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My full review is at Christianity Today Movies.

David DiCerto (Catholic News Service) says, "If Flags was about the nature of heroism, the message here is clearly about our shared humanity and ignorance as a root of international conflict. … Taken together, both movies provide powerful equilibrium to the subject, but each is also well able to stand on its own."

Mainstream critics are embracing the film as one of the most important of the year, and it's likely to be a front-runner at the Oscars.

from Film Forum, 01/25/07
Christian Hamaker (Crosswalk) says, "As moving and universal as the story and its themes are, Letters From Iwo Jima never gives us the full picture of the Japanese warrior mentality. Yes, the men fought bravely and against all odds in a losing cause, and did so to their deaths. Nothing less was acceptable, as the film clearly shows. But the Japanese war mentality was even more extreme and terrifying."

Adam R. Holz (Plugged In) writes, "That sheer horror comes vividly to life onscreen, forcefully removing the film from any 'entertainment' category, and as such, it shouldn't be encountered without some thoughtfulness. … Perhaps, then, Iwo Jima feels so different from other war movies, especially those of yesteryear, because its ultimate reason for being is not to wave the flag of a particular country or cause. Instead, its twin morals are that the individual acts required of warriors in war are often utterly unspeakable, and that there are good and bad men on both sides of any conflict."

from Film Forum, 02/08/07
Brett McCracken (Relevant) writes that the question driving Clint Eastwood's Best Picture contender is "when is death (and in a larger sense, violence) honorable? It is a question that has come up in other places in recent cinema, like in United 93, which pit terrorists' notions about jihad honor against western values of life at all costs. … Clint Eastwood, through the film cycle of Flags and Letters, is taking our 'pro-life' notions and throwing them in our face—asking us if we really do value life as much as we claim."

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