Windtalkers is based o­n the true to life heroics of 400 young patriotic Navajo Americans who effectively used their native language to encrypt secret messages during the latter part of WWII. The secret Navajo code was never broken and significantly added to the swift victory in the Pacific Rim. Several Marines were assigned to “baby sit” The Windtalkers and “to protect the code at all costs,” hence the Marines were assigned to primarily protect the code even if that meant killing a fellow soldier before becoming a prisoner.

Sergeant Joe Enders (Nicolas Cage); and Private Ben Yahzee (Adam Beach), o­ne of the Navajo Marines enlisted to use his idiom as the secret military code in radio communications with his buddy Charlie Whitehorse (Roger Willie), who’s protected by an amiable Ox Anderson (Christian Slater).

Originally slated for release long before it actually came out, the studio (MVD Rewind Collection) was leary about the film’s acceptance since a sensitive era in American history was erupting.

The film’s cinematography and special effects carry the film. The character development, although not absent, isn’t deep enough for anyone to really care about the actors. The almost non stop battle successions were similar to other war flicks apart from two original aspects: the bullets per second count may be the highest yet recorded and John Woo’s distinct touches are noticeably present. Bodies whirl about as they resemble bloodied “Swiss-Cheese”. Woo creates these images to ultimately add a sense of both adrenaline and terror. After sitting in the movie theater for over two hours I became desensitized even though “war is hell” and always will be.

Special Features:

  • Includes both the 134 minute Theatrical Version and the 153 minute Director’s Cut
  • Audio Commentary with Director John Woo and Producer Terence Chang
  • Audio Commentary with Christian Slater and Nicolas Cage
  • Audio Commentary with actor Roger Willie and real-life Navajo code talker consultant Albert Smith
  • Deleted Scenes
  • “The Code Talkers — A Secret Code of Honor” (23:12)
  • WWII Tribute Piece “American Heroes: A Tribute to Navajo Code Talkers” (9:00)
  • “The Music of Windtalkers” (4:30)
  • Four Fly-on-the-Set Scene Diaries (23:37)
  • “Actors Boot Camp” Featurette (15:05)
  • Behind The Scenes Photo Gallery
  • Windtalkers Theatrical Teaser and Original Theatrical Trailer