Why do anti-Iraq and anti-War on Terror Movies Tank?

[GHook93]

Stop-Loss (2008)
Stop-loss is just the lastest boxoffice loser. I read somewhere that a movie is considered a success if it doubles its budget. With $25 mil budget and making only $10 mil domestically and internationally, I think its safe to classify this one in the losers category.

It wasn't just this one, but the Phil Donahue movie about soldiers raping Iraqi women went no where also. Movies like Rendition tank also. If the anti-war movement is so big, why don't these movies (which one could categorize as propaganda) make waves?

Rendition at $25 mil world wide, I doubt it hit its budget!
Rendition (2007)

[Anmon]

I guess were all over it because of Michael Moore.

[sdbest]

FWIW, I wrote a blog about this. Go to Saving Dinah and click on Blog. Make sure your pop up blocker is disabled.

[Technosoul]

Perhaps people do not go to movies to get depressed but rather to escape from the realities that might make them feel like tanking.

Movies where some hero can win a battle with the bad guys, single-handed, is what people want to see because it is exciting and inspirational to watch. They want war heros and not movies that show our heros as degenerate people.

[Milton Bradley]

I'm one of those people who have absolutely no interest in this conflict.


It's just not interesting if you ask me, plus, who knows what the real truth is burried underneath all the lies we are asked to believe every night on the evening news.


I defenately feel sorry for veterans of this war, because when it comes to war story time, I'm not going to want to hear those stories either.

[Domino]

I'm not interested in the movies because I know they won't tell me anything I don't already know. It'd be kind of like a character in 1984 reading 1984: depressing.

Really, I can't imagine what demographic those movies are supposed to appeal to. Those who disagree with the premises won't want to watch, and those who agree with the premises have no reason to watch. I suppose it appeals to whatever small minority might be totally ignorant of what's going on, and think they're just going to see another action flick.

[grandpa]

Quote by: Domino I'm not interested in the movies because I know they won't tell me anything I don't already know. It'd be kind of like a character in 1984 reading 1984: depressing.

Plus, a lot of these movies don't rock the boat enough. With such movies, I tend to expect something average.

I would like to make a kickass documentary, but I
don't have first hand knowledge of film-making, a video camera, or the necessary budget.

Grandpa h.

[GHook93]

Quote by: grandpa Plus, a lot of these movies don't rock the boat enough. With such movies, I tend to expect something average.

LOL, soldiers raping Iraqi civilians, the CIA kidnapping and torturing American Arabs or soldiers getting redeployed well after what they signed up for is not rocking the boat. Now that's funny.

[GHook93]

Quote by: Technosoul Perhaps people do not go to movies to get depressed but rather to escape from the realities that might make them feel like tanking. Movies where some hero can win a battle with the bad guys, single-handed, is what people want to see because it is exciting and inspirational to watch. They want war heros and not movies that show our heros as degenerate people.

Not sure that is the case. Vietnam with all do respect was much more of a cluster-F@#K, but you have some anti-war movies that did pretty well.

[Gods_Mercenary]

Generally after the fact, however, plus, platoon, for instance, is just a great movie, none of these movies have even been particularly good, from what I've heard. It's important not to think you're owed an audience because you have a message.

Like Granpa says, it not informative, all it's going to say is the same old stuff people hear whenever someone criticizes the war, which is every day. A good documentary that brought something new to the table would be far more useful and probably successful.

[Chaossaber314]

It's not just Anti-war movies but it seems like anything dealing with the current time period is doing poorly. Look at Oliver Stone's World Trade Center. It was largely apolitical trying to focus on the tragedy rather than the politics. As I recall, that tanked as well.

Point is, people are looking for an escape, not a reminder of how screwed up things have been since the beginning of the decade.

[GHook93]

Quote by: Chaossaber314 It's not just Anti-war movies but it seems like anything dealing with the current time period is doing poorly. Look at Oliver Stone's World Trade Center. It was largely apolitical trying to focus on the tragedy rather than the politics. As I recall, that tanked as well. Point is, people are looking for an escape, not a reminder of how screwed up things have been since the beginning of the decade.

Hair the popular broadway play protesting the war came out in 1967 and the movie in 1979.

While you are right that most of the anti-war movies came out after the war, some noticeable ones came out right after the war when the sting of defeat was still on Americans tongue: Apocalypse Now (1979), Deer Hunter (1978) and Hair (1979).

[gela]

Mabe they were just badly made?

2 movies isn't enough to spot a trend.

[grandpa]

Quote by: GHook93 LOL, soldiers raping Iraqi civilians, the CIA kidnapping and torturing American Arabs or soldiers getting redeployed well after what they signed up for is not rocking the boat. Now that's funny.

Well, there's a difference between slightly nudging the boat, rocking it heavily and, finally, capsizing it. It's my standard criticism of news media, too. At least in America, hardly any focus goes on Israeli occupation forces opening heavy machine gun fire on Palestinian-owned houses, or doing some such thing. Virtually all I ever hear about is suicide bombers. The same things go with US airstrikes and the true scope of their devastation. It could be argued that such stories belong in alternative media, but that serves almost to rationalize bias toward America and its allies in mainstream coverage.

Grandpa h.