Eastwood war film to balance action status

Clint Eastwood decided to direct new World War II movie Flags of our Fathers because he wanted to emphasise the futility of combat after decades of making action movies.

The veteran actor/director is saddened by the regularity of war and so set out to make a film conveying his feelings on the issue.

The 76-year-old says: "As a young man I started out in a lot of action movies, but now I have reached that stage of life where I just felt it is time to address a lot of different things that are more important to me than fantasy characters.

"It is important to realise that war is a futile exercise at best. It doesn't speak so well for mankind that we keep on having wars, but we have had wars since the beginning of mankind. I don't have the answer."