Letters From Iwo Jima focuses most closely on two men. The first is General Tadamichi Kuribayashi (Ken Watanabe) and one of his foot soldiers, Saigo (Kazunari Ninomiya). Kuribayashi is tasked with defending the island of Iwo Jima, which had military value to the Americans as a base from which to stage war on mainland Japan. Saigo was enlisted against his will, and has made a promise to his wife and unborn child that he would come home alive. Kuribayashi faces obstacles from all sides. He had traveled to and studied in America, which already makes his officers uneasy. His problems are further compounded when he learns that due to losses elsewhere in the Pacific Arena, he will not be getting any kind of naval or air reinforcements. In the face of these setbacks, Kuribayashi gives the unconventional order to abandon the island's beaches in favor of holing up in tunnels dug into the mountain sides. This strategy has many tactical advantages, but his more conservative underlings feel that he is purposely trying to undermine the war effort. Saigo, meanwhile, does whatever he can to stay alive during the fighting, which often clashes with traditional Japanese sentiments of honor in battle.

As I mentioned before, I have yet to see Flags of Our Fathers. I have heard that it plays out like a traditional war epic, focusing more on strategy and taking the next hill than it does on character. Letters is exactly the opposite. Only a few scenes are spared for discussing the Japanese strategy, and most of the time is spent focusing on the men who make up the fighting force. While the film introduces many characters of different rank, disposition, and mentality, only a few make an impact, and of those few, Saigo and Kuribayashi are the ones we identify with the most. Kuribayashi is especially fascinating, as we get to see some of his time in America through the use of flashbacks. Through Ken Watanabe's multifaceted performance, we get to see many different aspects of Kuribayashi: Imperial soldier, leader of men, and as a human himself. His portrayal engages the audience's minds.

Saigo, on the other hand, engages the audience's emotions. We see him promise his wife that he will come back from the war alive through another flashback, and this short and simple scene gives his fight to survive at any cost much more meaning. This is especially difficult for him, as the Japanese tend to favor death in battle if they're on the losing side. Several times throughout the picture, Saigo is faced with men who hold rigidly to the traditional Japanese code of honor. This leads to many near-death experiences, none of them at the hands of the Americans. In fact, the majority of deaths seen on film are inflicted on the Japanese by their own men. Seeing as how Saigo has one and only one goal throughout the movie, his character development is not as complex as Kuribayashi's, but he's still fascinating to watch.

Letters From Iwo Jima is a relentlessly grim film. All throughout the picture, various characters exclaim how anyone who goes to war ends up dead. Soldiers on both sides do terrible things, from killing dogs to shooting prisoners of war. The Americans don't look like the brave young lads we always think of when recalling World War II, and the Japanese get no better treatment. Perhaps this is meant to show the grim realities of war. Mostly it just puts the darker side of human nature on display. This darkness makes the film especially difficult to watch, especially more than once.

The other thing that plagues the film is far less meaningful than content that challenges the viewer. This is the film's length. Letters From Iwo Jima is over two hours long, and while this may seem right for a war epic, remember that this movie really is a character study. The film dilutes its core themes by introducing ancillary characters who are either caricatures (the overbearing and unrelenting captain who delights in corporal punishment) or given screen time only to die a gruesome and unwarranted death. Furthermore, the battle sequences, many of them reused from Flags, actually feel out of place. That's right, the fighting feels out of place in a war movie. But many of these fights focus on the secondary characters, which leads us back to the main problem again. Also, for such an intimate, character-driven movie, the use of glaringly obvious CGI in several sequences only serves to lessen the impact the picture is trying to make.

The other issue tied to the film's length is its pacing. While the movie attempts to build up its stock of characters at the beginning, the actual result feels languid. When the attacks occur, things feel like they're going to pick up, but they really don't. Only once things have whittled down to the core of Kuribayashi and Saigo does the meat of the movie present itself, and it's a long time coming. Once we get deeper into Kuribayashi's mind and Saigo's heart, the film resonates deeply. Until that time, we're stuck wondering what on earth is taking so long.

