.