An Opportunity Missed

Rating: 6/10 (1 January 2003)

The underlying theme of the military use of the Navajo language should have presented the film-makers with an opportunity to explore an interesting fragment of WW2 history. Sadly the theme is used simply as a hook on which to hang yet another visceral war film. The result is a cliche-ridden piece which adds little to our knowledge of the war in the Pacific that hadn't already been provided by John Wayne and others. The film's makers may well have set out with the intention of creating a mix of entertainment and education but quickly succumbed to the temptation of presenting little more than pyrotechnics and the consequent blood and gore.