History Film / Windtalkers

* AnyoneCanDie: It's UsefulNotes/WorldWarII in the Pacific, so this is to be expected. By the end of the film, [[spoiler: only Chick, Yahzee, and Pappas are left of the original squad, and even Pappas dies in the tie-in novelization.]]

* AnyoneCanDie: It's UsefulNotes/WorldWarII in the Pacific, so this is to be expected. By the end of the film, [[spoiler: only Chick, Yahzee, and Pappas are left of the original squad.]]

Joe Enders (Creator/NicolasCage) is given the job of protecting a Navajo code talker named Ben (Creator/AdamBeach). 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.

* ActionFilmQuietDramaScene: Between battles, there's one scene where Charlie and his bodyguard Ox (who has secretly been ordered to kill him if he's at risk of being captured) bond while playing a musical duet with Ox's harmonica and Charlie's flute.
* ActionPrologue: Joe's first scene in the Solomons in 1943.
* AnyoneCanDie: It's UsefulNotes/WorldWarII in the Pacific, so this is to be expected. By the end of the film, [[spoiler: only Chick, Ben, and Pappas are left of the original squad.]]
* AxCrazy: Joe turns into a real demon of war during combat, just looking for more kills to score. Later, after [[spoiler: Whitehorse is killed]], Yahzee takes the role of ax-crazy soldier.

* BerserkButton: As expected, Ben didn't take TheReveal about Joe's orders mildly.

* BloodFromTheMouth: [[spoiler: Joe]], to indicate that he's [[KilledOffForReal really dying]].

** Joe enjoys killing the Japs a little too much after being the SoleSurvivor of the Solomon Islands campaign. There's actually a close-up of a CheshireCatGrin on his face as he gleefully mows down half a dozen Japs with his Tommy-gun in one scene.
** [[spoiler:Ben becomes one following Charlie's death. And, like Joe before him, slaughters any Japanese soldier he comes across.]]
* BottomlessMagazines: Reloading? In a John Woo movie? You're kidding, right? This trope is going to absurd levels with Joe's Thompson. Even if he's the only character ever seen reloading, his mags holds a few times more than they should.
** That said, it is averted mostly. While Joe's got a Thompson with magic mags, his squadmates are not so lucky as they frequently either run low or out of ammo in firefights.

** Later in the film Ben mocks his own words toward Joe. First time, he assured Joe that following orders is the most important thing to do, even more important than saving your friends. But when he learns that Joe is ordered to kill him in case of risking capture, [[{{Hypocrite}} he berates him for mindlessly following orders]].

** Ben goes from a TechnicalPacifist radioman, to an AxCrazy [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge revenge-driven]] BloodKnight [[spoiler: following Whitehorse's death at the hands of Joe and the Japanese]], to having a HeelRealization [[spoiler: upon accidentally slashing Joe.]]
** Chick starts out as a racist {{Jerkass}}, but after Whitehorse saves his life during a Japanese attack, he mellows out and becomes much nicer to Ben, to the point he risks his life to save him.
** Joe himself starts off as a ShellShockedVeteran with AxCrazy tendencies, to slowly mellowing up towards Ben, ending with him [[spoiler: [[RedemptionEqualsDeath dying to help protect Ben and the other Marines under fire.]] ]]
* CommunicationsOfficer: Pretty much the role of all the code-talkers such as Ben and Whitehorse.
* ConflictBall: The Windtalkers knew how important they were - so much so 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.
* DeathByRacism [[spoiler: Subverted with Chick, who makes it to the end with [[NiceGuy nice guys]] Ben and Pappas. [[CharacterDevelopment He’s definitely improved by the end of the film, though.]]]]

* DeathSeeker: Joe was the last man standing after his unit got slaughtered, because he insisted that they must obey their orders and hold their ground. It's haunted him ever since, to the point where he's one step from being outright suicidal.
* {{Determinator}}: Joe. Give him an order. He will do '''anything''' to fulfill it.
* DressingAsTheEnemy: Ben comes up with a way to take out an entrenched Japanese unit through infiltration by putting on a Japanese uniform himself and making his superior Joe look like a captured enemy. The subterfuge is made possible on account of Ben's tanner skin color and non-white features as a Navajo native, which Joe had earlier noted might cause others in the field to mistake him for a Japanese soldier. He really doesn’t look Japanese, which is why Joe also smears Ben’s face with dirt, [[BavarianFireDrill hoping that a guy who’s not white in a Japanese uniform will fool the enemy just long enough to get to the radio.]]

