Review of Valley of the Wolves: Iraq (2006) by Adrian N — 21 Jul 2010
A controversial Turkish actioneer no-worse and no-better than the clichéd stereotype-ridden Hollywood productions of the same ilk...
Turkish director Serdar Akar (â??Gemideâ?? & â??Dar alanda kisa paslasmalarâ??) teams-up with Sadullah Sentürk to bring cult Turkish television series â??Kurtlar vadisiâ?? (â??Valley of the Wolvesâ??) to the big screen with this controversial movie that was a box office hit at home and did well enough in Germany to win a Bogey Award.
Turkish super-agent Polat Alemdar (Necati Sasmaz) and his team head to northern Iraq where they work with local Sheikh Abdurrahman Halis Karuki (Ghassan Massoud) and his daughter Leyla (Bergüzar Korel) to take revenge against American agent Sam Marshall (Billy Zane) for the infamous hood event in a rather basic action plot.
The bland Necati Sasmaz ("Kurtlar vadisi") re-creates his T.V. Role to little effect alongside co-stars Gürkan Uygun, Kenan �oban and Erhan Ufak whilst Ghassan Massoud and the beautiful Bergüzar Korel provide more compelling human interest and Diego Serrano, Gary Busey and Billy Zane chew through the scenery.
The film-makers complicate the basic story with references to all the most publicised excesses of the U.S. occupation of Iraq but this political commentary is completely blunted by mock-heroics, chest-thumping Turkish nationalism and cheap and tawdry production values that bely the fact that this is the most expensive Turkish movie produced to date.
â??Proud of Turkey, now?â??
This review of Valley of the Wolves: Iraq (2006) was written by Adrian N on 21 Jul 2010.
Valley of the Wolves: Iraq has generally received mixed reviews.
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