Sands of Iwo Jima

 

           

              Counting down the final days of John Wayne month, I decided to take the opposite approach and watch one of the duke’s films that doesn't consist of Cowboys and Indians. Sands of Iwo Jima was Wayne's sixth World War II film, for which received an Oscar nomination in 1949, with all the great accolades the film contains this is truly a great World War II epic that's in actual first to focus on the war in the Pacific, and not just Nazi's in Europe. 

              Marine Sgt. John Stryker (John Wayne) is despised by his own men for his rough attitude and exhausting training regimen. As the war in the Pacific progresses, though, they begin to respect Stryker's hard-edged outlook on war and his brutal training methods, as it has helped them prepare for the harsh realities of the battlefield. They'll need all of Stryker's battle tactics if they want to survive what will end up being one of the bloodiest engagements of the war: The Battle of Iwo Jima. 

              A lot of people didn't know this, but John Wayne didn't get much of a chance serving his own country in World War II, and it always been curious as to why he didn't get the chance, like, James Stewart was allowed to serve his country but why not Wayne? Well, a lot of it had to do with Republic Pictures not wanting him to go in the Military because his presence would boost morale to all civilians as well as troops going into WWII. And for good reasons John Wayne before the United State entered the War, he was a huge star, I mean he was the same big-time celebrity long before Harrison Ford became famous in the eighties. And sure, James Stewart entered the war but he wasn't as big as John Wayne and all of the Generals in the Army or Navy would never in a million years wanted to be responsible for the duke’s death, and hell Joseph Stalin was a huge fan of John Wayne so, you can see that even the most evil tyrants can be fans of the duke. All facts a side this was a really outstanding war movie and the way that the filmmakers we're able to show the horror of war in the Pacific is defiantly great and terrifying because the way Japan was able to fight the American's they were almost fighting the way the American's fought the British in the Revolutionary War. There are some of the footages that I had interesting questions about in terms of the battle sequences but either way some of the main characters that you are introduced to in the beginning of the movie you feel bad for some of those characters. Like the Searchers this is another John Wayne performance where you can see that he's a tough sergeant to his own men but through the course of the movie you begin to see a soft side of him for which really this movie alone I would defiantly rank in Wayne's best performances. Both free on YouTube and available to watch on Pluto TV, so if you’re looking for a great movie to watch in July or craving for a World War II movie, then I would highly recommend watching Sands of Iwo Jima, especially when you watch a different side of John Wayne as a gritty/tough Sargent that takes no for an answer and more importantly something different from Wayne's acting career.