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Flags of Our Fathers
Theatrical release poster
Directed byClint Eastwood
Screenplay byWilliam Broyles Jr.Paul Haggis
Based onFlags of Our Fathers
by James Bradley
and Ron Powers
Produced byClint EastwoodRobert LorenzSteven Spielberg
StarringRyan PhillippeJesse BradfordAdam Beach
CinematographyTom Stern
Edited byJoel Cox
Music byClint Eastwood
Production
companies		DreamWorks PicturesMalpaso ProductionsAmblin Entertainment
Distributed byParamount Pictures (United States and Bahamas)Warner Bros. Pictures (International)
Release dateOctober 20, 2006
Running time132 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$90 million[2]
Box office$65.9 million[2]

Flags of Our Fathers is a 2006 American war drama film directed, co-produced, and scored by Clint Eastwood and written by William Broyles Jr. and Paul Haggis. It is based on the 2000 book of the same name written by James Bradley and Ron Powers about the 1945 Battle of Iwo Jima, the five Marines and one Navy corpsman who were involved in raising the flag on Iwo Jima, and the after effects of that event on their lives. Taken from the American viewpoint of the Battle of Iwo Jima, the film is a companion piece to Eastwood’s Letters from Iwo Jima, which depicts the same battle from the Japanese viewpoint; the two films were shot back to back.

The film was released on October 20, 2006 by Paramount Pictures in the United States and the Bahamas and by Warner Bros. Pictures in international markets. Although it was a box office failure, only grossing $65.9 million against a $90 million budget, the film received favorable reviews from critics.[3] The companion film Letters from Iwo Jima was released in Japan on December 9, 2006, and in the United States on December 20, 2006, grossing slightly more than Flags of Our Fathers and was deemed the superior film by critics.

Plot

After training at Camp Tarawa in Hawaii, the 28th Marine Regiment 5th Marine Division sails to invade Iwo Jima. The Navy bombards suspected Japanese positions for three days. On February 19, 1945, the Marines‘ amphibious landings secure a beachhead on Iwo Jima.

During the advance on Mount Suribachi, Navy Pharmacist’s Mate 2nd Class John “Doc” Bradley saves the lives of several Marines under fire. A platoon is ordered to the top to hoist a United States flag. Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal witnesses the flag raising, and orders the flag retrieved for himself. Thinking his battalion deserves the flag more, Colonel Chandler Johnson sends Private First Class Rene Gagnon up to replace the first flag. Sergeant Mike Strank, Doc, Marine Private First Class Ira Hayes, Rene, Corporal Harlon Block and Private First Class Franklin Sousley are photographed by Joe Rosenthal as they raise the second flag.

During the fighting that continues for weeks afterward Strank, Sergeant Hank Hansen and Harlon are killed in action. Japanese troops capture Private First Class Ralph “Iggy” Ignatowski. Doc finds his mutilated body days later in a cave. Franklin is killed by machine gun fire and Doc is wounded by artillery while trying to save a fellow corpsman.

Rosenthal’s photograph is transmitted to press services in the United States and it becomes popular immediately and its value as a propaganda tool prompts an investigation. Rene is asked to name the six men in the photo; he identifies himself, Mike, Doc, and Franklin, but misidentifies Harlon as Hank. Rene eventually names a reluctant Ira as the sixth man.

Doc, Ira, and Rene are sent home as part of the seventh bond tour. When they arrive to a hero’s welcome in Washington, DC, Doc notices Hank’s mother isn’t on the list of mothers of the dead flag raisers. Ira denounces the bond drive as a farce. Bud Gerber of the Treasury Department reprimands the men, telling them if the bond drive fails to raise money, the U.S. will abandon the Pacific and their sacrifices will be for nothing. The three agree not to admit Hank wasn’t in the photograph.

As the drive continues, Ira grows increasingly guilt ridden, faces discrimination as a Native American, and descends into alcoholism. After throwing up one night in front of General Alexander Vandegrift, commandant of the Marine Corps, Ira is sent back to his unit and the bond drive continues without him.

After the war, the three survivors return home. Ira struggles with alcoholism and is never able to escape his unwanted fame. After finishing a prison sentence he hitchhikes over 1,300 miles to Texas to tell Harlon Block’s family their son was indeed in the photograph. In 1954, the USMC War Memorial is dedicated and the three flag raisers see each other one last time. Ira is found dead a year later from exposure after a night of drinking. Doc visits Iggy’s mother but lies about the nature of his death. Rene fails to capitalize on the job opportunities offered him during the bond drive and spends the rest of his life as a janitor. Doc finds success running his own funeral home. In 1994, on his deathbed, he tells his story to his son, James.

