title: Turquoise

text: The French conducted archaeological excavations of Egypt from the mid-19th century through the early 20th. These excavations, including that of Tutankhamun's tomb, created great public interest in the western world, subsequently influencing jewellery, architecture, and art of the time. Turquoise, already favoured for its pastel shades since around 1810, was a staple of Egyptian Revival pieces. In contemporary Western use, turquoise is most often encountered cut "en cabochon" in silver rings, bracelets, often in the Native American style, or as tumbled or roughly hewn beads in chunky necklaces. Lesser material may be carved into fetishes, such as those crafted by the Zuni. While strong sky blues remain superior in value, mottled green and yellowish material is popular with artisans.


title: Turquoise

text: In many cultures of the Old and New Worlds, this gemstone has been esteemed for thousands of years as a holy stone, a bringer of good fortune or a talisman. The oldest evidence for this claim was found in Ancient Egypt, where grave furnishings with turquoise inlay were discovered, dating from approximately 3000 BCE. In the ancient Persian Empire, the sky-blue gemstones were earlier worn round the neck or wrist as protection against unnatural death. If they changed colour, the wearer was thought to have reason to fear the approach of doom. Meanwhile, it has been discovered that the turquoise certainly can change colour, but that this is not necessarily a sign of impending danger. The change can be caused by the light, or by a chemical reaction brought about by cosmetics, dust or the acidity of the skin.


title: Turquoise

text: The goddess Hathor was associated with turquoise, as she was the patroness of Serabit el-Khadim, where it was mined. Her titles included "Lady of Turquoise", "Mistress of Turquoise", and "Lady of Turquoise Country".


title: Turquoise

text: In Western culture, turquoise is also the traditional birthstone for those born in the month of December. The turquoise is also a stone in the Jewish High Priest's breastplate, described in Exodus chapter 28. The stone is also considered sacred to the indigenous Zuni and Pueblo peoples of the American Southwest. The pre-Columbian Aztec and Maya also considered it to be a valuable and culturally important stone.


title: Turquoise

text: The Egyptians were the first to produce an artificial imitation of turquoise, in the glazed earthenware product faience. Later glass and enamel were also used, and in modern times more sophisticated porcelain, plastics, and various assembled, pressed, bonded, and sintered products (composed of various copper and aluminium compounds) have been developed: examples of the latter include "Viennese turquoise", made from precipitated aluminium phosphate coloured by copper oleate; and "neolith", a mixture of bayerite and copper(II) phosphate. Most of these products differ markedly from natural turquoise in both physical and chemical properties, but in 1972 Pierre Gilson introduced one fairly close to a true synthetic (it does differ in chemical composition owing to a binder used, meaning it is best described as a simulant rather than a synthetic). Gilson turquoise is made in both a uniform colour and with black "spiderweb matrix" veining not unlike the natural Nevada material.


title: Turquoise

text: The most common imitation of turquoise encountered today is dyed howlite and magnesite, both white in their natural states, and the former also having natural (and convincing) black veining similar to that of turquoise. Dyed chalcedony, jasper, and marble is less common, and much less convincing. Other natural materials occasionally confused with or used in lieu of turquoise include: variscite and faustite; chrysocolla (especially when impregnating quartz); lazulite; smithsonite; hemimorphite; wardite; and a fossil bone or tooth called odontolite or "bone turquoise", coloured blue naturally by the mineral vivianite. While rarely encountered today, odontolite was once mined in large quantities—specifically for its use as a substitute for turquoise—in southern France.


title: Turquoise

text: These fakes are detected by gemologists using a number of tests, relying primarily on non-destructive, close examination of surface structure under magnification; a featureless, pale blue background peppered by flecks or spots of whitish material is the typical surface appearance of natural turquoise, while manufactured imitations will appear radically different in both colour (usually a uniform dark blue) and texture (usually granular or sugary). Glass and plastic will have a much greater translucency, with bubbles or flow lines often visible just below the surface. Staining between grain boundaries may be visible in dyed imitations.


title: Turquoise

text: Some destructive tests may be necessary; for example, the application of diluted hydrochloric acid will cause the carbonates odontolite and magnesite to effervesce and howlite to turn green, while a heated probe may give rise to the pungent smell so indicative of plastic. Differences in specific gravity, refractive index, light absorption (as evident in a material's absorption spectrum), and other physical and optical properties are also considered as means of separation.


title: Turquoise

text: Turquoise is treated to enhance both its colour and durability (increased hardness and decreased porosity). As is so often the case with any precious stones, full disclosure about treatment is frequently not given. Gemologists can detect these treatments using a variety of testing methods, some of which are destructive, such as the use of a heated probe applied to an inconspicuous spot, which will reveal oil, wax or plastic treatment.


