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Tourism
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2006-10-27 20:52:27-04
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'Rambo' warned not to destroy Thailand's environment during shooting
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Washington, Oct 28: Though Thailand's new military installed government is thrilled to welcome Hollywood heavyweights like Sylvester Stallone and Denzel Washington to shoot films in the country, they have asked producers to make sure that violent scenes do not harm the environment, nor target ethnic minorities. Stallone will spend several weeks in Thailand early next year, shooting for his comeback movie Rambo IV: In the Serpent's Eye in the country's lush, mountainous northern provinces. In the latest sequel, John Rambo is pulled out of retirement in Bangkok to help find missionary aid workers, who disappeared while delivering supplies to ethnic minorities in neighboring Myanmar. The country is heavily dependant on tourism and has already faced some damage because of the recent coup. Now the country stands to earn millions of dollars as it has been selected as the backdrop for new films starring Sylvester Stallone, Denzel Washington. About 70 to 80% of the Rambo movie will be shot in Thailand, earning the country more than 5 million dollars. The Thailand Film Office claims that they have gone through the film's script, and have given the green light for the shooting in Thailand, but voiced concern that violence in the movie could reflect badly on ethnic minorities on the Thai-Myanmar border. "Some scenes might be a little bit violent, so we asked them not to make it too violent because, if we say that the ethnic minorities are violent, it might be inappropriate. We did not forbid them - we just asked them to be careful," edmontonsun.com quoted Wanasiri Morakul, director of the Thailand Film Office as saying. She has also asked the filmmakers to assure villagers and environmentalists that any bombing scenes - "in that Rambo style" - would not harm the environment. Activists were up in arms over The Beach, shot in 2000 and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, complaining a beach in a Thai national park was damaged during the shooting. Washington will also be in Thailand in November to film American Gangster, in which he stars with Russell Crowe. The story is about play Harlem heroin kingpin Frank Lucas and drugs smuggled to New York in the 1970s inside the coffins of American soldiers killed in the Vietnam War. Other recent movies shot partially in Thailand include Alexander and Star Wars Episode III.
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