|
Post by phil82 on Sept 1, 2006 7:19:54 GMT 12
www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3782818a10,00.html 'ucking brilliant! He will do a superb job, and only one Yank in it!
|
|
|
Post by stu on Sept 1, 2006 8:54:44 GMT 12
Best news I've heard for a while ... here's hoping we get to keep a few of the Lanc replicas in the country afterwards
|
|
|
Post by Bruce on Sept 1, 2006 9:17:57 GMT 12
Where do I sign up for a job building Lancs? Excellent to hear Peter Jackson has it, he would be the most trustworthy of people in terms of accuracy. I wonder which location they would use to represent Scampton? there wouldnt be too many suitable places in NZ? - Wigram perhaps?
|
|
|
Post by phil82 on Sept 1, 2006 11:20:43 GMT 12
PJ has been to Scampton by all accounts.
There is no truth in the rumour that he has approached me to play the part of Guy Gibson.
|
|
|
Post by flyjoe180 on Sept 1, 2006 11:33:50 GMT 12
|
|
|
Post by turboNZ on Sept 1, 2006 15:22:09 GMT 12
Best news I've heard for a while ... here's hoping we get to keep a few of the Lanc replicas in the country afterwards I see the Omaka hangar getting expanded so a Lanc can fit alongside the Boeing Biplane replica.... ;D
|
|
|
Post by baldrick on Sept 1, 2006 17:15:32 GMT 12
In the 1954 production they had a US version where they dubbed in the word TRIGGER for the dogs name. Where does authenticity give way to political correctness.
Simmo
|
|
AJ
Flight Sergeant
Posts: 28
|
Post by AJ on Sept 1, 2006 18:48:04 GMT 12
Should be good with Jackson in charge. Can't wait for this one!
|
|
|
Post by corsair67 on Sept 2, 2006 14:10:00 GMT 12
From stuff.co.nz.
Dambuster has faith in Jackson 02 September 2006. By MIKE WATSON and REBECCA PALMER
The last living Dambuster pilot is confident film-maker Peter Jackson will do a good job telling the story of the World War II mission.
Squadron Leader Les Munro, DFC, DSO, is retired in Tauranga after a lifetime in farming and local body politics. He is the only surviving pilot of the 19 who flew modified Lancaster bombers to blow up dams in western Germany in 1943. The only other New Zealander on the mission was wireless operator Len Chambers, who died in 1985.
Mr Munro, 87, met Jackson in May to discuss a new version of the 1954 classic The Dam Busters, which Jackson will produce.
"I'm quite happy that he will do a good job. He will make a good film. What he and Richard Taylor did with Lord of the Rings, then I think nothing is beyond them."
He was not sure what, if any, role he would play in the film. "I jokingly remarked to him he might want to use my services as a pilot."
Mr Munro was flown from Nelson to Wellington for the premiere of the 1955 film. "It was quite good. There were one or two technical things – the shape of the bomb was still under security wrap."
He outlined those technicalities in an interview with The Dominion at the time. "I explained all about the bomb and got a letter from the air force telling me I was a naughty boy."
He hoped the new film would show some of the humour of the men in 617 Squadron.
"I'd like to see some of the antics we used to get up to in training.
"We used to dogfight each other in Lancs during training at low level. I remember flying down canals 100 feet wide at low level, which was unauthorised."
Flying unauthorised at low level was a court martial offence.
Mr Munro said there would be no room for "love interest" in the movie. "There was never a love interest during the operations, only afterwards."
The Dambusters mission involved 133 people, including the 19 pilots, who smashed the Moehne and Eder dams on May 16, 1943. The resulting floods killed 1200 people and destroyed numerous factories.
Mr Munro had flown 21 missions and was 24 when he volunteered for 617 Squadron.
He would do the mission again in the same circumstances. "Some have said it was a failure because of the loss of life and the short time that Germany was able to rebuild the dams. But it had a huge effect in lifting the morale of the British people in a time when there were heavy losses elsewhere
|
|
|
Post by Calum on Sept 2, 2006 20:43:51 GMT 12
To be honest, who cares . The dog has a minor role (ie he dies) in the original. It could be left out altogether and not affect the real story
|
|
|
Post by phil on Sept 3, 2006 18:28:17 GMT 12
I find it slightly funny that the PC brigade finds the dog's name so objectionable, but not the fact that 1200 Germans were killed, along with the 19 aircrew. Oh no, loss of life doesn't seem to bother them at all, but the dogs name does? They need to sort out their priorities.
|
|
|
Post by Calum on Sept 3, 2006 19:55:02 GMT 12
I guess we're assuming their will be a problem .... haven't seen any evidence of it so far
|
|
|
Post by phil on Sept 3, 2006 22:35:02 GMT 12
I'm sure one of the related articles in the Dom post was about, or at least mentioned it, but it's the one I didn't read. It was buried inside, not the one on the front page. Anyone read it?