title: Turquoise

text: Historically, light waxing and oiling were the first treatments used in ancient times, providing a wetting effect, thereby enhancing the colour and lustre. This treatment is more or less acceptable by tradition, especially because treated turquoise is usually of a higher grade to begin with. Oiled and waxed stones are prone to "sweating" under even gentle heat or if exposed to too much sun, and they may develop a white surface film or bloom over time. (With some skill, oil and wax treatments can be restored.)


title: Turquoise

text: Since finer turquoise is often found as thin seams, it may be glued to a base of stronger foreign material for reinforcement. These stones are termed "backed", and it is standard practice that all thinly cut turquoise in the Southwestern United States is backed. Native indigenous peoples of this region, because of their considerable use and wearing of turquoise, have found that backing increases the durability of thinly cut slabs and cabochons of turquoise. They observe that if the stone is not backed it will often crack. Early backing materials included the casings of old model T batteries, old phonograph records, and more recently epoxy steel resins. Backing of turquoise is not widely known outside of the Native American and Southwestern United States jewellery trade. Backing does not diminish the value of high quality turquoise, and indeed the process is expected for most thinly cut American commercial gemstones.


title: Turquoise

text: A proprietary process was created by electrical engineer and turquoise dealer James E. Zachery in the 1980s to improve the stability of medium to high-grade turquoise. The process can be applied in several ways: either through deep penetration on rough turquoise to decrease porosity, by shallow treatment of finished turquoise to enhance color, or both. The treatment can enhance color and improve the turquoise's ability to take a polish. Such treated turquoise can be distinguished in some cases from natural turquoise, without destruction, by energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, which can detect its elevated potassium levels. In some instances, such as with already high-quality, low-porosity turquoise that is treated only for porosity, the treatment is undetectable.


title: Turquoise

text: The use of Prussian blue and other dyes (often in conjunction with bonding treatments) to "enhance” its appearance, make uniform or completely change the colour, is regarded as fraudulent by some purists, especially since some dyes may fade or rub off on the wearer. Dyes have also been used to darken the veins of turquoise.


title: Turquoise

text: Material treated with plastic or water glass is termed "bonded" or "stabilized" turquoise. This process consists of pressure impregnation of otherwise unsaleable chalky American material by epoxy and plastics (such as polystyrene) and water glass (sodium silicate) to produce a wetting effect and improve durability. Plastic and water glass treatments are far more permanent and stable than waxing and oiling, and can be applied to material too chemically or physically unstable for oil or wax to provide sufficient improvement. Conversely, stabilization and bonding are rejected by some as too radical an alteration.


title: Turquoise

text: The epoxy binding technique was first developed in the 1950s and has been attributed to Colbaugh Processing of Arizona, a company that still operates today.


title: Turquoise

text: Perhaps the most extreme of treatments is "reconstitution", wherein fragments of fine turquoise material, too small to be used individually, are powdered and then bonded with resin to form a solid mass. Very often the material sold as "reconstituted turquoise" is artificial, with little or no natural stone, made entirely from resins and dyes. In the trade reconstituted turquoise is often called "block turquoise" or simply "block".


title: Turquoise

text: Hardness and richness of colour are two of the major factors in determining the value of turquoise; while colour is a matter of individual taste, generally speaking, the most desirable is a strong sky to robin egg blue (in reference to the eggs of the American robin). Whatever the colour, for many applications, turquoise should not be soft or chalky; even if treated, such lesser material (to which most turquoise belongs) is liable to fade or discolour over time and will not hold up to normal use in jewellery.


title: Turquoise

text: The mother rock or "matrix" in which turquoise is found can often be seen as splotches or a network of brown or black veins running through the stone in a netted pattern; this veining may add value to the stone if the result is complementary, but such a result is uncommon. Such material is sometimes described as "spiderweb matrix"; it is most valued in the Southwest United States and Far East, but is not highly appreciated in the Near East where unblemished and vein-free material is ideal (regardless of how complementary the veining may be). Uniformity of colour is desired, and in finished pieces the quality of workmanship is also a factor; this includes the quality of the polish and the symmetry of the stone. Calibrated stones—that is, stones adhering to standard jewellery setting measurements—may also be more sought after. Like coral and other opaque gems, turquoise is commonly sold at a price according to its physical size in millimetres rather than weight.


title: Turquoise

text: Turquoise is treated in many different ways, some more permanent and radical than others. Controversy exists as to whether some of these treatments should be acceptable, but one can be more or less forgiven universally: This is the "light" waxing or oiling applied to most gem turquoise to improve its colour and lustre; if the material is of high quality to begin with, very little of the wax or oil is absorbed and the turquoise therefore does not rely on this impermanent treatment for its beauty. All other factors being equal, untreated turquoise will always command a higher price. Bonded and reconstituted material is worth considerably less.


