Cheap Sands of Iwo Jima (DVD) (John Wayne, John Agar) (Allan Dwan) Price

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Customer Reviews of Sands of Iwo Jima

A good movie about WWII, and a great performance by the Duke
John Wayne stars as Sargeant John M. Stryker in this very well-done movie about what is perhaps the most famous battle of the Pacific campaign--Iwo Jima. The special effects are good for the time (1950), and the scenery adds greatly to the overall effect of the film. Wayne does an excellent job as Stryker, the tough-as-nails marine who is hard on his men but soft at heart.

The most compelling thing about this film is Wayne's character. He is no great war-hero--in fact, he does very little on the battlefield of any great consequence. Instead, he does his duty, unglamorous though it may be. He is human, and this is what sets him apart from many war-movie heroes today. The movie lacks any intense combat or epic battles, but its strength lies in the character of Stryker and in his relationship with his men.

The reason I don't give this five stars is because it's scope pales in comparison with many other war movies. Part of this is due to technology, but much is also due to more action-intense films which (I think) help us understand better the battles and conflicts which the movies portray. Such movies as Gettysburg, We Were Soldiers, and even old films like All Quiet on the Western Front do a much better job than this film of showing the various positions of the battle, and of the obstacles the soldiers faced. The marines in this film have a relatively easy time getting to the top of Iwo Jima, but I would have liked to have had a little more information about the battle. Were it not for this, I would give the movie five stars without hesitation.

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The John Wayne War Movie!
"The Sands of Iwo Jima" is arguably one of the greatest recruiting tools the US Marine Corps has ever had, and the image of John Wayne as tough as nails Sergeant John M. Stryker can still be seen throughout the fleet. Yet Sergeant Stryker is a flawed man: a lousy husband, a negligent father, and a near alcoholic who has already been busted in rank. His men hate him, and he doesn't care. His fate is nothing heroic. Sergeant Stryker is certainly a brave man, an able squad leader, and fine Marine, but he is not portrayed as John Rambo. John Wayne turns what could have been a cartoon character into something human and understandable.

The movie has its flaws: weak supporting characters and a pointless romance. Yet, in its day, its battle scenes were praised for their realism. Despite the bashing John Wayne received recently for his WWII films glorifying war, "The Sands of Iwo Jima is still one of the finest war movies ever made. Yes, there is blatant flag-waving, but how can you have a movie about Iwo Jima without the raising of the flag on Suribachi? Not only does this movie recreate that epic moment, but actually got the three surviving men, who did the real flag rising, to recreate it for the movie.

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Poor DVD Quality
I bought two copies of this DVD before I decided that the transfer of this movie to DVD was defective. It has the same problem as "The Quiet Man". The scenes constantly drifts in and out into darkness, and constantly stalls trying to keep up with the audio. Whoever approved these products for market should be fired from their job, for they do an injustice to the customers. The rating system only allows one star as the lowest score. That is too generous for a DVD this poorly made. Otherwise, the movie itself is a classic. Too bad I cannot enjoy it on DVD.