'Flags of our Fathers' is the powerful and moving true story of what happened to the three survivors of the six men that raised the flag on Iwo Jima as immortalized in the Marine Corps Memorial.<br /><br />The editing of this film, utilizing flashbacks and showing how something as simple as a lightning bolt flashing can bring back memories that haunt veterans of combat is very true to life. My wife is a nurse at a Veterans Home - thunder claps in the middle of the night will invariably bring out cries from the sleeping combat veterans.<br /><br />What is also true to life is how these men - Rene Gagnon, Ira Hayes, and John Bradley - did not see themselves to be heroes. They felt that the heroes were those who had fallen on Iwo Jima - yet the public was continually holding them up to be more than they thought they were. This is shown very well when James Bradley is going through the box of his fathers possessions and pulls out an envelope with the Navy Cross stuffed in it. The Navy Cross is one step down from the Medal of Honor and is awarded for extraordinary heroism in combat - normally one who earned it would put it on display.<br /><br />The use of sepia tone at times - plus the sheer starkness of the black sands with the stark white of flares - gave this film a look that was very compelling. As far as how emotional of a movie this was shown in the theatre where I saw it - which was a full theatre on Veterans Day. At the end of the movie, the credits started rolling - and no one stood up. A lot of noses were being blown and tears were being shed, but no comments were made at all - this movie affected the audience that much.<br /><br />I consider this to be equal to Citizen Kane as far as quality movies are concerned. This isn't light entertainment.