Windtalkers (2002)

Director:

John Woo

Writers (WGA):

John Rice (written by) &
Joe Batteer (written by)

Release Date:

14 June 2002 (USA)

Genre:

Action | History | Romance | War

Tagline:

Honor Was Their Code.

Plot:

Two U.S. Marines in WWII are assigned to protect Navajo Marines who use their native language as an unbreakable radio cypher.

Plot Keywords:

Navajo | WWII | Battle | Duty | Letter

Awards:

1 win & 3 nominations

Cast

Nicolas Cage	...	Sergeant Joe Enders
Adam Beach	...	Private Ben Yahzee
Peter Stormare	...	Gunnery Sergeant Hjelmstad
Noah Emmerich	...	Private Chick
Mark Ruffalo	...	Private Pappas
Brian Van Holt	...	Private Harrigan
Martin Henderson	...	Private Nellie
Roger Willie	...	Private Charlie Whitehorse
Frances O'Connor	...	Rita
Christian Slater	...	Sgt. Pete 'Ox' Anderson
Jason Isaacs	...	Major Mellitz
Billy Morts	...	Fortino (as William Morts)
Cameron Thor	...	Mertens
Kevin Cooney	...	Ear Doctor
Holmes Osborne	...	Colonel Hollings

Also Known As:

Wind Talkers (USA) (alternative spelling)
Windtalkers (Austria) (Germany) [de]
A fegyverek szava (Hungary) [hu]
Códigos de Guerra (Brazil) [pt]
Códigos de guerra (Argentina) [es]
La voix des vents (Canada: French title) [fr]
Les messagers du vent (France) [fr]
Mesaje secrete (Romania) [ro]
Rüzgarla konusanlar (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
Windtalkers (Spain) [es]
Windtalkers (Italy) [it]
Windtalkers - Les messagers du vent (France) [fr]

MPAA:

Rated R for pervasive graphic war violence, and for language. (also director's cut)

Runtime:

134 min | Argentina:132 min | USA:153 min (director's cut)

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Navajo | Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Malaysia:18SG | South Korea:15 | Argentina:13 | Australia:MA | Canada:18A | Finland:K-15 | France:U | Germany:18 | Hong Kong:IIB | Ireland:15 | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R16 | Norway:15 | Philippines:PG-13 | Singapore:PG | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | USA:R | Canada:A (Ontario)

Filming Locations:

Dillingham Estate - 68434 Farrington Highway, Mokulë`ia, O`ahu, Hawaii, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

Steve J. Termath was originally cast for the role of Pvt. Nellie. However, the role went to Martin Henderson when Termath took a brief hiatus from acting for actual military service, enlisting in the US Army Reserves.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: When the marines first land on Saipan there is a huge battle going on. Nicholas Cage stops to reload his Thompson and has a brief flashback to what happened to him on the Solomon islands. He then finishes reloading and runs up to a Japanese soldier who is on fire. If you look to the right of the screen as he is running, a man in all black is visible wearing goggles - obviously there for fire safety

Quotes:

Charlie Whitehorse: [in Navajo] I've never seen so many white men.
Ben Yahzee: Oh, they've never seen so many Navajos before.
Ben Yahzee: Enders, I can't find Whitehorse anywhere. Have you seen him?
Joe Enders: He's over there.
Ben Yahzee: [he sees his friend dead, blown up by a grenade with other Japanese soldiers] This was suppose to be a secured area, what happened?
Joe Enders: I killed him.
Ben Yahzee: You what?
Joe Enders: I took a grenade, threw it in there and blew him up.

Movie Connections:

Featured in This Film Is Not Yet Rated (2006)

Soundtrack:

Voice of the Mountain

John Woo's World War Two

John Woo (The Killer, Hard Boiled) has finally made "A John Woo Movie" in Hollywood. Finally, hyper-kinetic action and overwrought crises of friendship and conscience in a Hollywood movie.

Nicolas Cage's Sergeant Enders has a Navajo code talker to protect and kill, if necessary. Cage's vet is bitter, ferocious and merciless and some of the violence is truly sickening. Just as it should be.

The Marines are not perfect. Some are damaged, one is racist, and there is friendly fire.

Adam Beach (Flags of Our Fathers) does a good job as Private Ben Yahzee, the code-talker Enders has to protect.

Absolutely superlative stunt work.