Clint Eastwood's Oscar-nominated LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA was recently released on DVD, HD-DVD and Blu-ray Disc (Warner Home Video, $34.99 for DVD and Blu-Ray, $39.99 for combo HD-DVD/DVD and $49.96 for five-disc Collectors Edition with FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS, from Paramount Home Ent.).
Shown from the vantage point of the Japanese military during World War II, the film chronicles the horrors of Iwo Jima and the struggles of General Tadamichi Kuribayashi (Ken Watanabe) and his troops as they prepare for battle.
The two-disc Special Edition includes: a "Red Sun, Black Sand: Making of LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA doc," a "Faces of Combat: The Cast of LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA doc," a "Still photo montage," the "November 2006 World Premiere at Budo-kan in Tokyo" and a "November 2006 press conference."
The Commemorative Collector's Edition also includes the bonus disc "Heroes of Iwo Jima." This includes a deeply moving A&E doc (narrated by Gene Hackman), and the Oscar nominated 1945 short film "TO THE SHORES OF IWO JIMA."
As with the earlier companion film, FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS, Michael Owens served as visual effects supervisor at Digital Domain, helping assure that the CGI (predominantly landscapes and water) looked as photoreal as possible.
From a visual effects perspective, notes Owens, LETTERS was bound to be a simpler project. It was more contained, and a lot takes place underground or at night. It needed some bridgework to get it done, and we kept playing around with it. What is interesting is that there are shots in both movies that are exactly the same because they cover the same moment.
But the challenge was still significant. Owens admits, For a while we were all getting a little slap-happy, thinking Which movie is this? Its hard to keep all the shots in your head for one movie. And LETTERS is completely in Japanese. There were two translators and script supervisors on the set, as well as a cultural ad set person
Bill Desowitz, former editor of VFXWorld, is currently the Crafts Editor of IndieWire.