title: Turquoise

text: Being a phosphate mineral, turquoise is inherently fragile and sensitive to solvents; perfume and other cosmetics will attack the finish and may alter the colour of turquoise gems, as will skin oils, as will most commercial jewellery cleaning fluids. Prolonged exposure to direct sunlight may also discolour or dehydrate turquoise. Care should therefore be taken when wearing such jewels: cosmetics, including sunscreen and hair spray, should be applied before putting on turquoise jewellery, and they should not be worn to a beach or other sun-bathed environment. After use, turquoise should be gently cleaned with a soft cloth to avoid a buildup of residue, and should be stored in its own container to avoid scratching by harder gems. Turquoise can also be adversely affected if stored in an airtight container.


title: Corticosteroid

text: Corticosteroids are a class of steroid hormones that are produced in the adrenal cortex of vertebrates, as well as the synthetic analogues of these hormones. Two main classes of corticosteroids, glucocorticoids and mineralocorticoids, are involved in a wide range of physiological processes, including stress response, immune response, and regulation of inflammation, carbohydrate metabolism, protein catabolism, blood electrolyte levels, and behavior.


title: Corticosteroid

text: Some common naturally occurring steroid hormones are cortisol (), corticosterone (), cortisone () and aldosterone (). (Note that cortisone and aldosterone are isomers.) The main corticosteroids produced by the adrenal cortex are cortisol and aldosterone.


title: Corticosteroid

text: Synthetic pharmaceutical drugs with corticosteroid-like effects are used in a variety of conditions, ranging from brain tumors to skin diseases. Dexamethasone and its derivatives are almost pure glucocorticoids, while prednisone and its derivatives have some mineralocorticoid action in addition to the glucocorticoid effect. Fludrocortisone (Florinef) is a synthetic mineralocorticoid. Hydrocortisone (cortisol) is typically used for replacement therapy, "e.g." for adrenal insufficiency and congenital adrenal hyperplasia.


title: Corticosteroid

text: Topical formulations are also available for the skin, eyes (uveitis), lungs (asthma), nose (rhinitis), and bowels. Corticosteroids are also used supportively to prevent nausea, often in combination with 5-HT3 antagonists ("e.g." ondansetron).


title: Corticosteroid

text: Typical undesired effects of glucocorticoids present quite uniformly as drug-induced Cushing's syndrome. Typical mineralocorticoid side-effects are hypertension (abnormally high blood pressure), steroid induced diabetes mellitus, psychosis, poor sleep, hypokalemia (low potassium levels in the blood), hypernatremia (high sodium levels in the blood) without causing peripheral edema, metabolic alkalosis and connective tissue weakness. Wound healing or ulcer formation may be inhibited by the immunosuppressive effects.


title: Corticosteroid

text: Clinical and experimental evidence indicates that corticosteroids can cause permanent eye damage by inducing central serous retinopathy (CSR, also known as central serous chorioretinopathy, CSC). This should be borne in mind when treating patients with optic neuritis. There is experimental and clinical evidence that, at least in optic neuritis speed of treatment initiation is important.


title: Corticosteroid

text: A variety of steroid medications, from anti-allergy nasal sprays (Nasonex, Flonase) to topical skin creams, to eye drops (Tobradex), to prednisone have been implicated in the development of CSR.


title: Corticosteroid

text: Corticosteroids have been widely used in treating people with traumatic brain injury. A systematic review identified 20 randomised controlled trials and included 12,303 participants, then compared patients who received corticosteroids with patients who received no treatment. The authors recommended people with traumatic head injury should not be routinely treated with corticosteroids.


title: Corticosteroid

text: Corticosteroids act as agonists of the glucocorticoid receptor and/or the mineralocorticoid receptor.


title: Corticosteroid

text: In addition to their corticosteroid activity, some corticosteroids may have some progestogenic activity and may produce sex-related side effects.


title: Corticosteroid

text: Patients' response to inhaled corticosteroids has some basis in genetic variations. Two genes of interest are CHRH1 (corticotropin-releasing hormone receptor 1) and TBX21 (transcription factor T-bet). Both genes display some degree of polymorphic variation in humans, which may explain how some patients respond better to inhaled corticosteroid therapy than others. However, not all asthma patients respond to corticosteroids and large sub groups of asthma patients are corticosteroid resistant.


title: Corticosteroid

text: A study funded by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute of children and teens with mild persistent asthma found that using the control inhaler as needed worked the same as daily use in improving asthma control, number of asthma flares, how well the lungs work, and quality of life. Children and teens using the inhaler as needed used about one-fourth the amount of corticosteroid medicine as children and teens using it daily.


title: Corticosteroid

text: The corticosteroids are synthesized from cholesterol within the adrenal cortex. Most steroidogenic reactions are catalysed by enzymes of the cytochrome P450 family. They are located within the mitochondria and require adrenodoxin as a cofactor (except 21-hydroxylase and 17α-hydroxylase).


