Windtalkers

Windtalkers (2002)

Timing: 2:14 (134 min)

6.327/10
1367

7.004/10
20743

6.1/10
72541

All about film

Video 1

Photo 35

Actors and characters

Release date

2002-06-07

Country

United States

Production

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Lion Rock Productions

Genre

War, Drama, Action, History

Budget

$115 000 000

Revenue

$77 600 000

Website

Director

John Woo

Actors

Nicolas Cage, Adam Beach, Peter Stormare, Noah Emmerich, Mark Ruffalo, Brian Van Holt, Martin Henderson, Roger Willie, Frances O'Connor, Christian Slater
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Producer

John Woo, Terence Chang, Tracie Graham-Rice, Alison R. Rosenzweig, C.O. Erickson

Operator

Jeffrey L. Kimball

Composer

James Horner

Artist

Audition

Mindy Marin

Editing

Tom Rolf, Steven Kemper, Jeff Gullo
All team (119)

• To add more authenticity to the film, MGM Studios purchased several rare radios from the World War II era from a private collector in Ohio.
• Weapons and military equipment coordinator Robert Galotti assembled over 500 rare firearms from World War II, adding 700 rubber replicas previously used in film shoots. Real American Sherman and Stuart tanks, and Japanese Hago tanks were also utilized.
• The film's release was scheduled for the fall of 2001, but the tragic events of September 11th forced the studio to postpone the premiere until the summer of 2002. All posters and other promotional materials previously sent to theaters were recalled and later became rare collector's items.
• Filming of scenes at the Tarawa Marine Corps training camp, located on the Hawaiian Islands, took place on the grounds of Point Mugu Naval Air Station in California.
• Immediately before filming, the majority of actors and extras involved in the film underwent intensive week-long training in a specially created training camp. Producers secured the support of the Ministry of Defense, which authorized the use of a marine infantry base on the Hawaiian island of Oahu for training.
• Steve J. Tremat was initially invited for the role of Private Neville, but later his plans changed, and he decided to step away from his acting career and devote some time to serving in the army. As a result, Martin Henderson was invited to replace him.
• The role of artillery sergeant Hjelmstad, in addition to Peter Stormare, could also have gone to Mikael Persbrandt.
• Initially, the film featured a dentist character. In one episode, he approached the body of a deceased soldier and, saying "Go to your daddy," pulled out his gold teeth. However, according to a consultant for the U.S. Armed Forces, such behavior did not correspond to the image of a paratrooper.
• The film is based on real events concerning U.S. Marines assigned to guard Navajo Native American code talkers during the Battle of Saipan.
• In one scene, Sergeant Hjelmstad tells Joe Ender: "As long as Hitler and Yamamoto are alive, we must fight." This takes place during the Battle of Saipan in the summer of 1944. But Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto died more than a year earlier: in April 1943, his plane was met by American fighters and shot down after a long special operation to intercept him. This fact became widely known and acknowledged by the Japanese side, and the Americans used it to boost troop morale.