X
  • 2002
  • R
  • Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
  • 2 h 14 m
  • 2002
  • R
  • Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
  • 2 h 14 m

Summary In 1942, several hundred Navajo Americans were recruited as Marines and trained to use their language as code. In John Woo's Windtalkers, Marine Joe Enders (Cage) is assigned to protect Ben Yahzee (Beach) -- a Navajo Code Talker, the Marines' new secret weapon. (MGM)

Directed By: John Woo

Written By: John Rice, Joe Batteer

  • 2002
  • R
  • Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
  • 2 h 14 m
  • 2002
  • R
  • Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
  • 2 h 14 m

Windtalkers

Metascore Mixed or Average Based on 35 Critic Reviews
51
User Score Generally Favorable Based on 43 User Ratings
6.3
My Score
Hover and click to give a rating Saved

Where to Watch

Summary In 1942, several hundred Navajo Americans were recruited as Marines and trained to use their language as code. In John Woo's Windtalkers, Marine Joe Enders (Cage) is assigned to protect Ben Yahzee (Beach) -- a Navajo Code Talker, the Marines' new secret weapon. (MGM)

Directed By: John Woo

Written By: John Rice, Joe Batteer

Where to Watch

Top Cast

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View All Cast & Crew

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
Mixed or Average Based on 35 Critic Reviews
51
40% Positive
14 Reviews
54% Mixed
19 Reviews
6% Negative
2 Reviews

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews

Critic Reviews

 View All
Metascore
Mixed or Average Based on 35 Critic Reviews
51
40% Positive
14 Reviews
54% Mixed
19 Reviews
6% Negative
2 Reviews

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews
90
Despite some of the sentimentality that is also Woo's stock-in-trade, I was moved and absorbed throughout.
By Jonathan Rosenbaum FULL REVIEW
67
Windtalkers blows this way and that, but there's no mistaking the filmmaker in the tall grass, true to himself.
By Lisa Schwarzbaum FULL REVIEW

User Reviews

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User Score
Generally Favorable Based on 43 User Ratings
6.3
47% Positive
20 Ratings
42% Mixed
18 Ratings
12% Negative
5 Ratings

User Reviews

 View All
User Score
Generally Favorable Based on 43 User Ratings
6.3
47% Positive
20 Ratings
42% Mixed
18 Ratings
12% Negative
5 Ratings

There are no user reviews yet. Be the first to add a review.

63
The result is that the film comes across as preachy and clichéd. And, while the battle sequences are well executed from a technical point-of-view, they often seem repetitive and uninspired.
By James Berardinelli FULL REVIEW
50
The code talkers deserved better than a hollow tribute.
By Peter Travers FULL REVIEW
50
For all this potential, and the appealing presence of Nicolas Cage and newcomer Adam Beach, Windtalkers remains almost obstinately flat.
By Desson Thomson FULL REVIEW
40
In the studied excess of his Hong Kong action movies, Woo's swooning sentimentality plays like grand opera. With its dogged Hollywood naturalism and the inexorable passage of its characters toward sainthood, Windtalkers is nothing but a sticky-sweet soap.
By Ella Taylor FULL REVIEW
20
The Navajos must have sent much more crucial messages at much higher levels during the war, but you'd never know it from this movie. Windtalkers is practically all action and no talk.
By Joe Morgenstern FULL REVIEW
See All 35 Critic Reviews

Details

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Production Company Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), Lion Rock Productions
Release Date Jun 14, 2002
Duration 2 h 14 m
Rating R
Genres
Tagline Honor Was Their Code.
View All Details

Awards

World Stunt Awards
• 1 Win & 3 Nominations
First Americans in the Arts Awards
• 2 Wins & 2 Nominations
American Indian Film Festival
• 2 Nominations

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