[HolyWarrior]

From the Los Angeles Times Snake-bitten 'Soldiers' is delayed again War is the latest obstacle to the release of the 'antihero' film, postponed five times. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- By John Horn Times Staff Writer Originally published April 21, 2003 Some movies have all the luck. "Buffalo Soldiers" is one of them, but unfortunately for the film all of it has been bad. For the fifth time, Miramax Films has postponed releasing the dark comedy about the American military, worried that its depiction of drug-dealing U.S. soldiers in 1989 West Germany would be as welcome as the Dixie Chicks in the Rose Garden. It's but the latest setback for a provocative movie that already was derailed by the Sept. 11 attacks, only to be sidetracked a year and a half later by the war in Iraq. Caught in the middle, Miramax agonized over shifting "Buffalo Soldiers' " release date yet again. The studio, historically Hollywood's most fearless, worried it would be accused of political timidity and filmmaker neglect if it shifted the film's debut. But Miramax also was concerned that if it released "Buffalo Soldiers" as planned on May 9, the film itself could be lost in a maelstrom of criticism over the studio's decision to distribute the film so close to the Iraq war. "Buffalo Soldiers" has been snake-bitten since shortly after it was completed in June 2001. Loosely adapted from a novel by Robert O'Connor, the Cold War movie is set outside Stuttgart and tracks the misdeeds of Army Specialist Ray Elwood (Joaquin Phoenix) and a brigade of fellow miscreants, addicts and stumblebums. Set in the malaise following Vietnam, the film's combatants have scant interest in duty and heroism. Indeed, the film is to military service what "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" was to mental health. Following a flurry of bidding, Miramax acquired the film at the Toronto International Film Festival on the evening of Sept. 10, 2001, and contractually pledged to release it within a year. But as soon as four planes were hijacked the next morning, the world changed, as did the film's prospects. The nation immediately rallied around its firefighters, police officers and armed forces. Suddenly, a movie about an Army battalion secretary who steals truckloads of requisitions and traffics heroin looked not only inopportune but distasteful. The movie was penciled in for a July 2002 premiere. Even with that patient schedule, a test screening held in New York City in January 2002 suggested Miramax might not be letting enough time pass after the September attacks. According to Jordan, one woman spoke out during a focus group after the screening, saying that while she didn't dispute the film's accuracy, "I think this is a time when we need to be patriotic and I don't think the American people should see it." The film's release was delayed until later that July, and then delayed again by almost a year, until March 2003. Miramax scrapped the March debut and decided a May release would fit best. But then world events interceded again, and as the Iraq war began and Baghdad fell to U.S. troops, the studio had to revisit the film's release date one more time. Last week, the studio consulted with Jordan, who advocated that the film be held. Part of the decision to hold the film until July 25 also was prompted by the availability of star Phoenix. The actor is currently filming the firefighter drama "Ladder 49" and would not have been available to conduct television and print interviews for "Buffalo Soldiers" until early July, the studio said. Miramax is hardly the only studio to postpone a film's release. In the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, several companies held off releasing a number of completed films whose subject matter was considered overly topical. In almost every case except for the corrupt police drama "Training Day," the postponed films flopped anyway.

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So much for life imitating art [img]graemlins/evillaughter1.gif[/img]

[ 04-29-2003, 11:55 PM: Message edited by: HolyWarrior ]