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Released by: Olive Films
Released on: November 11th, 2014.
Director: Allan Dwan
Cast: John Wayne, Forrest Tucker, John Agar
Year: 1949
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The Movie:
Allan Dwan's highly lauded 1949 picture The Sands Of Iwo Jima, which earned four Academy Award nominations, tells the story of Sergeant John Stryker (John Wayne, who earned a Best Actor nomination for his work here, though he did not win) as the tough as nails leader of a group of hardened soldiers in training. Stationed in New Zealand, Stryker is hell-bent on whipping them into shape but this earns him a spot on the bad side of one of his charges, Privates Thomas (Forrest Tucker), when he winds up reprimanded because of Stryker. Adding another element to the team is Conway (John Agar), a man not convince he'd cut out for a soldiers life but whose father once served with Stryker.
When enemy forces invade Tarawa, Stryker's no-nonsense training tactics prove effective as his crew is forced into combat but when Thomas acts up and soldiers pay the ultimate price for his transgressions, things get a little tense. After the battle the Sarge takes leave and heads to Hawaii for a little reset and relaxation and to deal with some personal issues. He's not nearly as unfeeling as those he is responsible for would like to believe, and these scenes are important because they humanize him for the audience. Of course, when it comes time to deal with the invasion of Iwo Jima, he and his men have to put the past behind them and work together to win the day.
Shot only a few years after the actual events that inspired the film, The Sands Of Iwo Jima makes good use of some actual footage shot during the real invasion and features some worthy cameos from a few of the soldiers who really did 'raise the flag' as depicted in that immoral photograph taken by Joe Rosenthal. Unlike most films that incorporate stock footage, The Sands Of Iwo Jima uses it very well, to the point where it's pretty difficult to tell what was shot during the actual war and what was shot specifically for the film itself. This is a testament to the editing employed in the film, and it certainly adds to the authenticity of the film, which itself benefits from some really strong production values that allow for a few genuinely epic battle scenes. Use of actual military weapons and hardware helps here, a lot of this feels real because the equipment being used is as real as it gets, and the film has an effectively gritty tone for much of its running time. The training scenes that make up the bulk of the first third or so of the picture are also well shot and give us a feel for just how much work these guys had to do to get into shape and prepare for what the audience knows is the inevitable.
Performance wise, Forrest Tucker and John Agar are both pretty good here as are the other supporting players, but it's pretty much Wayne's show. His indomitable screen presence really makes his character a memorable one but he plays things pretty straight here, handling the action sequences and the quieter, more dramatic moments that the film offers in its middle part equally well. While most of the credit for this rightfully goes to Wayne, it's also worth keeping in mind that he could sometimes sink when given lesser material. That's not the case with this film as the script by James Edward Grant and Harry Brown is rock solid. A lot of war films made around this time tend to play in modern times as jingoism and propaganda pieces - not so with this one. It approaches its subject respectfully enough but paints war not as a simple matter of black and white but as a very human drama. By avoiding the pitfalls of playing the stereotypes in its depictions of enemy forces, it comes across as a more mature approach to portraying the complexities of the very real events behind the story.
Video/Audio/Extras:
The Sands Of Iwo Jima debuts on Blu-ray from Olive Films in a 1.33.1 fullframe transfer presented in AVC encoded 1080p high definition and it looks very good. Detail here is pretty solid and while some minor print damage is present in the form of some small specks here and there, the materials used for the transfer were obviously in good condition. Expect to see plenty of natural looking film grain throughout the presentation, as you should, as well as typically solid detail and texture. Black levels are really nice and strong for most of the movie but they do fluctuate in a few scenes. For the most part, contrast looks spot on. All in all, this is a sharp and crisp image offering surprisingly good texture and contrast along with strong shadow detail. Nothing to complain about here.
The English language DTS-HD Mono Audio track on the disc is pretty good. The score sounds quite strong here the sounds of the planes taking off and the fighting scenes have better presence than you'd probably expect. The dialogue is plenty clear and you won't have any trouble understanding any of the characters. Levels are well balanced and there's as much depth as you could reasonably expect from an older picture with a single channel mix. There are no alternate language options or subtitles of any kind offered on this disc.
Outside of a static menu and chapter selection, there are no extra features on this disc.
The Final Word:
The Sands Of Iwo Jima is just as good as its reputation would have you believe. It's a well-paced and technically impressive mix of war time action and human drama that benefits from some strong performances, good characterizations and a strong script. The Blu-ray release from Olive Films looks quite good and it sounds fine too, though there are no extras.
Click on the images below for full sized Blu-ray screen caps!
