hmmm
for one, if the lead roles were played by mega stars - it would likely have diluted the story as the stars persona would've overshadowed the role.
As an example of NOT have Hollywood's hands on it - the documentary war film, RESTREPO, done independently by Sebastian Junger and Tim Hetherington - on their own dime - won the top award at it debut at Sundance, Jan 2010.
It was picked up and released in limited theaters to rave reviews - then broadcast on TV - now on DVD everywhere and just been nominated for an Academy Award.
Unlike all the other ‘War movies” = the ‘stars’ are the Sky Soldiers themselves. Raw war footage as is happens. No politics, no agenda, NO HOLLOW-WOOD It spoke to the people - and the people pushed it to the top.
We watched Restrepo recently and were mesmerized by it. It was SO compelling and gritty, completely true to the actual story. I hope it wins the Oscar it richly deserves!
Look... I just state as how I see it... You don’t have to agree with me... The production quality looks cheesy, the acting seems so-so, and the dialogue (from what I’ve seen in the trailer) is bad. I was hoping for much more but it is not there...
Restrepo is a Doco, a very different beast from a feature film and truly can’t be used in a comparison. And as far as Restrepo not having a P.O.V or bias is a false premise. Everything has a bias or a P.O.V.
Look it... I produce film and television in Hollywood and this unfortunately looks like, at beast, a really well done Movie of the Week. As a big Ayn Rand fan, I was hoping for more but am very let down by the trailer. I’ll go see the movie and I do hope that it is much better than the trailer. But, as we all know, a vast majority of trailers are better than the movies themselves.
I liken this movie will be up there with the quality of many of the “Christian” films being made today. They come close, but don’t quite succeed. (BTW — I am trying to change that.)
Just my humble opinion and nothing more...
ARA