Letters from Iwo Jima (2 Disc Special Edition) [DVD]

As far as the film goes, Letters from Iwo Jima is a classic. It's a truly heart-wrenching story, and a testament to both the Japanese army's struggle to protect their homeland and Clint Eastwoods' directing ability. Enough about the story, let's talk about the High Definition aspects.

Visual: Letters from Iwo Jima is a film that's done entirely in a semi-desaturated way. Draining colour in the same way the film drains hope from the Japanese armys' situation. All in all, the effect is marvelous and I think it adds so much atmosphere to the film. There's virtually zero grain, blacks are deep and detail is sharp throughout. Visually, this film deserves a 5/5; the transfer is so clear and sharp that the picture is always breathtaking.

Audio: Dolby TrueHD really does the job here. Explosions are deep and resounding, and speech is clear and perfectly audible. The films' audio is well-levelled throughout so whether you're in the middle of an action sequence, or a quiet speech, there's no need to keep changing the volume around.

Extras: Sadly no directors commentary, but you do get the standard behind-the-scenes footage, on-the-set photos and so on..There's also a cool featurette where the cast talk about their characters, which is an interesting addition.

Overall, Letters from Iwo Jima is a great example of a blu-ray disc. Pristine quality matched with a great story. I would have liked to see more extras, but all in all this is definitely a film to add to the collection, war-film fan or not. Hope this helps.

General Kuribayashi is sent to Iwo Jima to lead Japanese troops against an American invasion. The General soon realizes that this is a futile task, but he wants to ensure that his men do their utmost to defend the island without a needless waste of life.

Recently, I experience a certain amount of trepidation when watching a Clint Eastwood film. I admit that Eastwood has made some great movies; however, I get really annoyed when movies like his Million Dollar Baby are mistaken for great cinema. Movies whose sole purpose is to show how cruel life can be and that let their characters wallow in self- pity from one devastating event to the next are depressing, mediocre cinema... and, I might add, blatant Oscar hunting! But now I will get down off my soap box and consider his latest effort, Letters from Iwo Jima, without prejudice.

Letters from Iwo Jima is great cinema: it provides an unflinching depiction of war, does not glorify one side or the other, and implies there are no heroes, just soldiers. In fact, at times it portrays the Americans as cruel invaders with no regard for the rules of war. This movie also hammers home what an unnecessary waste of life war actually is, and how absurd it seems that, after thousands of years of human evolution, governments are still settling their differences with violence.

Apart from its moral message, there is much more to be admired in this film. The images of Iwo Jima are stark and colourless, which helps depict the bleak atmosphere that surrounds the soldiers. The use of colour does not stop there: when the soldiers are remembering happier times in their lives, the colours are vibrant and enriching. This technique has been used many times before, but not always with such great affect. The performances are also tremendous. Ken Watanabe is outstanding as the tormented and forward-thinking General, and Kazunari Ninomiya is sublime as the baker whom fate and circumstance made a soldier.

Letters from Iwo Jima will no doubt come to be considered a classic war film, and deservedly so.

ABSOLUTELY ABSORBING FILM WHICH GIVES A FASCINATING INSIGHT OF THE JAPANNEZE MIND SET, AND ALTHOUGH IT IS NOT QUITE TRUE THAT IT CREATED MY SYMPATHY, IT DID GIVE A DEGREE OF UNDERSTANDING TOWARDS THEIR ACTIONS