title: Corticosteroid

text: Aldosterone and corticosterone share the first part of their biosynthetic pathway. The last part is mediated either by the aldosterone synthase (for aldosterone) or by the 11β-hydroxylase (for corticosterone). These enzymes are nearly identical (they share 11β-hydroxylation and 18-hydroxylation functions), but aldosterone synthase is also able to perform an 18-oxidation. Moreover, aldosterone synthase is found within the zona glomerulosa at the outer edge of the adrenal cortex; 11β-hydroxylase is found in the zona fasciculata and zona glomerulosa.


title: Corticosteroid

text: In general, corticosteroids are grouped into four classes, based on chemical structure. Allergic reactions to one member of a class typically indicate an intolerance of all members of the class. This is known as the "Coopman classification".


title: Corticosteroid

text: Hydrocortisone, hydrocortisone acetate, cortisone acetate, tixocortol pivalate, prednisolone, methylprednisolone, and prednisone.


title: Corticosteroid

text: Amcinonide, budesonide, desonide, fluocinolone acetonide, fluocinonide, halcinonide, and triamcinolone acetonide.


title: Corticosteroid

text: Alclometasone dipropionate, betamethasone dipropionate, betamethasone valerate, clobetasol propionate, clobetasone butyrate, fluprednidene acetate, and mometasone furoate.


title: Corticosteroid

text: Ciclesonide, cortisone acetate, hydrocortisone aceponate, hydrocortisone acetate, hydrocortisone buteprate, hydrocortisone butyrate, hydrocortisone valerate, prednicarbate, and tixocortol pivalate.


title: Corticosteroid

text: Topical corticosteroids are divided in potency classes I to IV in most countries (A to D in Japan). Seven categories are used in the United States to determine the level of potency of any given topical corticosteroid.


title: Corticosteroid

text: There also exist certain combination preparations such as Advair Diskus in the United States, containing fluticasone propionate and salmeterol (a long-acting bronchodilator), and Symbicort, containing budesonide and formoterol fumarate dihydrate (another long-acting bronchodilator). They are both approved for use in children over 12 years old.


title: Corticosteroid

text: Tadeusz Reichstein, Edward Calvin Kendall. and Philip Showalter Hench were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine in 1950 for their work on hormones of the adrenal cortex, which culminated in the isolation of cortisone.


title: Corticosteroid

text: Initially hailed as a miracle cure and liberally prescribed during the 1950s, steroid treatment brought about adverse events of such a magnitude that the next major category of anti-inflammatory drugs, the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), was so named in order to demarcate from the opprobrium. Corticosteroids were voted Allergen of the Year in 2005 by the American Contact Dermatitis Society.


title: Corticosteroid

text: Lewis Sarett of Merck & Co. was the first to synthesize cortisone, using a 36-step process that started with deoxycholic acid, which was extracted from ox bile. The low efficiency of converting deoxycholic acid into cortisone led to a cost of US$200 per gram. Russell Marker, at Syntex, discovered a much cheaper and more convenient starting material, diosgenin from wild Mexican yams. His conversion of diosgenin into progesterone by a four-step process now known as Marker degradation was an important step in mass production of all steroidal hormones, including cortisone and chemicals used in hormonal contraception.


title: Corticosteroid

text: In 1952, D.H. Peterson and H.C. Murray of Upjohn developed a process that used "Rhizopus" mold to oxidize progesterone into a compound that was readily converted to cortisone. The ability to cheaply synthesize large quantities of cortisone from the diosgenin in yams resulted in a rapid drop in price to US$6 per gram, falling to $0.46 per gram by 1980. Percy Julian's research also aided progress in the field. The exact nature of cortisone's anti-inflammatory action remained a mystery for years after, however, until the leukocyte adhesion cascade and the role of phospholipase A2 in the production of prostaglandins and leukotrienes was fully understood in the early 1980s.


title: Corticosteroid

text: The "cortico-" part of the name refers to the adrenal cortex, which makes these steroid hormones. Thus a corticosteroid is a "cortex steroid".


title: Bruno Kirby

text: Bruno Kirby (born Bruno Giovanni Quidaciolu Jr.; April 28, 1949 – August 14, 2006) was an American actor. He was known for his roles in "City Slickers", "When Harry Met Sally...", "Good Morning, Vietnam", "The Godfather Part II", and "Donnie Brasco". He voiced Reginald Stout in "Stuart Little".


title: Bruno Kirby

text: Kirby was born in New York City on April 28, 1949. His father was actor Bruce Kirby (born Bruno Giovanni Quidaciolu). His brother John Kirby is an acting coach.


