My comments are at odds with almost all the other comments on this film

Rating: Null/10 (17 November 2004)

This film is a serious, sensitive examination of comaraderies between soldiers, especially between the codetalkers and the marines assigned to "protect" them. Protecting a codetalker meant killing him if he was in danger of capture by the enemy. The terrible conflict this caused in the mind of the character played by Cage was brought constantly to the fore.
The battle scenes were tense and realistic. In one series of scenes, a radio carried by a codetalker is lost and kicked around like a loose football. Possession of the radio is essential to stopping an attack by Japanese artillery on an American troupe column. As each person attempting to get possession of the radio is shot up, the outcome is always in doubt.
The actual battle for Saipan, a minor island in the Marianas, eventuated in more American casualties than the D Day landing. The battles in the film seemed true to this historical fact.