This is a documentary of the taking of the Pacific island of Iwo Jima. Thousands of Americans died here, and many thousand of Japanese soldiers, virtually all of whom refused to surrender. We know now that many of the interconnected caves were "Booby trapped" to kill and maim those who came into them. This makes the brutal flame throwing "Pacification" a lot more understandable. I find it interesting that a lot of folks mention the politically incorrect terms used in the film- "Japs" and "Nips." Get over it folks. If these soldiers were shooting at you, you would likely come up with some even stronger epithets. Political correctness is deadly in war. Your enemy is trying to kill you. You HAVE to see him objectified to justify killing him first.That said- the Japanese government full well understood the strategic importance of Iwo Jima and the island was fortified to the hilt of their considerable capabilities and the soldiers had orders to kill anyone of them who surrendered. They were literally ordered to fight to the death. It's difficult to watch this movie and not feel how truly awful war is. These soldiers endured almost constant combat for 28 days. One wonders if many of the youth of today could withstand this intensity for even 28 MINUTES. My thinking is that these young folks of today would grow up in a real hurry. Many would have to shed dozens of years of false programming about reality however. Real war is NOT a video game. You can end up dead real quickly, or be maimed for life. It is for keeps. The photography is pretty good, it's said four combat photographers died in this effort and eleven more wounded. In real war even the photographers get killed. My copy, from the "Film Detective" lists it as "Restored" but there are numerous spots where film damage presents itself. Further the resolution is not the best, my guess is around VHS level resolution. These defects prevent me from giving it a higher rating. This film is both a warning about the horrors of war and also the incredible cost of war, in lives snuffed out and ruined. There are shots of the dead, but in keeping with the public release there are no ghastly shots of people dying in the flame thrower footage. This is an important film that warns us about war, the cost and the sacrifices necessary to win it. It is very "real" in a way that even the highest resolution video trickery can never replicate.God Bless the warriors who fought to save our nation. Though their numbers may dwindle I pray their spirit lives on in our young of today.

For 1945 this was an unusually honest documentary. These shorts were generally shown in theaters in addition to the usual double bill, along with a newsreel and a cartoon.The Japanese are still "Japs" and they're given no credit for courage or ingenuity but neither are they the "bandylegged monkeys" of the films of the early war years like "Bataan." The photographers capture the unbelievable heroism of men fighting duels with an unseen enemy who has riddled the small island with interconnecting caves and tunnels that have made them impervious to bombardment.The methodical and emphatic narration describes our casualties bluntly and there are shots of dead and wounded Marines but the estimate of 4,000 Marine dead understates the actual number by 2,800. All together, there were 26,000 American casualties and 22,000 Japanese, most of whom were killed.The film is accurate in admitting that the raising of the flag over Mount Suribachi didn't represent our victory over the defenders. In some feature films, like "The Sands of Iwo Jima," it's presented as the climax of the battle, which the narration here makes clear it was not.The battle for the island went on for weeks. Even after the airfield was in use, there were attacks on pilots sleeping in their tents. But a twenty-minute short can't capture every event and this film does a fine job.

*Spoiler/plot- 1945, The US Marines attack the first Japanese strong hold to start their invasion into mainland Japan.*Special Stars- The FIVE flag-raisers on Mount Suribachi.*Theme- Battles rely on key points of pressure by military force.*Trivia/location/goofs- American documentary, nominated for Oscar, 4 camera persons killed and 11 wounded during the shooting of this film*Emotion- An enjoyable documentary made up of live action combat or newsreel footage. However, there are the unpleasant shots of injured Americans and killed Japanese with some blatant racism in the form of the word use of 'Japs or 'Nips'. But it is extremely educational and does what a narrative simulated war film can do.

An Academy Award nominee for Best Documentary, this 20 minute Technicolor production unfolds with graphic energy the nearly month long battle for Iwo Jima, a volcanic island lying 700 miles southeast of Japan, in which 20000 Japanese and nearly 7000 American fighting men were killed, a struggle eternalized by Joe Rosenthal's photograph of five Marines and a Navy corpsman raising a giant U.S. flag atop 550 foot high Mt. Suribachi, cinematically captured here in this well-edited (by Warner Bros.) effort. With all footage compiled by combat photographers from the U.S. Navy, Marines, and Coast Guard, we watch as the defending positions are softened by an extensive aerial and Naval bombardment, followed by ten waves of landing craft occupied by men selected from 110000 (and 880 ships!) who had to fight for every inch of black sandy soil, as only 200 Japanese surrendered, many being fused by flamethrowers, shown in dispiriting detail during the course of this work which was released only two months after the brutal engagement, and months before the atomic bombing attacks upon the Japanese mainland.