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John Wayne acted in a number of war films: Operation Pacific, Back to Bataan, The Green Berets, and The Longest Day. No doubt, this is his best. It's one of the true classics.

Some may find it unrealistic due to its sanitized language and relatively meager gore (remember, it was made in 1949). But its themes are timeless: duty, honor, country. The skillful integration of battle scenes and real-life newsreel footage makes it seem almost like a documentary.

If you want a politically correct war film, try something else. If you want a well-made, well-acted, patriotic film, this is it.

Sgt John M. Stryker is a battle hardened Marine who's job it is to prepare his new charges for the realities of war. With no care for making friends, Stryker does what ever it takes to make these men tough and ready for the Pacific conflicts to come.

Sands Of Iwo Jima is unashamedly proud in its jingoistic fervour, and rightly so. Iwo Jima, and the now immortal portrait of weary American soldiers hoisting the flag atop Mt. Suribachi, has become a bastion of bravery, a beacon of triumph if you will. So it's no surprise to find Allan Dwan's film has no intention if deviating from boasting its colours, and hooray to that. Here as Stryker we find John Wayne giving a bit more to his character portrayal than merely some beefcake winning the war. Wayne puts depth and sincerity into Stryker, an air of believability shines through as he shows vulnerability, we believe he can win this war with his men, but we also see tenderness and it lifts Sands higher than your average war picture.

Wise old director Dwan (432 directing credits to his name), weaves the picture together with admirable restraint. Fusing actual newsreel footage with his own tightly handled action sequences, Sands plays out as the tribute and rally call that it has every right to be, even finding place in the film for three of the soldiers who hoisted that now famous flag. Ira Hayes, Rene Gagnon and John Bradley are the three gentlemen to look out for. The rest of the cast don't really have to do much outside of respond to Wayne's two fold performance, but keep an eye out for a fresh faced Richard Jaeckel as Pfc. Frank Flynn, while I personally enjoyed the brief, but important contribution from Julie Bishop as Mary.

Wayne received a nomination for Best Actor at the Academy Awards (too bad for him that 49 contained brilliant shows from the winner Broderick Crawford & a blunderbuss turn from Gregory Peck), with other nominations going to the Best Story, Editing and Sound categories. Ironically it was a role Wayne didn't fancy doing, but some encouragements from war veterans humbled him into starring.

Lock and load and saddle up for a top entry in the WWII pantheon. 8/10

This film takes place in the Pacific Theater during World War II with a U. S. Marine rifle company led by a man named "Sergeant John M. Stryker" (John Wayne). As it so happens, having experienced combat firsthand he is extremely determined to train and fine-tune his company into being as capable and ready as possible. Needless to say, his hardline approach is not welcomed by everyone in the company with one particular person named "Al Thomas" (Forrest Tucker) having had a personal quarrel with him in a previous assignment. Additionally, another man by the name of "Robert Dunne" (Arthur Franz) also has a dislike for him but for an entirely different reason. Yet even so, Sgt Stryker realizes that he cannot let their personal animosity deter him from his mission-especially since they are bound to see ferocious combat in the very near future. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that I found this to be a pretty good World War II picture due in large part to the serious plot and the acting of John Wayne who essentially carried this film. That being said, I recommend this film for those interested and have rated it accordingly. Above average.

Yes, today some of it seems campy and jingoistic, but Sands of Iwo Jima, is such a classic that it can't help being a worthy way to spend 100 minutes.

First of all, there is John Wayne as Sergeant Stryker. Stryker was the model on which virtually every screen portrayal of a tough sergeant is based. The character's angst and intensity also give us a rare glimpse of John Wayne's true acting ability. In most movies he just portrayed himself, but there is no swagger in Stryker, just loneliness, fear, and hope. He is by far the most convincing character in this movie, and one of the top from any war movie, period.

Next: the history. Ok, the actual characters have no basis in fact, but the battles certainly do. The battles for Tarawa and Iwo Jima were very important to the war and tragically costly in lives. They deserve to be remembered. The production mixed a lot of actual footage taken at the actual battles and mixed it in with the regular film. The two look fairly similar since both are black and white, but you can tell what is real and what was shot for the movie. One's first reaction to this might be that the production went cheapskate, but, in a way, the use of real stock battle footage was more moving than an epic legion of extras like in The Longest Day. You just can't beat reality for realism, and seeing the real islands and the real marines is an eerie reminder of how many men died in those horrific battles.

Finally: the supporting cast. Ok, I can't rave about them all, but most were entertaining, especially Wally Cassell. Also, Forrest Tucker puts in a fine performance, the only one remotely close to Wayne's in its depth.

Some of the anachronisms are a bit funny, but my only real complaint in the whole movie was John Agar's character Peter Conway. I don't know who was at fault for it, Agar or the writers, but his character is hard to take. I think we are meant to like him, but for about the first 90 minutes that is pretty much impossible.

Otherwise, it's a great movie. See it!

I have seen this John Wayne classic war film many times, but only recently learned that three surviving original flag raisers (at the time the film was made) had cameo roles in it. Towards the end of the movie, after the beachhead and Mount Suribachi are secured, Sgt. Stryker calls for a squad to raise a flag. Watching from behind Stryker, we see three young men squat down in front of him. Stryker hands them an American flag and directs them to climb to the top of Mt. Suribachi and raise it. The three men playing the roles as themselves are: PFC Rene A. Gagnon, USMC; PFC Ira H. Hayes, USMC; and, PH3 John H. Bradley, USN -- three of the five original famous flag raisers captured on film in the famous scene atop Mt. Suribachi, and forever etched in stone in the Iwo Jima Memorial at Arlington, Virginia. The other two flag raisers were shot and killed later on the island.