title: Bruno Kirby

text: Kirby was a character actor whose career spanned 35 years. In 1971 he made his screen debut in the drama "The Young Graduates", although it was his role three years later as the young Peter Clemenza in epic crime film "The Godfather Part II" that raised his profile in Hollywood. In the summer of 1972, Kirby, in one of his early television appearances, portrayed Anthony Girelli, the son of Richard Castellano's character Joe Girelli, in "The Super"; Castellano had played the older Pete Clemenza in "The Godfather".


title: Bruno Kirby

text: His other television appearances included "Room 222", and the pilot episode of "M*A*S*H", portraying the character Boone (he had no lines). He also appeared in the 1974 "Columbo" episode "By Dawn's Early Light", alongside his father Bruce Kirby, and in the season 2 episode "Seance" of "Emergency!", where he was credited as "B. Kirby Jr."


title: Bruno Kirby

text: Described by Leonard Maltin as the "quintessential New Yorker or cranky straight man", Kirby appeared in a series of comedies, typically playing fast-talking, belligerent yet likable characters. His best known roles include a colleague of Albert Brooks' film editor in "Modern Romance"; a talkative limo driver in "This Is Spinal Tap"; the jealous, comedically impaired Lieutenant Hauk in "Good Morning, Vietnam"; and a shifty assistant to Marlon Brando—a parody of his "Godfather" role—in "The Freshman". Kirby balanced comedies with dramatic roles like "Donnie Brasco" as a double-dealing mobster.


title: Bruno Kirby

text: Kirby appeared with Billy Crystal in "When Harry Met Sally..." (1989) and "City Slickers" (1991). Both featured Kirby's character as the opinionated best friend to Crystal's character. Kirby refused to sign on for "" unless script changes were made, and was subsequently replaced by Jon Lovitz.


title: Bruno Kirby

text: In 1991, Kirby made his Broadway debut when he replaced Kevin Spacey in Neil Simon's "Lost in Yonkers". In the last decade of his life, he had success in "Stuart Little" and was increasingly working in television. He starred as Barry Scheck in a 2000 CBS drama "American Tragedy", played a paroled convict in a season three episode of "", and also directed an episode of that show.


title: Bruno Kirby

text: He appeared on the HBO TV series "Entourage" in season 3, episode 4, "Guys and Doll", as movie mogul Phil Rubinstein.


title: Bruno Kirby

text: Kirby, similar to his character in "This is Spinal Tap", was a fan of Frank Sinatra. He enjoyed playing softball in the late 1970s. He was also strongly allergic to horses and needed daily allergy shots on the set of "City Slickers" (part of the reason he declined to return for "").


title: We Were Soldiers

text: We Were Soldiers is a 2002 war film written and directed by Randall Wallace and starring Mel Gibson. Based on the book "We Were Soldiers Once… and Young" (1992) by Lieutenant General (Ret.) Hal Moore and reporter Joseph L. Galloway, it dramatizes the Battle of Ia Drang on November 14, 1965.


title: We Were Soldiers

text: In 1954 a French unit (based loosely on the Groupement Mobile No. 100) on patrol during the First Indochina War is ambushed by Viet Minh forces. Viet Minh commander Nguyen Huu An orders his soldiers to "kill all they send, and they will stop coming".


title: We Were Soldiers

text: Eleven years later, the United States is fighting the Vietnam War. US Army Lieutenant Colonel Hal Moore is chosen to train and lead a battalion. After arriving in Vietnam, he learns that an American base has been attacked and is ordered to take his 400 men after the enemy and eliminate the North Vietnamese attackers although intelligence has no idea of the number of enemy troops. Moore leads a newly-created air cavalry unit into the Ia Drang Valley. After landing, the soldiers capture a North Vietnamese soldier and learn from him that the location they were sent to is actually the base camp for a veteran North Vietnamese army division of 4,000 men.


title: We Were Soldiers

text: Upon arrival in the area with a platoon of soldiers, 2nd Lt. Henry Herrick spots an enemy scout and runs after him, ordering his reluctant soldiers to follow. The scout lures them into an ambush, which results in several men being killed, including Herrick and his subordinates. The surviving platoon members are surrounded and cut off from the rest of the battalion. Sgt. Savage assumes command, calls in the artillery, and uses the cover of night to keep the Vietnamese from overrunning their defensive position.


title: We Were Soldiers

text: Meanwhile, with helicopters constantly dropping off units, Moore manages to secure weak points before the North Vietnamese can take advantage of them. Despite being trapped and desperately outnumbered, the main US force manages to hold off the North Vietnamese with artillery, mortars, and helicopter airlifts of supplies and reinforcements. Eventually, Nguyen Huu An, the commander of the North Vietnamese division, orders a large-scale attack on the American position.


title: We Were Soldiers

text: Back in the United States, Julia Moore has become the leader of the American wives who live on the base. When the Army begins to use yellow cab drivers to deliver telegrams that notify the next of kin of the soldiers' deaths in combat, Julia personally assumes that emotional responsibility instead.