Perhaps part of the problem is that Letters From Iwo Jima was specifically designed to be seen in tandem with Flags of Our Fathers. I can't help but wonder just how much of the elements I considered to be bloat were there to reinforce the connection between the two films. I have heard that seeing them together creates a much deeper impact than any one alone, but in a way that's a shame, because there's a masterpiece hiding inside Letters, and had it been allowed to be seen as its own standalone film, we may have gotten it.

The Blu-ray Disc:

The Image:
Warner Bros. presents Letters From Iwo Jima in its original aspect ratio of 2.40:1, in a VC-1 encoded 1080p transfer. Eastwood shot Letters in a very stylized fashion, draining the image of color to the point where it often looks black and white. Conversely, the flashbacks and flash forwards are shot without any kind of filters or affectations. Regardless of which time period we're watching, the detail and depth of the image is tremendous. I could make out weaves in clothing and patches, and the picture has a very film-like look to it. Unfortunately, I also noticed severe banding in several of the night sequences, especially sequences with a lot of smoke. To be fair, scenes with smoke are traditionally the hardest to encode, but it is a significant flaw in an otherwise impressive transfer.

The Audio:
The audio, on the other hand, is practically flawless. Now, anyone who has read my reviews knows that I tend not to hand out praise like that unless there's a lossless track in attendance, and that's exactly what we have here with a Dolby Digital True HD 5.1 mix. Letters From Iwo Jima may be a character-driven film, but it's set against the backdrop of war, and both dialogue and battle get equally excellent treatment. Dialogue is clear and audible, even during the most intense battles. The skirmishes, meanwhile, become completely immersing experiences, with roaring explosions, rattling gunfire, and buzzing airplanes flying all around. Once planes start bombing the island, the track is always alive, even if it's just through background noises or subs. The sound here is stellar.

The Supplements:
In a nice change of pace, several of the supplements included here (all of which have been ported over from the DVD edition) are actually in high definition.

Red Sun, Black Sand - The Making of Letters From Iwo Jima: A 20-minute behind-the-scenes featurette in 1080i high definition. Featuring interviews with Clint Eastwood, screenwriter Iris Yamashita co-producer Paul Haggis and more, this documentary touches on the initial genesis of the picture as an outgrowth of Flags to the screenwriting, casting, and design processes. It ends with reflection on Eastwood and the entire project. Solid, but only the tip of the iceberg.

The Faces of Combat- The Cast of Letters From Iwo Jima: Also presented in 1080i high definition, this supplement looks at the challenges of casting Japanese actors for an American production. Interestingly, Eastwood points out that the Japanese don't get taught much at all about the battle of Iwo Jima, which meant almost all of the actors had to learn about it before they could play their parts. Also, Eastwood's longtime casting director fell ill during preproduction, causing even more challenges.

Images from the Frontlines: A high definition montage of stills from the set.

The World Premiere: Letters From Iwo Jima premiered in Tokyo, and this collects several interviews conducted on the red carpet. We also get to see introductory speeches. This is in standard definition.

The Tokyo Press Conference: Lasting almost half an hour, this press conference features Clint Eastwood, Ken Watanabe, Iris Yamashita, producer Robert Lorenz, and actors Kazunari Ninomiya, Tsuyoshi Ihara, and Ryo Kase.

Trailer: Annoyingly not in HD.

The Conclusion:
A stirring but flawed film, Letters From Iwo Jima still stands as a strong achievement from Clint Eastwood. Ken Watanabe's beautiful performance anchors the movie, which tends to meander at times to its detriment. Still, its core themes and characters are more than enough reason to see the film and ponder over the story it has to tell. This Blu-ray disc has a transfer strong with detail, but sadly has issues with banding. The audio is absolutely perfect. Letters From Iwo Jima is not an easy film, but it is ultimately a rewarding one. Recommended.

Daniel Hirshleifer is the High Definition Editor for DVD Talk.