WINDTALKERS

Starring: Nicolas Cage, Adam Beach, Roger Willie, Frances O'Connor and Christian Slater
Director: John Woo
Running Time: 134 mins
Certificate: 12

Out ot buy on DVD 10th February

After the Japanese had cracked every code the American's had thrown at them during the Second World War, they based their lasted on the Native American language, Navajo. The assault on the Japanese stronghold of Saipan introduced the code to battlefield and a select number of Native American soldiers re-laid messages from the fighting. To protect these men, they were assigned their own bodyguards. Sgt. Joe Enders (Cage) was given the assignment of protecting Pte. Ben Yahzee (Beach) but if there was a possibility that he could fall into Japanese hands Enders's mission was then to protect the code by eliminating the possible security breach.

John Woo makes a big budget American war movie based on a little know fact that US intelligence used the Navajo language as code in WWII. It sounds good on paper but what we are greeted with on the big screen is a huge disappointment.

What we have is here is a cliché ridden war film that adds nothing new to the genre. In fact it is more like an old-fashioned war movie with a faceless enemy that attacks in swarms than the more modern depiction of war, which we have seen in the like of Saving Private Ryan or TVs Band of Brothers. Yes the battle sequences are very graphic and on a grandiose scale but they don't seem to have the same impact as other modern films in the genre.

The main problem is that John Woo's cinematic style seems far too evident in the movie. His constant, and I mean constant, use of slow motion just becomes irritating. If you've see one soldiers riddled with bullets for what seems like two minutes, you've seen them all. If the movie was ran at the proper speed it would probably only last ninety minutes instead of the overlong two hours and fourteen.

The clichés come thick and fast. The gilt ridden sergeant, who can't shake the loss of his first platoon and goes on the rampage seeking revenge. The 'Indian' hater who thinks that Native American's are no better than the Japanese they are fighting, only to change his way when he is saved by one of them. The soldier who wants his mate to make sure his wife gets his wedding ring if he does make it but is then told that he should give to her himself when he gets home, only for him to die in the next battle. The list goes on and on.

On the acting front, Nicolas Cage looks like he is on autopilot never, having much to do other that shot his machine gun and look troubled and Christian Slater looks too enthusiastic in his role because this is his biggest part in a long time. Only Adam Beach and Roger Willie bring any dignity to the movie by playing their Navajo roles with a lot of respect.

Windtalkers takes the war movie back quite a few steps from the standard of realism that we are now used to. Excessive abouts of bullets, explosions and death do not make a modern war film. The public wants to see more of the human reaction to the extremes of combat and the stories behind them, not just an endless body count and characters that you never get to know or care about.

Actors' Boot Camp - shows the gruelling physical Marine training the actors went through, Bravo Special - Making of featurette, Audio commentary with Nicolas Cage and Christian Slater, Audio commentary with Navajos Albert Smith and Roger Willie, Fly on the set Diaries - 4 raw set pieces that observe the contruction of each scene and viewers can jump to that scene in the film, Behind the scenes, photo galleries, Interactive menu & Scene access