title: We Were Soldiers

text: At the point of being overrun by the enemy, Moore orders 1st Lt. Charlie Hastings, his forward air controller, to call in "Broken Arrow," which is a call for all available combat aircraft to assist and attack enemy positions, even those close to the US troops' position because a position is being overrun and can no longer be defended. The aircraft attack with bombs, napalm, and machine guns, killing many PAVN and Viet Cong troops, but a friendly fire incident also results in American deaths. The North Vietnamese attack is repelled, and the surviving soldiers of Herrick's cut-off platoon, including Savage, are rescued.


title: We Were Soldiers

text: Moore's troops regroup and secure the area. Nguyen Huu An plans a final assault on the Americans and sends most of his troops to carry out the attack, but Moore and his men overrun them and approach the enemy command center. Before the base camp guards can open fire, Major Bruce "Snake" Crandall and other helicopter gunships attack and destroy the remnant of the enemy force. With no more troops to call on, Huu An quickly orders the headquarters evacuated.


title: We Were Soldiers

text: Having achieved his objective, Moore returns to the helicopter landing zone to be picked up. Only after everyone (including the dead and wounded) is removed from the battlefield does he fly out of the valley. Sometime later, Nguyen Huu An and his men arrive on the battlefield to collect their dead. He claims that the Americans will "think this was their victory. So this will become an American war".


title: We Were Soldiers

text: At the end of the film, it is revealed that the landing zone immediately reverted to North Vietnamese hands after the American troops were airlifted out. Hal Moore continued the battle in a different landing zone, and after nearly a year, he returned home safely to Julia and his family. His superiors congratulate him for killing over 1,800 North Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong soldiers. An older Moore visits the Vietnam War memorial and looks at the names of the soldiers who fell at Ia Drang.


title: We Were Soldiers

text: In the source book, "We Were Soldiers Once… And Young", Hal Moore complains, "Every damn Hollywood movie got [the Vietnam war] wrong." The director, Randall Wallace, said that he was inspired by that comment and became "determined to get it right this time."


title: We Were Soldiers

text: The film's final version got many of the facts of the book presented onto film but is not entirely a historically accurate portrayal of the battle or entirely faithful to the book. For instance, the film depicts a heroic charge under the command of Lt. Col. Hal Moore at the end of the battle that destroys the Vietnamese reserve, ending the battle in an American victory (a fact that the director noted in his commentary). In fact, there was no heroic final charge in the book, and the North Vietnamese forces were not destroyed, although the American commander Moore reported 834 enemy bodies and 1215 estimated KIA (one third of the enemy force). The US forces were reduced by 72 out of 395, with 18% fatal casualties. The Vietnamese commander, Lt. Col. Nguyen Huu An, did not see the conclusion at LZ X-Ray as the end of combat, and the battle continued the next day with combat action at LZ Albany, where the 2/7th, with A Company 1/5th, found themselves in a fight for their lives against Lt. Col. Nguyen Huu An's reserve.


title: We Were Soldiers

text: Despite the differences from the book and departures from historical accuracy, Moore stated in a documentary included in the video versions that the film was the first one "to get [the war] right."


title: We Were Soldiers

text: The film received mostly positive reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a score of 63% based on 147 reviews, with an average rating of 6.40/10. The consensus reads, "The war cliches are laid on a bit thick, but the movie succeeds at putting a human face on soldiers of both sides in the Vietnam War." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 65 out of 100 based on 37 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".


title: We Were Soldiers

text: Roger Ebert, writing for the "Chicago Sun-Times", gave "We Were Soldiers" 3.5 stars out of 4, and praised its truthful and realistic battle scenes and how it follows the characters: ""Black Hawk Down" was criticized because the characters seemed hard to tell apart. "We Were Soldiers" doesn't have that problem; in the Hollywood tradition it identifies a few key players, casts them with stars, and follows their stories." Lisa Schwarzbaum, from "Entertainment Weekly", gave the film a B and noted its fair treatment of both sides: "The writer-director bestows honor – generously, apolitically – not only on the dead and still living American veterans who fought in Ia Drang, but also on their families, on their Vietnamese adversaries, and on the families of their adversaries too. Rarely has a foe been portrayed with such measured respect for a separate reality, which should come as a relief to critics (I'm one) of the enemy's facelessness in "Black Hawk Down"; vignettes of gallantry among Vietnamese soldiers and such humanizing visual details as a Vietnamese sweetheart's photograph left behind, in no way interfere with the primary, rousing saga of a fine American leader who kept his promise to his men to 'leave no one behind dead or alive.'"


