Windtalkers

Play trailer

Windtalkers

R

Released Jun 14, 2002

2h 14m

War

History

Drama

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

32%

Tomatometer

164 Reviews

50%

Popcornmeter

50,000+ Ratings

Marine Joe Enders (Nicolas Cage) is assigned to protect Ben Yahzee (Adam Beach) -- a Navajo code talker, the Marines' new secret weapon. Enders' orders are to protect his code talker, but if Yahzee should fall into enemy hands, he's to protect the code at all costs. Against the backdrop of the horrific Battle of Saipan, when capture is imminent, Enders is forced to make a decision: if he can't protect his fellow Marine, can he bring himself to kill him to protect the code?

Watch on Fandango at Home

Buy Now

Critics Consensus

The action sequences are expertly staged. Windtalkers, however, sinks under too many clichés and only superficially touches upon the story of the code talkers.

Read Critics Reviews

Joshua Rothkopf

In These Times

Woo reminds us that wars are fought by people; this is what makes his film great.

Mar 16, 2020

Full Review

Nell Minow

Common Sense Media

War film relies too much on relentless violence.

Rated: 3/5

Dec 29, 2010

Full Review

Richard Schickel

TIME Magazine

The energy and conviction of the action sequences don't quite compensate for Windtalkers' emotional cliches and historical heedlessness.

Sep 19, 2008

Full Review

Ed Travis

Cinapse

It's a great director doing what he does best but ultimately not really doing justice to the Navajo code talkers story.

Nov 17, 2018

Full Review

Daniel Etherington

Film4

Replete with Cage's finest angsty acting and John Woo's requisite concerns of friendship and rivalry in the face of violence.

Sep 19, 2008

Full Review

Todd Gilchrist

IGN Movies

With Windtalkers, the glaring refutations of time, space and reality impress upon viewers the simple fact that Woo is at his best when he isn't attempting anything more significant than the most emptily satisfying explosion you're likely to enjoy - a scat

Jul 2, 2008

Full Review

Read all reviews

Audience Member

A story that could have been interesting ruined by the nick cage show..awful acting and terrible dialogue...avoid

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

08/11/25

Full Review

Nigel S

Thought it was a pretty solid war film. Yes, it was cliched but held my interest if you follow war films. The suggestion that it was too violent, is ridiculous. Combine John Woo with WWII and thus is what you get.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

08/09/25

Full Review

Mar•Garet W

★★ WINDTALKERS suffers from bad Dialogue, ubiquitous War Movie Clichés, an overuse of -=-SHAKY-CAM & CLOSE-UPS=- and stilted Editing of the ill-conceived & poorly executed Action Sequences (e.g. Missing Squibs, Orange Blood & Civilian-grade Fireworks for Explosions). It feels like John Woo & Associates saw 'THE THIN RED LINE' & 'SAVING PRIVATE RYAN' and got inspired.....but didn't bother studying (& implementing) what made those movies really Pop & Soar. ( "Should've Hired DALE DYE as a Military Consultant." ) Nick Cage was of course the wrong choice for the Lead, and should have been relegated to a 2nd-hand character) He is also let down by not being Reigned-in (e.g. The Cage-brand Over-acting is on full display) and with the Script & Dialogue he's given. The 2 Native American gentlemen are definitely the standouts, but are unremarkable. And Christian Slater feels like he wandered on to the wrong set just after spending a day at a California Spa & Hair Salon. ★★Overall a forgettable, unremarkable War Film.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

08/05/25

Full Review

Frans B

Star studded cast performs well. Great cinematography. Woo and Marin is a winning combination here. Very convincing and portraying war for what it is, ugly, messy, horrifying, unnecessary, etc.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/19/25

Full Review

Tony T

fantastic simple film, definitely worth the watch

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

01/08/25

Full Review

Susan D

Not worth the watch

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

07/05/24

Full Review

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

POST RATING

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

John Woo

Director

Nicolas Cage

Joe Enders

Adam Beach

Ben Yahzee

Peter Stormare

Hjelmstad

Noah Emmerich

Chick

Mark Ruffalo

Pappas

Hart's War

60%

48%

Hart's War

Watchlist

To End All Wars

62%

85%

To End All Wars

Watchlist

Saving Private Ryan

94%

95%

Saving Private Ryan

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Saving Private Ryan

The Thin Red Line

80%

80%

The Thin Red Line

Watchlist

The Great Raid

39%

70%

The Great Raid

Watchlist

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

Windtalkers: Official Clip - I Blew Him Up

2:10

Windtalkers: Official Clip - The Death of Sgt. Enders

2:13

Windtalkers: Official Clip - Call in the Code

2:11

Windtalkers: Official Clip - Hold The Position

2:13

Windtalkers: Official Clip - Saipan, June '44

2:12

Windtalkers: Official Clip - Yazhee Fights Chick

2:12

Windtalkers: Official Clip - Camp Poker Game

2:13

Windtalkers: Official Clip - Yahzee Meets Ender

2:12

Windtalkers: Official Clip - Farewell, Home

0:55

Windtalkers: Official Clip - Navajo Ceremony

1:40

View more videos

View more photos

Synopsis

Marine Joe Enders (Nicolas Cage) is assigned to protect Ben Yahzee (Adam Beach) -- a Navajo code talker, the Marines' new secret weapon. Enders' orders are to protect his code talker, but if Yahzee should fall into enemy hands, he's to protect the code at all costs. Against the backdrop of the horrific Battle of Saipan, when capture is imminent, Enders is forced to make a decision: if he can't protect his fellow Marine, can he bring himself to kill him to protect the code?

Director: John Woo
Producer: John Woo, Terence Chang, Tracie Graham-Rice, Alison R. Rosenzweig, Holger Gross
Screenwriter: Joe Batteer, John Rice
Distributor: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Production Co: Metro Goldwyn Mayer, Lion Rock Productions
Rating: R (Pervasive Graphic War Violence|Language)
Genre: War, History, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jun 14, 2002, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 1, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $40.9M
Runtime: 2h 14m
Sound Mix: Dolby SR, DTS, Dolby Stereo, Surround, SDDS, Dolby A, Dolby Digital
Aspect Ratio: Scope (2.35:1)

Most Popular at Home Now