Windtalkers

Year:

2002

Duration:

134 min | Argentina:132 min | USA:153 min (director's cut)

Genres:

Action | Drama | War

IMDB rate:

6

Director:

John Woo

Awards:

1 win & 3 nominations

Details

Country: USA

Release Date: 2002-06-14

Filming Locations: Santa Clarita, California, USA

Earnings

Budget: $115,000,000

Opening Weekend: $14,520,412 (USA) (16 June 2002)

Gross: $40,911,830 (USA) (6 October 2002)

Cast

Actor

Character

Nicolas Cage

Sergeant Joe Enders

Adam Beach

Private Ben Yahzee

Peter Stormare

Gunnery Sergeant Hjelmstad

Noah Emmerich

Private Chick

Mark Ruffalo

Private Pappas

Brian Van Holt

Private Harrigan

Martin Henderson

Private Nellie

Roger Willie

Private Charlie Whitehorse

Frances O'Connor

Rita

Christian Slater

Sgt. Pete 'Ox' Anderson

Jason Isaacs

Major Mellitz

William Morts

Fortino

Cameron Thor

Mertens

Kevin Cooney

Ear Doctor

Holmes Osborne

Colonel Hollings

Keith Campbell

Kittring

Clayton J. Barber

Hasby (as Clayton Barber)

Scott Atkinson

Camp Tarawa Staff Sergeant

Jeremy Davidson

Marine

Brian Maynard

Corpsman (as Brian F. Maynard)

Albert Smith

Navajo Man

James D. Dever

Field Hospital Colonel (as James Dever)

Vincent Whipple

Navajo Instructor

Jim Morse

Marine Recruit

Chris Devlin

Code Instructor Sergeant

Jeff Davis

Technical Sergeant

Glen Begay

Radio Codetalker

Ross Lasi Tanoai

Eddie the Bartender

Brian Kasai

Japanese Intelligence Officer

Hiroshi Mori

Japanese Radio Officer (as Hiroshi 'Rosh' Mori)

John Takeshi Ichikawa

Japanese Bunker Commander

Christopher T. Yamamoto

Japanese Bunker Gunner

Marc McClellan

Marine Artillery Commander

Steve Tanizaki

Japanese Artillery Officer

Malcolm Dohi

Battleship Codetalker

Darrel Guilbeau

Battleship Petty Officer

Aaron Yamagata

Tanapag Boy

Victoria Chen

Tanapag Mother

Jon Michael Souza

NCO

Carissa Jung

Tanapag Girl

Wataru Yoshida

Japanese Artillery Man

Junya Oishi

Japanese Artillery Sighter

Jiro Koga

Japanese Artillery Gunner

Lynn Kawailele Allen

Hula Dancer

Tina Leialoha Gube

Hula Dancer

Alewa T. Olotoa

Hula Dancer

Ilima Pumphrey

Hula Dancer

Lena Savaiinaea

Hula Dancer

Kaliko Scott

Hula Dancer

John Steven Rocha

Marine (as John Rocha)

Robert Aguilar Jr.

Private Povovich (uncredited)

Pierre Arkansas

U.S. Marine (uncredited)

Jim Carretta

Platoon Sergeant (uncredited)

Matty Castano

Japanese Soldier (uncredited)

Timothy Di Pri

Politician (uncredited)

Paul Edney

WWII U.S. Marine (uncredited)

Christopher Gilbertson

Marine (uncredited)

David L. Hall

Soldier in Convoy (uncredited)

Shannon Holzer

Marine (uncredited)

Yoshio Iizuka

Japanese Officer

Christopher Illing

Marine (uncredited)

Keii Johnston

Marine (uncredited)

Jordan Kirkwood

Marine Radioman B Company (uncredited)

John Kirsch

Marine (uncredited)

Ender Lee

Dying Japanese Soldier (uncredited)

Steve Lindsay

Discharged Platoon Sergeant (uncredited)

Michael Ng

Japanese Soldier (uncredited)

Nils Oliveto

U.S. Marine (uncredited)

Denney Pierce

Marine (uncredited)

John Thomas

Core Group Marine (uncredited)

Ren Urano

Japanese Radioman (uncredited)

Dixon White

Hospital Room Patient (uncredited)

Reese Williams

Platoon Sergeant (uncredited)

Jimmy Zerda

Camp Tarawa Marine (uncredited)

Did you know?

Trivia

Naval Air Weapons Station, Point Mugu, was used to film the Camp Tarawa portion of the film, the Marines pre-battle embarkation point.

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Weapons coordinator Robert 'Rock' Galotti amassed over 500 vintage WWII era firing weapons and 700 rubber replica weapons for the film from private collectors and prop houses. Also featured moving across battlefields are vintage Sherman tanks, their smaller Stuart brethren, and Japanese Hago tanks.

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When the film release was pushed back, many of the posters/cutouts/promotional items/etc. sent to theatres were recalled. As such, they have become collector items and fetch huge prices on auction sites like eBay.

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Goofs

After Enders' death, the close-up reveals him to be blinking.

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When Ben Yahzee is leaving his family he shares a firm handshake with an elder. In Navajo culture personal contact is very limited. The handshake would have been a brief, light touch if given at all.

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After the combat scene where Charlie is killed Ben looks at his body. Right when Charlie is shown you can see him swallow.

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Quotes

Ben Yahzee: Hey do you guys know where we would find second joint assualt singnal?

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Ben Yahzee: His name was Joe Enders, from south Philadelphia. He was a fierce warrior, a good marine. If you ever tell a story about him George... Say he was my friend.

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Charlie Whitehorse: How's your white man?

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Faq

Q

What is 'Windtalkers' about?

A

During World War II, U.S. Marine Sergeants Joe Enders (Nicolas Cage) and Pete 'Oz' Anderson (Christian Slater) are each assigned to protect two Navajo Indians, Privates Ben Yahzee (Adam Beach) and Charlie Whitehorse (Roger Willie) respectively, recruited for the sole purpose of using their native language in the western Pacific island of Saipan as an impossible-to-crack encryption code. In reality, however, it is the code Enders and Anderson are assigned to protect at all cost, not the code-talkers.

Q

How much sex, violence, and profanity are in this movie?

A

For detailed information about the amounts and types of (a) sex and nudity, (b) violence and gore, (c) profanity, (d) alcohol, drugs, and smoking, and (e) frightening and intense scenes in this movie, consult the IMDb Parents Guide for this movie. The Parents Guide for Windtalkers can be found here.

Q

Is 'Windtalkers' based on a book?

A

Although the story presented in the film is fiction, it is based on hundreds of Native Americans, referred to as Code talkers, who used their native languages to transmit impossible-to-crack coded messages during the first and second World Wars.

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