Cast

Production

The film rights to the book were purchased by DreamWorks Pictures in June 2000.[4] Producer Steven Spielberg brought William Broyles to write the first drafts of the script, before director Clint Eastwood brought Paul Haggis to rewrite.[5] In the process of reading about the Japanese perspective of the war, in particular General Tadamichi Kuribayashi, Eastwood decided to film a companion piece with Letters from Iwo Jima, which was shot entirely in Japanese.[6] Clint’s son Scott and Bradley Cooper auditioned for one of the leading roles.[7][8] Flags of Our Fathers was shot in the course of 58 days.[6] Jared Leto was originally cast as Rene Gagnon but had to back out due to a tour commitment with his band, Thirty Seconds to Mars.[9]

Flags of Our Fathers cost $55 million, although it was originally budgeted at $80 million. Variety subsequently downgraded the price tag to $55 million. Although the film is taken from the American viewpoint of the battle, it was filmed almost entirely in Iceland and Southern California, with a few scenes shot in Chicago. Shooting ended early 2006, before production for Letters from Iwo Jima began in March 2006.

Music

Main article: Flags of Our Fathers (soundtrack)

Release

The film was released in theaters in the United States on October 20, 2006.

Home media

The DVD was released in the United States by DreamWorks Home Entertainment and internationally by Warner Home Video on February 6, 2007. It is devoid of any special features.

A two-disc Special Collector’s Edition DVD (with special features) was released on May 22, 2007.[10] It was also released on HD DVD and Blu-ray formats.[11]

The Two-Disc Special Collector’s Edition DVD is also available in a five-disc commemorative set that also includes the two-disc Special Collector’s Edition of Letters from Iwo Jima and a bonus fifth disc containing History Channel‘s Heroes of Iwo Jima documentary and To the Shores of Iwo Jima, a documentary produced by the United States Navy and the United States Marine Corps, released by Warner Home Video.[12]

Reception

Box office

Despite critical acclaim, the film under-performed at the box office, earning just $65,900,249 worldwide against an estimated $90 million production budget. Its companion film Letters From Iwo Jima was more profitable with a box office run of $71 million on a budget of $19 million.[13]

Critical reception

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, Flags of Our Fathers has an approval rating of 76% based on 239 reviews. The site’s consensus states: “Flags of Our Fathers is both a fascinating look at heroism, both earned and manufactured, and a well-filmed salute to the men who fought at the battle of Iwo Jima.”[3] On Metacritic, the film scored a 79 out of 100 based on 39 reviews, indicating “generally favorable” reviews.[14] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of “A-” on an A+ to F scale.[15]

Roger Ebert gave the film four stars out of four praising the film for its depiction of war.[16]

The film made the top-10 list of the National Board of Review. Eastwood also earned a Golden Globe nomination for directing. The film was nominated for two Academy Awards — for Best Sound Mixing (John T. Reitz, David E. Campbell, Gregg Rudloff, and Walt Martin) and Sound Editing.[17] Film critic Richard Roeper said, “Clint Eastwood’s Flags of Our Fathers stands with the Oscar-winning Unforgiven and Million Dollar Baby as an American masterpiece. It is a searing and powerful work from a 76-year-old artist who remains at the top of his game… [and] Flags of Our Fathers is a patriotic film in that it honors those who fought in the Pacific, but it is also patriotic because it questions the official version of the truth, and reminds us that superheroes exist only in comic books and cartoon movies.”[18]

Top ten lists

Flags of Our Fathers was listed on numerous critics’ top ten lists for 2006.[19]

Spike Lee controversy

At the 2008 Cannes Film Festival, director Spike Lee, who was making Miracle at St. Anna, about an all-Black U.S. division fighting in Italy during World War II, criticized director Clint Eastwood for not depicting Black Marines in Flags of Our Fathers.[23] Citing historical accuracy, Eastwood responded that his film was specifically about the Marines who raised the flag on Mount Suribachi at Iwo Jima, pointing out that while Black Marines did fight at Iwo Jima, the U.S. military was segregated during World War II, and none of the men who raised the flag were Black. Eastwood believed Lee was using the comments to promote Miracle at St. Anna and angrily said that Lee should “shut his face”.[23] Lee responded that Eastwood was acting like an “angry old man”, and argued that despite making two Iwo Jima films back to back, Letters from Iwo Jima and Flags of Our Fathers, “there was not one Black Marine in both of those films”.[24][25][26]

Contrary to Lee’s claims, however, Black Marines (including an all-Black unit) are seen in several scenes during which the mission is outlined, as well as during the initial landings, when a wounded Black Marine is carried away. During the end credits, historical photographs taken during the Battle of Iwo Jima show Black Marines. Although Black Marines fought in the battle, they were restricted to auxiliary roles, such as ammunition supply, and were not involved in the battle’s major assaults; they did, however, take part in defensive actions.[27] According to Alexander M. Bielakowski and Raffaele Ruggeri, “Half a million African Americans served overseas during World War II, almost all in segregated second-line units.”[28] The number of African Americans killed in action was 708.[29]

Spielberg later intervened between the two directors, after which Lee sent a copy of a film on which he was working to Eastwood for a private screening as a seeming token of apology.[23]

Later corrections on the identity of the flag-raisers

The United States Marine Corps have conducted multiple investigations of the identities of the flag-raisers at Iwo-Jima, revealing that two of them were mistakenly portrayed in the film and other media. Until June 23, 2016, author James Bradley’s father John Bradley, Navy corpsman, was misidentified as being one of the figures who raised the second flag, and incorrectly depicted on the bronze statue memorial, as one of the five flag-raisers.[30] Similarly, until October 16, 2019, Rene Gagnon was also misidentified.[31] In reality, marines Harold Keller and Harold Schultz were in their places respectively, and the two were not depicted in the film.

