Sands of Iwo Jima

Trailer—Sands of Iwo Jima

This is a fantastic World War II film from Hollywood's golden era. While the movie would have been amazing without him, the Duke really makes this movie stellar. His brilliant performance as Stryker won him an Academy Award nomination, one of only two during his entire career. Whether you're a John Wayne fan, or just want to see an exciting, touching, and often humorous movie, this is a great one. I fully recommend "Sands of Iwo Jima" to everyone. This is a definite must-see! Watch and enjoy!

I don't know about currently, but some years ago this film was being shown at the Marine Corps Basic School where second lieutenants are hatched. It's an unexcelled example of military life imitating art: a symbiotic relationship between the Corps' timeless self image and, by extension, that image reinforcing the reality of the Corps itself. SOIJ is still one of the better WW II combat films, even 55 years after its release. The one factual glitch is the impossibility of a Tarawa unit (2nd Marine Division) being ashore on Iwo (3rd, 4th, and 5th Divisions.) Otherwise, I don't think I've never known a marine who had serious reservations about it.

In the World War II, Sgt. John M. Stryker (John Wayne) is a tough, but fair leader of Marines. He trains his platoon and disembarks and fights with them in Pacific against the Japanese. Most of his men does not like him in the beginning, but they start to trust in his instructions and leadership along the battles. The climax of the story is the battle in Iwo Jima. This classic is a great action and dramatic movie of war, having a marvelous performance of John Wayne. My VHS is a colorized version, but I prefer black and white movies. But the quality of image and colors are excellent. My vote is nine. Title (Brazil): `As Areias de Iwo Jima' (`The Sands of Iwo Jima')