Release
The film was originally produced and scheduled for release by Twentieth Century-Fox. However, the level of violence in the finished version of the film discouraged top executives from Fox, who decided to sell it to American International Pictures. In his Adventures in the Screen Trade, William Goldman defined one of the first screening of the movie as "the most violent sneak reaction of recent years... the audience actually got up and tried to physically abuse the studio personnel present among them.".
For reasons still not convincingly stated, the film was released in Spain in 1982 as El expreso de Corea (sometimes spelled in the media with a hyphen, ex-preso), which translates as "The former prisoner from Korea". A Korean War setting was included as well in the Spanish dubbing instead of the original Vietnam War scenario. A possible reason could be the title's slight similarity with the hugely successful El expreso de medianoche (Midnight Express), which was released earlier in Spain. However, the replacement of Vietnam by Korea is still left unexplained—even more so considering the fact that the time span of the Korean War, 1950–1953, conflicts with the alleged 7-year stay as POWs in the camp and the actual 1973 setting of the film.
Read more about this topic: Rolling Thunder (film)
Famous quotes containing the word release:
“The steel decks rock with the lightning shock, and shake with the
great recoil,
And the sea grows red with the blood of the dead and reaches for his spoil—
But not till the foe has gone below or turns his prow and runs,
Shall the voice of peace bring sweet release to the men behind the
guns!”
—John Jerome Rooney (1866–1934)
“If I were to be taken hostage, I would not plead for release nor would I want my government to be blackmailed. I think certain government officials, industrialists and celebrated persons should make it clear they are prepared to be sacrificed if taken hostage. If that were done, what gain would there be for terrorists in taking hostages?”
—Margaret Mead (1901–1978)
“Come, thou long-expected Jesus,
born to set thy people free;
from our fears and sins release us,
let us find our rest in thee.”
—Charles Wesley (1707–1788)