Valley of the Wolves: Iraq (2006)
"Kurtlar vadisi - Irak" (original title)

Directors:

Serdar Akar, Sadullah Sentürk

Writers:

Ömer Lütfi Mete (scenario supervisor), Raci Sasmaz (screenplay),

Stars:

Necati Sasmaz, Billy Zane, Ghassan Massoud

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Necati Sasmaz	...	Polat Alemdar
Billy Zane	...	Sam William Marshall
Ghassan Massoud	...	Abdurrahman Halis Karuki (sheikh)
Gürkan Uygun	...	Memati Bas
Bergüzar Korel	...	Leyla
Kenan Çoban	...	Abdülhey Çoban
Erhan Ufak	...	Erhan Ufak
Diego Serrano	...	Dante, Sam's assistant
Gary Busey	...	Doctor
Spencer Garrett	...	George Baltimore, journalist
Tito Ortiz	...	American Major Commander 2
Nusret Senay	...	Turkish Commander
Tayfun Eraslan	...	SÜLEYMAN ASLAN
Ismet Hürmüzlü	...	Abu Tarik, arab leader
Jay Abdo	...	KURDISH LEADER (as Jihad Abdou)

Storyline

---

Plot Keywords:

bigotry | child murder | soldier | melodrama | restaurant | 

---

Taglines:

Some Men Are Born to be Heroes

---

Genres:

Action | Adventure

---

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [tr]

Country:

Turkey

Language:

Arabic English Turkish Kurdish

Release Date:

3 February 2006 (Turkey)

Also Known As:

Valley of the Wolves: Iraq

Filming Locations:

Gaziantep, Turkey

Box Office

Budget:

$8,300,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$3,223,975 (Turkey) (10 February 2006)

Gross:

$197,959 (Netherlands) (10 February 2006)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Pana Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

122 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This film was the the subject of heated discussions in Germany. Originally it was rated "Not under 18" by the FSK, but distributor Maxximum appealed this decision which resulted in a "Not under 16" rating. Then the film became a success, especially amongst turkish teenagers. The success resulted in massive media coverage. This in turn resulted in broad discussions from politicians (especially from the Bavarian conservative CSU party), youth organisations etc. about the films "Anti-American statements" and their influence on youngsters. After another appeal (from the minister for family and integration from Northrhine Westphalia) the FSK raised the rating back to the original "Not under 18".

---

Goofs

American soldiers, presumably infantry of the 173rd Airborne, are shown carrying the full-size M16 assault rifle, when in fact most Army infantry carry the M4A1 carbine.

---

Connections

Follows Kurtlar vadisi (2003)

User Reviews

This movie can help us understand how many Turkish, Arabic or Muslim people feel and think

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.