* FatBestFriend: ''Fat'' might be a strong word, but Charlei is noticeably stouter than his best friend Ben (who plays a bigger role).

* FlamethrowerBackfire: The film does this to [[spoiler:Harrigan]]
* {{Foil}}: Ox and Charlie to Ben and Joe. The two develop a genuine friendship, and display more loyalty to each other. While Joe is willing to follow their orders to kill the code talkers if necessary, Ox is unable to do so when the moment arrives, and is justified by him and Charlie managing to fight off their attackers [[spoiler: unforuatley, it's only a brief HopeSpot]].
* GenreBlind: Ben, regarding Joe's orders again.
* HiddenDepths: Joe. Sure, he is a killing machine with ''serious'' problems, but outside the battlefield he's really a nice guy. Even toward nominal enemies, as shown with the sick kid to whom he gave his pain-killers.

* HoldTheLine: Joe's unit in the Solomons at the beginning of the film is assigned this mission. Unfortunately, they soon become outnumbered and outgunned by the Japanese, and are wiped out as a result.

* ItHasBeenAnHonor: Ben and Joe toward each other at the end.
* ImprobableAimingSkills: Joe. If the Thompson submachine gun was half as accurate as it's shown in his hands, it would have been the ultimate weapon of [=WWII=], especially with his [[BottomlessMagazines 30-round mags that are evidently packed with 200+ rounds each]].
** The Thompson actually ''is'' a very accurate weapon...when fired semiauto. Joe’s long bursts would put one hole in the target and fifteen more...somewhere far, far away.

* ManlyTears: Joe cries during his NotSoStoic moments.
* MercyKill: Joe has orders to do this if his windtalker should fall into enemy hands, to both save the man from torture and protect the code.

* NaiveNewcomer: Both Ben and Whitehorse. They not only have no idea into what kind of hell they getting themselves, but are also completely unprepared for racial ostracization by fellow soldiers.
* NeverTrustATitle: Joe is the center of attention and the protagonist in the movie, the windtalkers are... there.

* OneManArmy: Joe, combining this with DoAnythingSoldier. While [[HandicappedBadass being deaf in one ear]] and living under the heavy burden of SurvivorGuilt, he is still capable of taking down dozens of enemies alone. Heck, he got ''two'' Silver Stars for his insane fighting skills and determination. Somewhat justified, as he’s a DeathSeeker who takes insane risks that ''should'' get him killed.

* RecklessSidekick: During their last fight Ben is so enraged that he basically endangers his whole squad by going berserk.

* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: Joe finds he is unable to perform his vital duty of killing his partner if it came down to it, so he goes to his commanding officer and requests an official transfer to another unit. Because of the village attack soon after, he stays on.
* SecretlyWealthy: Charlie dresses and behaves fairly modestly, but Ben says that his family owns one of the biggest flocks of sheep in the Four Corners.
* ShellShockedVeteran: Joe's last battle deeply messed with his mind.
* ShovelStrike: Ben is using an entrenching shovel to defend himself during the final battle.

* SlashedThroat: Whitehorse and Yahzee, who uses Bowie knives as their backup weapons, disposes many Japanese soldiers using this method. And then there's a MexicanStandoff between Yahzee and a Japanese soldier, who's interrupted by Joe sneaking up behind the Jap and slicing his throat.

* SurvivorsGuilt: Joe suffers from this due to being the SoleSurvivor of his squad in the battle on the Solomon Islands.
* TakeAThirdOption: When Joe can either fight the Japanese or kill Ben to keep the code secured, [[NoOneGetsLeftBehind he choose to take him on his back and run for safety]].

* TechnicalPacifist: Ben starts as one... [[AxCrazy where he ends up is another story]].
* TranquilFury: Joe. All the time.
* TrojanPrisoner: 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.* UnfriendlyFire: Chick was trying to pull this on Ben.

* WideEyedIdealist: Ben. He's just [[NaiveNewcomer an idealistic guy]] [[JumpedAtTheCall who wants to protect his country]] and then spread awareness of native culture as a teacher.

* ManOnFire: Harrigan is this before he is [=mercy killed=] by Joe.
** Also the numerous IJA soldiers killed by flamethrowers and incendiary grenades.

* KnifeNut: Whitehorse carries a ''big'' Bowie knife that he uses to good effect.

* ShellShockedVeteran: Joe.

* TrojanPrisoner: 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.
* {{Overcrank}}: After all it's John Woo's film.
* UnfriendlyFire: Chick was trying to pull this on Ben.

* WideEyedIdealist: Ben. He's just [[NaiveNewcomer an idealistic guy]] [[JumpedAtTheCall who wants to protect his country]].