|
|
|
Post by Dave Homewood on Sept 4, 2006 0:35:08 GMT 12
|
|
|
Post by corsair67 on Sept 4, 2006 12:40:05 GMT 12
Well, it's started! The dog's name was Nigger - get over it you PC yankers! From stuff.co.nz. Jackson hits turbulence over doggy name04 September 2006 By TOM CARDY Peter Jackson is already being dogged by one tricky aspect of the Dambusters story that he will turn into a $76 million film next year – a racial slur. Wing Commander Guy Gibson, head of the British mission that destroyed German dams in World War II, had a dog called Nigger. The dog features in the 1951 book The Dam Busters and the 1954 film of the same name – both sources for Jackson's Dambusters to be shot in Wellington and Britain next year. Jackson said his team would tread carefully over the name but had yet to decide what to do. "It is not our intention to offend people. But really you are in a no-win, damned-if-you-do-and-damned-if-you-don't scenario. If you change it, everyone's going to whinge and whine about political correctness. And if you don't change it, obviously you are offending a lot of people inadvertently. "We haven't made any decisions about what we'll do. Everybody asks about the dog. Everybody who we spoke to over in England was, `What are you going to call the dog? What are you going to call the dog?' We will just wait and see." Jackson unveiled plans on Thursday to produce the film. It will be directed by Kiwi first-timer Christian Rivers and backed by Hollywood studio Universal Pictures and Europe's largest film company, StudioCanal. Jackson said the film would not judge what the Royal Air Force did. After special bouncing bombs launched by Lancaster bombers destroyed the dams, 1200 people died in the flooding. "We don't want to make a film that is judging and moralising of the events from a 2006 perspective – that's the job of a documentary film-makers. It's just wrong to do that," he said. "We want to make a movie that is reflecting the values that existed in 1943 and the pressures people were under. "It has become trendy, especially in England, to cast moral judgments on (the Royal Air Force's) Bomber Command and the firebombing of German cities. I totally understand why. "War is a horrible thing and a lot of terrible stuff happened. But that was a war that had to be won and the Nazis had to be defeated. I just think it's wrong to apply modern politics to something that happened 61 years ago." Jackson said the film would not cost more than $US50 million – a modest budget by Hollywood standards. This meant more control. "Everyone's fear is that it will be Americanised and made in an overt Hollywood way with love stories and such. We just want to tell the story of that particular event in the war in a straight way. "We're not going up into that blockbuster budget range because then the freedom to do what we want to do would be much less. We want to make a film that feels like a British war movie, not a Hollywood war movie. It is really important to honour the feeling and the tone of the film." Rivers said he wanted the film to feel as close to what it was really like in 1943. "The story itself is exciting and what they did is exciting. We don't need to falsify anything or sensationalise anything, because it's all there already. What we want to do is make a film that's very true to the values of that era
|
|
|
Post by phil82 on Sept 4, 2006 13:06:03 GMT 12
I agree; get over it!
The fact is that the name of the dog is fundamental to the story, and had the dog been named "Passionflower" or "Boofhead" this discussion wouldn't be taking place among the PC crowd.
Peter Jackson has made a very good point in this mornings Dom, that he is intent on portraying life as it was in 1943, not 2006.
Incidentally, the DVD I have of the film calls a spade a spade!
I also recently have a book entitled "Warriors", by Max Hastings in which he researched the lives of a number of warlike people in real life;Chamberlain of Gettysberg fame; Rickenbacker, John Master;and Guy Gibson. The conclusion is that Gibson was a true 'man of the moment' as a warrior, but was otherwise intensly disliked as a man and an officer and would never have made it in a peace-time RAF. There is a hint of his single-mindedness in the film the Dambusters, where he comes home to find the dog has been buried, a dog he loved, and when he returns to his office he finds the dog lead on his desk. With a mere glance he picks it up and bins it!
|
|
|
Post by Bruce on Sept 4, 2006 14:25:24 GMT 12
I pity the "PC brigade", they must live in constant paranoid fear of offending someone - surely they couldnt go out of their homes becuase streets are tarsealed black and the sky is (sometimes) right - wing blue! In reality, how many "People of african ancestry" would really be offended by what someone named their dog over 60 years ago? probably none, but the paranoid PC police turn it into a huge insult.
|
|
|
Post by amitch on Sept 4, 2006 14:38:52 GMT 12
but the paranoid PC police turn it into a huge insult. The problem here is really the media, they are the ones who have raised this issue. They do this kind of thing all the time to try and get the most out of a story, offten when there wasn't one to start with. If the media repeats it enough, it's amazing how many people think it's true. I was standing close to Greg Murphy a couple of years ago while he was interviewed by TV (can't remember who) and what he said and what appeared on TV wasn't even close.
|
|
|
Post by Dave Homewood on Sept 4, 2006 15:02:40 GMT 12
In the interests of accurate reporting and historical accuracy - and nothing else - I have decided to remove the swearword filter on the dog's name.
Personally I find the word distasteful, but in a historical context it must be used rather than a subsitute, or not used at all. They could easily have the dog in the film and not mention his name - "Hear boy..." "Gibson's dog has been run over..." "Send the codeword...dit dit dah dit..."
Alex is right, the media are the main problem. They too have coloured the thinking of moviegoers, especially in Britain, over several similar films as they love to stir up the anti-Hollywood crowd. In many cases it is very much deserved. In this, no.
I am pleased to read the statements by Peter Jackson and Christian Rivers in that article, as hopefully it may set a few minds to rest. I'm convinced they will do a fantastic job.
I am wondering more about casting. Has anyone got suggestions? I have seen suggested elsewhere that Ian Lavender should play Wallis - that might work well. Ian also told me he loves New Zealand and would jump at the chance to work here again.
Plus in the testing stages when the bouncing bomb doesn't work, a little pompous officer could turn to him, give him a slow burn, and then utter "You stupid boy!"
|
|
|
Post by tibor on Sept 4, 2006 15:34:00 GMT 12
Plus in the testing stages when the bouncing bomb doesn't work, a little pompous officer could turn to him, give him a slow burn, and then utter "You stupid boy!" Couldn't help yourself, could you Dave? ;^) The dogs grave is still at RAF Scampton. Here is a link to a picture of it (not mine, by the way...) taken in 1989. www.rob.clubkawasaki.com/jas3089.jpg
|
|