Windtalkers



Windtalkers is a 2002 military film about the Navajo Code Talkers in the Pacific front of World War II.

Joe Enders (Nicolas Cage) is given the job of protecting a Navajo code talker named Ben. Because the code must not be broken, Joe's orders are to kill Ben should he fall into enemy hands. The movie mostly follows the Battle of Saipan.

The film got bad reviews and did not preform well.

Tropes in this film:

 * Conflict Ball: The Windtalkers knew how important they were - that they needed a babysitter to keep them safe - but Ben is shocked that among Joe's orders are ones to kill him should he fall into enemy hands.
 * Hiding Behind the Language Barrier
 * Trojan Prisoner: when Ben dresses up as a Japanese soldier and takes his "captive" Joe into a Japanese camp in order to gain access to a working radio.
 * Man On Fire: The flamethrower-equipped member of The Squad dies this way.
 * Mercy Kill: The torture a windtalker would probably get in the hands of the enemy is what Joe has orders to do this.
 * Also the flamethrower soldier on fire is given this.
 * Never Trust a Title: Joe is the center of attention and the protagonist in the movie, the windtalkers are... there.
 * Poor Communication Kills: There was really no reason to withhold the information from the Windtalkers that their babysitters were supposed to kill them should they fall into enemy hands. It wasn't like the windtalkers didn't already know how important they were. Heck, if things were that dangerous, they should have already been trained how best to take themselves out before the enemy gets to them.
 * Survivors Guilt: Joe has this.
 * Noun Verber
 * Very Loosely Based on a True Story: There were Navajo code talkers, and they really were instrumental in the Pacific Theater, but the characters in this movie are all fictional.
 * At least the posters say "inspired by" rather than "based on".