This is for my father, who survived the Solomon Islands, my nephew who just got back from Afghanistan(Semper Fi) and the Navajo Code Talkers.

" Windtalkers" written by John Rice and Joe Batteer and directed by John Woo, is the latest feature produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Starring Nicholas Cage and Adam Beach, this film tells the emotional story about two completely different men who become friends during the chaos of World War II. One of the men carries the burden of a secret and orders that challenge is basic beliefs.

"Windtalkers" begins in a fire fight during the Solomon Islands Campaign where a Marine Corps Corporal(Nicholas Cage) takes command of a 15 men squad after his superior officers are killed in action. All the men are killed except the Corporal, who the blames himself for their deaths. He goes through a slow recovery, suffering what used to be called "Shell Shock," but is now referred to as Post Traumatic Stress. He also has partial hearing loss and with the help of a nurse(Francis O'Connor) fakes the physical and is returned to duty. His new assignment; to protect a new radio operator at all costs. The radio operator is a Private Ben Yazzie from the Navajo Nation. The mission, Operation Nah-yah-ee; the use of a special Navajo Code that helped defeat the Japanese during the Pacific Campaign.

Following story follows Cage as Sergeant Joe Enders hesitant to become close to his new charge, but eventually warming to the young Navajo. A deep friendship is developed as Yazzie(Beach) realizes that Enders is there to protect him at all costs. Each scene depicts the graphic reality of war and the affect it has on the participants. The emotions range from the fatalism of suspecting that the soldier will not return home to the pride of participating as a Marine fighting a dreaded enemy. The majority feeling was that the job needed to be done and the sooner it was done, the sooner the soldier would get home.

In a small village, Enders finally reveals his terrible secret. If his charge is about to be captured, then it is his responsibility to kill the Code Talker. The second Code Talker, Charlie Whitehorse(Roger Willie) is taken prisoner after his protector, Peter Henderson(Christian Slater) is killed. Enders tosses a grenade into the small group and kills all of the soldiers including Whitehorse. Finding out that his friend his dead at Enders hand, Yazzie nearly kills him. As he sits in tears, Enders begs Yazzie to do it.

After being called back behind the lines, Enders is given his orders; take a hill which is heavily protected by a Japanese encampment. Following orders, Enders takes his men up the hill. His men fall one by one as they progress up the hill mainly due to a barrage of friendly fire. In a one-on-one knife fight against a Japanese soldier, Yazzie loses his radio. Enders, knowing the importance of the radio, goes after it. Yazzie follows and the two men, now at odds, work together to recover the radio. Finally, with radio in hand, Yazzie calls off the raid which had pound them mercilessly. Yazzie is hit and as the two men are about to be captured, Yazzie begs to be killed, but Enders refuses and in a heroic effort tries to bring Yazzie Enders brings him back to safety. In the process Enders is hit several times and dies in Yazzie's arms.

This viewer found this movie an incredible example of what Hollywood is capable of. There were the usual mix of an assorted company that a viewer might expect from a war film; the tough Sergeant, the young recruits, the bigot, and those that accept the young Navajo, but aren't exactly sure what to make of him.

Nicholas Cage, was outstanding as the conflicted Enders, who eventually gave his life, rather than carry out his orders to kill Yazzie. Adam Beach, a newcomer to this viewer was also outstanding as Yazzie. The chemistry of these two men brought incredible emotion to the screen. Christian Slater and Roger Willie also had a chemistry that brought similar emotions. Slater as Whitehorse's protector, Henderson, brought a relaxed familiar feeling of a man willing to give his life for his country and still cherish the simple things like playing a harmonica that his father had given him. Willie as Whitehorse, meshed with Slater's performance with his own brand of music, a Navajo flute. The two men shared their love of music and in the end developing a harmony for the two instruments, reflecting the meshing of two vastly different cultures.

Rice and Batteer's story was a simple story of men from vastly different cultures relying on each other. It, of course, had been done before, but not in such an eloquent way. John Woo, the director, a simplistic approach to the film which complimented the story. The sweeping visuals of the desert plains of the Navajo Nation from New Mexico to Arizona were magnificent revealing the majestic rock formations such as Shiprock, a sacred monument to the Navajo Nation.

Like "Saving Private Ryan," the war scenes were graphic, but if a viewer can get past the carnage of what war is, they will be enlightened by a very human story.

B'kiss, Dih-neh(Thankyou, Navajo Nation)