Flags of Our Fathers (2006)


Ryan Phillippe          John "Doc" Bradley
Adam Beach              Ira Hayes
Jesse Bradford          Rene Gagnon
Jamie Bell              Ralph "Iggy" Ignatowski
Ben Walker              Harlon Block
Paul Walker             Hank Hansen
Neal McDonough          Captain Severance
Tom Verica              Lieutenant Pennel
Joseph Cross            Franklin Sousley
Stark Sands             Gust
Barry Pepper            Mike Strank
John Benjamin Hickey    Keyes Beech
John Slattery           Bud Gurber
Robert Patrick          Colonel Chandler Johnson
Melanie Lynskey         Pauline Harnois
Tom McCarthy            James Bradley
Chris Bauer             Commandant Vandegrift
Judith Ivey             Belle Block
Myra Turley             Madeline Evelley

Directed by:            Clint Eastwood
Produced by:            Clint Eastwood, Steven Spielberg, Robert Lorenz


February 1945. Even as victory in Europe was finally within reach, the war in the Pacific raged 
on. One of the most crucial and bloodiest battles of the war was the struggle for the island of 
Iwo Jima, which culminated with what would become one of the most iconic images in history: five 
Marines and a Navy corpsman raising the American flag on Mount Suribachi. The inspiring photo 
capturing that moment became a symbol of victory to a nation that had grown weary of war and 
made instant heroes of the six American soldiers at the base of the flag, some of whom would 
die soon after, never knowing that they had been immortalized. But the surviving flag raisers 
had no interest in being held up as symbols and did not consider themselves heroes; they wanted 
only to stay on the front with their brothers in arms who were fighting and dying without fanfare 
or glory. 'Flags of Our Fathers' is based on the bestselling book by James Bradley with Ron Powers, 
which chronicled the battle of Iwo Jima and the fates of the flag raisers and some of their 
brothers in Easy Company.  

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"Flags of Our Fathers" is a human drama of friendship and love, sacrifice and manipulation, set 
against the violent conflict of the battle of Iwo Jima. The film focuses equally on the war and 
home, crosscutting between the viciousness of the battle and the manufactured propaganda campaign 
and careful manipulation of the image that followed--issues that remain prevalent today. As 
"Flags of Our Fathers" shows how the photograph became the very beginning of celebrity worship, 
the film questions our need to create and celebrate heroes, sometimes at a cost.