See also

References

  1.  “FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS (15)”. British Board of Film Classification. October 5, 2006. Archived from the original on March 6, 2016. Retrieved October 12, 2015.
  2.  Flags of Our Fathers at Box Office Mojo
  3.  “Flags of Our Fathers (2006)”. Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on January 21, 2007. Retrieved November 13, 2023.
  4.  Fleming, Michael (June 20, 2000). “Deal for ‘Flags’ rights raised by DreamWorks”. Variety. Archived from the original on December 25, 2017.
  5.  Staff (December 17, 2006). “‘Flags of Our Fathers,’ William Broyles Jr., Paul Haggis”. Variety. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved March 27, 2015.
  6.  Byrne, Bridge (January 25, 2006). “Eastwood makes war”. Variety. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved March 27, 2015.
  7.  Hirschberg, Lynn (January 9, 2014). “The Agony and the Ecstasy”. W. Archived from the original on January 31, 2017. Retrieved June 7, 2026.
  8.  Teodorczuk, Tom (June 12, 2015). “Clint Eastwood’s son Scott: “I auditioned for American Sniper and didn’t get the role””. The Independent.
  9.  LaBrecque, Jeff (January 17, 2015). “Jared Leto: Heartthrob, Rock Star, Oscar Contender?”. Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved April 2, 2015.
  10.  “Flags of Our Fathers”. May 22, 2007. Retrieved August 31, 2017 – via Amazon.
  11.  “Flags of Our Fathers”. June 3, 2008. Archived from the original on February 11, 2021. Retrieved August 31, 2017 – via Amazon.
  12.  “Letters from Iwo Jima / Flags of Our Fathers”. May 22, 2007. Retrieved August 31, 2017 – via Amazon.
  13.  “Letters from Iwo Jima”. Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on June 18, 2009. Retrieved July 5, 2009.
  14.  “Flags of Our Fathers”. Metacritic. Archived from the original on November 14, 2012.
  15.  “Find CinemaScore” (Type “Flags of Our Fathers” in the search box). CinemaScore. Retrieved November 12, 2025.
  16.  Ebert, Roger (November 29, 2007). “Flags of Our Fathers”. Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on April 13, 2021. Retrieved April 7, 2021 – via RogerEbert.com.
  17.  “The 79th Academy Awards (2007) Nominees and Winners”. oscars.org. Archived from the original on April 14, 2014. Retrieved November 20, 2011.
  18.  Roeper, Richard (October 20, 2006). “Grand old ‘Flags'”. Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on February 24, 2009. Retrieved July 5, 2009.
  19.  “Metacritic: 2006 Film Critic Top Ten Lists”. Metacritic. December 13, 2007. Archived from the original on December 13, 2007.
  20.  Edelstein, David (December 19, 2006). “The Year in Movies: The Best of 2006”. npr.org. Archived from the original on March 11, 2018.
  21.  Ebert, Roger (December 19, 2012). “The best movies of 2006 – Roger Ebert’s Journal – Roger Ebert”. www.rogerebert.com. Archived from the original on March 11, 2018.
  22.  Denby, David (December 11, 2006). “Memorable Movies of 2006”. The New Yorker. Archived from the original on July 2, 2017 – via www.newyorker.com.
  23.  Eliot (2009), p.322-323
  24.  Marikar, Sheila (June 6, 2008). “Spike Strikes Back: Clint’s ‘an Angry Old Man'”. ABC. Archived from the original on June 17, 2020. Retrieved July 5, 2009.
  25.  “Eastwood hits back at Lee claims”. BBC News. June 6, 2008. Archived from the original on March 23, 2009. Retrieved July 5, 2009.
  26.  Lyman, Eric J. (May 21, 2008). “Lee calls out Eastwood, Coens over casting”. The Hollywood Reporter, the Daily from Cannes (8). Cannes: 3, 24. Archived from the original on June 18, 2008.
  27.  Rundles, Jim (1995). “MONTFORD POINT MARINES”. The Jackson Advocate. Archived from the original on November 11, 2005. Retrieved July 5, 2009 – via Mpma28.com.
  28.  “African American Troops in World War II“. Alexander M. Bielakowski, Raffaele Ruggeri (2005). p.4. ISBN 1-84603-072-2
  29.  Micheal Clodfelter. Warfare and Armed Conflicts- A Statistical Reference to Casualty and Other Figures, 1500–2000. 2nd Ed. 2002 ISBN 0-7864-1204-6.
  30.  “USMC statement on Iwo Jima flag raisers”. United States Marine Corps Flagship. June 23, 2016. Archived from the original on February 17, 2026. Retrieved June 7, 2026.
  31.  “Marines correct 74-year-old Iwo Jima error”. NBC News. October 16, 2019. Archived from the original on November 23, 2021. Retrieved May 18, 2024.

Bibliography

External links

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