* CryingLittleKid: The sobbing little girl in the ruined village that Harrigan tries to comfort with a bar of chocolate.

* SurvivorsGuilt: Joe suffers from this.

* ConspicuousCG: [=F6F=] Hellcat fighters. Maybe because they were CGI.

* ConspicuousCG: [=F6F=] Hellcat fighters. [[CaptainObvious Maybe because they were CGI]].

* DeathByRascism: [[spoiler: Subverted with Chick, who makes it to the end with [[NiceGuy nice guys]] Ben and Pappas. [[CharacterDevlopment He’s definitely improved by the end of the film, though.]]]]

* JustPlaneWrong: The [=F6F=] Hellcats are appropriate for the Battle of Saipan. Their insistence on dropping bombs from an altitude that should see them blown out of the sky by those very bombs, or the bombs’ defiance of the laws of physics, decidedly less so. It would have been far more appropriate if the planes had just been given [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Velocity_Aircraft_Rocket HVAR rockets]] instead, which do pretty much the same thing, and would make much more sense to use at low altitude.

* JustPlaneWrong: The [=F6F=] Hellcats are appropriate for the Battle of Saipan. Their insistence on dropping bombs from an altitude that should see them blown out of the sky by those very bombs, or the bombs’ defiance of the laws of physics, decidedly less so.

** When in desperate need of a radio, Yahtzee recalls how Chick said that Indians look almost Japanese when not in uniform to excuse almost killing Yahtzee. The squad promptly starts to [[DressingAsTheEnemy collect Japanese uniforms]].

* DressingAsTheEnemy: Ben comes up with a way to take out an entrenched Japanese unit through infiltration by putting on a Japanese uniform himself and making his superior Joe look like a captured enemy. The subterfuge is made possible on account of Ben's tanner skin color as a Navajo native, which Joe had earlier noted might cause others in the field to mistake him for a Japanese soldier.

* HidingBehindTheLanguageBarrier

* ImprobableAimingSkills: Joe. If the Thompson submachine gun was half as accurate as it's shown in his hands, it would have been the ultimate weapon of [=WWII=].

* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: Oh, how nice of you to feed a starving little girl... [[spoiler: time to blow up your flamethrower and let you burn alive!]]

* OneManArmy: Joe, combining this with DoAnythingSoldier. While [[HandicappedBadass being deaf in one ear]] and living under the heavy burden of SurvivorGuilt, he is still capable of taking down dozens of enemies alone. Heck, he got ''two'' Silver Stars for his insane fighting skills and determination.

* PoorCommunicationKills: 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 [[BetterToDieThanBeKilled trained how best to take themselves out]] before the enemy gets to them.

** The Japanese tanks prove useless for the most part as well, being taken out easily with small arms and flamethrowers.

* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory: There were Navajo code talkers, and they really were instrumental in the Pacific Theater,[[note]]Adolf Hitler had served in UsefulNotes/WorldWarI and knew the Allies had used similar code talkers in that war - he sent covert agents to study Native American dialects before the United States entered the war. Knowing this, the US did not use the Navajo code talkers in Europe.[[/note]] but the characters in this movie are all fictional.

* BottomlessMagazines: Reloading? You're kidding, right? This trope is going to absurd levels with Joe's Thompson. Even if he's the only character ever seen reloading, his mags holds a few times more than they should.

* BottomlessMagazines: Reloading? You're kidding, right? This trope is going to absurd levels with Joe's Thompson. Even if he's the only character ever seen reloading, his clips holds a few times more than they should.

* HumanShield: Ox uses one of the Japanese soldiers to block a stab from bayonet.

* MoodWhiplash: After upbeat talk about their families and home the main characters are suddenly under artillery fire. [[spoiler: [[KickTheDog Friendly artillery fire]] ]].

* NeverTrustATitle: Joe is the center of attention and the protagonist in the movie, the windtalkers, are... there.

* OneManArmy: Joe, combining this with DoAnythingSoldier. While [[HandicappedBadass being deaf on one ear]] and living under the heavy burden of SurvivorGuilt, he is still capable of taking down dozens of enemies alone. Heck, he got ''two'' Silver Stars for his insane fighting skills and determination.

* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory: There were Navajo code talkers, and they really were instrumental in the Pacific Theater,[[note]]Adolf Hitler had served in UsefulNotes/WorldWarI and knew the Allies had used similar code talkers in that war - he sent covert agents to study Native American dialects before the United States entered the war. Knowing this, the US did not use the Navajo code talkers in Europe[[/note]] but the characters in this movie are all fictional.