title: We Were Soldiers

text: David Sterritt, from the "Christian Science Monitor", criticized the film for giving a more positive image of the Vietnam War that, in his opinion, did not concur with reality: "The films about Vietnam that most Americans remember are positively soaked in physical and emotional torment – from "Platoon", with its grunt's-eye view of combat, to "Apocalypse Now", with its exploration of war's dehumanizing insanity. Today, the pendulum has swung back again. If filmmakers with politically twisted knives once sliced away guts-and-glory clichés, their current equivalents hack away all meaningful concern with moral and political questions. "We Were Soldiers" is shameless in this regard, filling the screen with square-jawed officers who weep at carnage and fresh-faced GIs who use their last breaths to intone things like, 'I'm glad I died for my country.'"


title: We Were Soldiers

text: Todd McCarthy, from "Variety", wrote the film "presents the fighting realistically, violently and relatively coherently given the chaotic circumstances..." McCarthy further wrote, "Mel Gibson has the closest thing to a John Wayne part that anyone's played since the Duke himself rode into the sunset, and he plays it damn well." He summarized with, "Gibson's performance anchors the film with commanding star power to burn. This officer truly loves his men, and the credibility with which the actor is able to express Moore's leadership qualities as well as his sensitive side is genuinely impressive."


title: We Were Soldiers

text: Hal Moore, who had long been critical of many Vietnam War films for their negative portrayals of American servicemen, publicly expressed approval of the film and is featured in segments of the DVD. Some soldiers were less pleased: Retired Col Rick Rescorla, who played an important role in the book and was pictured on the cover (and later died in the September 11 attacks), was disappointed, after reading the script, to learn that he and his unit had been written out of the film. In one key incident, the finding of a vintage French bugle on a dying Vietnamese soldier, the English-born Rescorla is replaced by a nameless Welsh platoon leader.


title: Naomi (TV series)

text: Naomi is an American superhero drama television series created by Ava DuVernay and Jill Blankenship which is based on the comic book series of the same name co-written by Brian Michael Bendis and David F. Walker and illustrated by Jamal Campbell. It premiered on The CW on January 11, 2022, and concluded on May 10, 2022. In May 2022, the series was canceled after one season.


title: Naomi (TV series)

text: Naomi McDuffie is a comic book-loving teenager and the host of a Superman fan website. After a supernatural event occurs in Port Oswego, Oregon, Naomi sets out to determine its origins with help from her best friend, her supporting adoptive parents, and a tattoo shop owner with a secret origin.


title: Naomi (TV series)

text: In addition, Alie Urquhart costars as Esme Brooks, class president of Port Oswego High school and Naomi's rival while Brian Brightman co-stars as Commander Steel, a U.S. Military Commander based in Port Oswego.


title: Naomi (TV series)

text: On December 4, 2020, it was reported that Ava DuVernay and Jill Blankenship are developing a series for The CW based on the comic book series "Naomi", co-written by Brian Bendis and David F. Walker and illustrated by Jamal Campbell. On February 9, 2021, The CW gave the production a pilot order. On May 24, 2021, "Naomi" was picked up to series. The series is created by DuVernay and Jill Blankenship who are expected to executive produce alongside Sarah Bremner and Paul Garnes. The pilot is written by DuVernay and directed by Amanda Marsalis. The production companies involved with the series are Array Filmworks and Warner Bros. Television. The series premiered on January 11, 2022. On May 12, 2022, The CW canceled the series after one season.


title: Naomi (TV series)

text: In March 2021, Kaci Walfall was cast in the titular role while Alexander Wraith, Cranston Johnson, Camila Moreno, Barry Watson, Mouzam Makkar, Mary-Charles Jones, Aidan Gemme, Daniel Puig and Will Meyers were also tapped as series regulars. In December 2021, Stephanie March joined the cast in a guest starring role. In January 2022, Chase Anderson was cast in an undisclosed capacity.


title: Naomi (TV series)

text: Principal photography for the series began on August 23, 2021, in Georgia. Cliff Charles is a cinematographer while DeMane Davis is a director for the series.


title: Naomi (TV series)

text: In Latin America, Naomi premiered on HBO Max on January 27, 2022. In Scandinavia, it premiered on HBO Max on February 3, 2022.


title: Naomi (TV series)

text: The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 90% approval rating with an average rating of 7/10, based on 26 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "Kaci Walfall proves a plucky enough heroine to give the deliberately-paced "Naomi" its own super-powered charm." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 72 out of 100 based on 9 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".


title: Naomi (TV series)

text: According to Samba TV, 313,000 U.S. households streamed the premiere on the first day of availability.


title: Maginot Line

text: The Maginot Line (, ), named after the French Minister of War André Maginot, is a line of concrete fortifications, obstacles and weapon installations built by France in the 1930s to deter invasion by Germany and force them to move around the fortifications.


