Best served with Cranberry Sauce

Rating: 1/10 (8 January 2004)

I like war movies, and I was interested when this flick was touted as being the story of the Navajo code talkers during the Pacific Campaign in WWII.
It turns out it's just an action movie, loosely based on that story, but more about ... well, I'm not sure what it was about.
Nicholas Cage looked like he could have phoned in his performance, Christian Slater seemed to be wondering what he was doing in this movie. Michael Beach as one of the Navajo code talkers was passable, but the big surprise for me was roger Willie who was great as another code talker, and friend to Michael Beach's character.
For me, the worst part of this film, was the insultingly stupid combat/action scenes. CGI aircraft making strafing runs while flying level or climbing, dropping never-miss bombs from ground level +3 inches, artillery (including naval bombardment) that hits first time, every time, good guys taking out entire sections of enemy at a single burst, the list goes on.
The following could be interpreted as a SPOILER, so you've been warned:
It's a pity they turned this into an action movie, because the story would have supported the film, had it been allowed to be told. At the end of a movie that runs for over two hours, I still had no idea where the code talkers fitted into the organisation, other than USMC infantry. The film covered almost nothing of the code transmission, nor its effectiveness at delivering information, but worst, at a crucial moment in the film, one of the Navajo code talkers sends an important message in clear, uncoded ENGLISH!
This movie could have been so much better, it's just a pity they went for loud bangs and big explosions instead of telling a story.