YOU'VE seen the photograph, now discover the story behind it.

Director Clint Eastwood's movie takes an iconic image from the Pacific War - six men raising the American flag on a mountain during the battle of Iwo Jima - and uses it to tell of the effect of war on men, their families and their country.

The picture captured the imagination of Americans during the Second World War, and was used as part of the war effort to help sell war bonds.

The three surviving flag-raisers were pulled from the front line to tour the States, to make public appearances and meet influential people whom they begged to donate money in honour of the men who had died.

It was a vital, if cynical, exploitation of fighting men, especially when you learn that one man named as being in the photo wasn't there, and that the military deliberately hid the identity of the sixth man who was present.

The three men react differently to being thrust into the spotlight as heroes. Medic John Bradley (Phillippe) and Rene Gagnon (Bradford), a messenger who never fired his rifle, play along with the publicity.

But Native American Ira Hayes (Beach) can't deal with being hailed a hero expected to reenact the flag-raising on a papier mache mountain in a football stadium.

Eastwood doesn't shy away from portraying the horrors of battle in the flashbacks that punctuate the trio's money-raising tour. But the men's stories away from the action are interesting enough to merit further investigation.

Stars: Ryan Phillippe, Jesse Bradford, Adam Beach, Barry Pepper, Paul Walker, Jamie Bell
Running time: 132 mins
Rating: Three Stars