Kurtlar Vadisi: Irak

A commando of Turkish intelligence agents enter Irak to avenge a real life episode in the war where Turkish soldiers were arrested and blindfolded by American troops. A very good action film, condemned unseen by many in the west, it represents at least a change of pace by showing the Muslims as the good guys and the Americans as the bad guys. The movie is actually very strongly against terrorism (the Sheikh in the movie criticizes the terrorists who wants to behead an American journalist, and prevents this from happening) but is also against American ignorant meddling in the Middle East. Most of all, though, Valley of the Wolves is a terrific action movie. And Billy Zane - who has apologized to the American press for appearing in this film - has actually one of the best performances in his career as a real meanie.

Finally someone made something different then what we always use to see from Hollywood, The Americans use to be always the one who save the world and always the goods the winners, before was movies about Vietnam, they use to be the bad ones and then the Russians, one American man fighting against all the Russian army (Rambo) and now who else the Arabs ? If they have the right to show to the whole world that Viet army is bad and Russians too so whats wrong with this Kurtlar Vadisi... First time someone made something different then Hollywood use to show us always and now they become a shame ? I don't see any shame in this movie, it was a good movie i enjoyed there is some truth and some fiction in it but at least its not Rambo ;) more realistic then that...Open your eyes people!

Most German newspapers (e.g. www.spiegel.de) said the film is anti-American, anti-Jewish, anti-Christian, and is bad because it deepens the existing "culture clash" even more.

I don't agree. Well, of course the movie is one-sided. With a single exception the Americans in the movie are unscrupulous, dead-heartened and bloodthirsty. They humiliate people of other countries/cultures/religion, don't care about deaths of innocent civilians, maltreat prisoners, etc. Of course most Americans are not like this, but as we know from the pictures and videos from Abu Ghureib and from several other incidents, most of these things did really happen. Why should it be not allowed to show these things in a movie? One scene remind me strongly of holocaust movies: captives are transported on a long journey in a container on a truck. One guard says to the other: they might suffocate in the container because there is no fresh air supply. The truck stops, the (American) guard gets off the truck and fires with an automatic gun hundreds of bullet-holes into the container and creates a bloodbath among the captives. Well, if a holocaust movie shows German Nazis committing terrible things, I don't object too. OK, I don't really know if something like this container incident did really happen in Iraq, but we know that many bad enough things did actually happen.

There are interesting scenes e.g. where a sheik stops some fanatists from executing an American journalist and confronts them with facts why this has nothing to do with Islam, or another one where he discusses with suicide bombers why their plans are wrong.

This movie can help us understand how many Turkish, Arabic or Muslim people feel and think. It is provocative, one-sided, and mixes historic truth with fiction in a questionable way. However isn't that a good starting point for discussing these issues? Sometimes provocation is necessary to get people start talking. First we need to learn to talk about our own feelings. Then we can talk to each other. It's not very healthy if the political correctness keeps telling us to not talk about what we really think and feel just because it could violate other peoples feelings.

Turks are not Iranians, their Islamic cinematography has much to be desired. Yet even they, provided sufficient money, can reach Hollywood level entertainment quality, and this movie certainly proves that, so emulating Hollywood, which is typically even more shallow and stupid but shiny and bombastic, is really possible anywhere. What Turks bring to the table is realism, realism in portrayal of american war criminal mentality that plagues the world in the last decades. It is a satisfying antidote to Hollywood stupidity of patriotic shallow stupid pro-Amurican anti everyone else propaganda, and is both technically and morally superior to average CIA propaganda vomit like Black hawk down or Top gun. That being said, it is still a mediocre movie with only its objectivity to elevate it above it.

As mentioned before here somewhere, there is a true hysteria on going in Europe about this movie, which i don't understand at all. Why is it, that people get up now and denunciate the content. What is wrong with them guys ? I mean Hollywood produced Bullsh.. for years, and told so called "true" stories one-sided and no one ever said a word about their manipulative policy. Russians have been showed bad and evil for years, then the Japanese, then the Arabian world and it always was OK. Who says, the good guys are always American ? Who says justice is being made by stars'n'stripes ? Once Oliver Stone dragged a whole country and its people in the mud and every consumer thought, ooohhh yeah, so this is what Turkey is about. And when the Turks complained about that movie, Hollywood's answer was: Hey, it's just a movie. Don't take serious. Exact the same thing word, is what I'm saying now: Hey, it's only Showbiz !!! But back to the movie.

Valley of Wolves sure has some lacks in professionalism but what has to be said: the movie is thrilling. Besides the American actors, which are chosen very well, the Turkish ones have some work to do to take place in the higher class. But of course, there are also very touching moments, like the Hospital visit from the main character. The special and action effects are not bad but are too limited in its volume to be really spectacle.

I think it is a solid action movie and for once told from the other side than the usual "hero saves the world" stuff.

cheers.