title: Maginot Line

text: The Maginot Line was impervious to most forms of attack. In consequence, the Germans invaded through the Low Countries in 1940, passing it to the north. The line, which was supposed to be fully extended further towards the west to avoid such an occurrence, was finally scaled back in response to demands from Belgium. Indeed, Belgium feared it would be sacrificed in the event of another German invasion. The line has since become a metaphor for expensive efforts that offer a false sense of security.


title: Maginot Line

text: Constructed on the French side of its borders with Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Luxembourg and Belgium, the line did not extend to the English Channel. French strategy therefore envisioned a move into Belgium to counter a German assault. Based on France's experience with trench warfare during World War I, the massive Maginot Line was built in the run-up to World War II, after the Locarno Conference in 1925 gave rise to a fanciful and optimistic "Locarno spirit". French military experts extolled the line as a work of genius that would deter German aggression, because it would slow an invasion force long enough for French forces to mobilise and counterattack.


title: Maginot Line

text: The Maginot Line was indeed invulnerable to aerial bombings and tank fire; it featured underground railways as a backup. It also had state-of-the-art living conditions for garrisoned troops, supplying air conditioning and eating areas for their comfort. French and British officers had anticipated the geographical limits of the Maginot Line; when Germany invaded the Netherlands and Belgium, they carried out plans to form an aggressive front that cut across Belgium and connected to the Maginot Line.


title: Maginot Line

text: However, the French line was weak near the Ardennes Forest. General Maurice Gamelin, when drafting the Dyle Plan, believed this region, with its rough terrain, would be an unlikely invasion route of German forces; if it were traversed, it would be done at a slow rate that would allow the French time to bring up reserves and counterattacks. The German Army, having reformulated their plans from a repeat of the First World War-era plan, became aware of and exploited this weak point in the French defensive front. A rapid advance through the forest and across the River Meuse encircled much of the Allied forces, resulting in a sizeable force having to be evacuated at Dunkirk leaving the forces to the south unable to mount an effective resistance to the German invasion of France.


title: Maginot Line

text: Maginot Line fortifications were manned by specialist units of fortress infantry, artillery and engineers. The infantry manned the lighter weapons of the fortresses, and formed units with the mission of operating outside if necessary. Artillery troops operated the heavy guns and the engineers were responsible for maintaining and operating other specialist equipment, including all communications systems. All these troops wore distinctive uniform insignia and considered themselves among the elite of the French Army. During peacetime, fortresses were only partly manned by full-time troops. They would be supplemented by reservists who lived in the local area, and who could be quickly mobilised in an emergency.


title: Maginot Line

text: Full-time Maginot Line troops were accommodated in barracks built close by the fortresses. They were also accommodated in complexes of wooden housing adjacent to each fortress, which were more comfortable than living inside, but which were not expected to survive wartime bombardment.


title: Maginot Line

text: Training was carried out at a fortress near the town of Bitche in Moselle in Lorraine, built in a military training area and so capable of live fire exercises. This was impossible elsewhere as the other parts of the line were located in civilian areas.


title: Maginot Line

text: Although the name "Maginot Line" suggests a rather thin linear fortification, it was quite deep, varying (from the German border to the rear area) from . It was composed of an intricate system of strong points, fortifications and military facilities such as border guard posts, communications centres, infantry shelters, barricades, artillery, machine-gun and anti-tank-gun emplacements, supply depots, infrastructure facilities and observation posts. These various structures reinforced a "principal line of resistance" made up of the most heavily armed "ouvrages", which can be roughly translated as fortresses or big defensive works.


title: Maginot Line

text: 1. Border Post line: This consisted of blockhouses and strong houses, which were often camouflaged as inoffensive residential homes, built within a few metres of the border and manned by troops so as to give the alarm in the event of a surprise attack and to delay enemy tanks with prepared explosives and barricades.


title: Maginot Line

text: 2. Outpost and Support Point line: Approximately behind the border, a line of anti-tank blockhouses that were intended to provide resistance to armoured assault, sufficient to delay the enemy so as to allow the crews of the "C.O.R.F. ouvrages" to be ready at their battle stations. These outposts covered the main passages within the principal line.


title: Maginot Line

text: 3. Principal line of resistance: This line began behind the border. It was preceded by anti-tank obstacles made of metal rails planted vertically in six rows, with heights varying from and buried to a depth of . These anti-tank obstacles extended from end to end in front of the main works, over hundreds of kilometres, interrupted only by extremely dense forests, rivers, or other nearly impassable terrain.


title: Maginot Line

text: 4. Infantry Casemates: These bunkers were armed with twin machine-guns (abbreviated as "JM" — "Jumelage de mitrailleuses" — in French) and anti-tank guns of . They could be single (with a firing room in one direction) or double (two firing rooms, in opposite directions). These generally had two floors, with a firing level and a support/infrastructure level that provided the troops with rest and services (power-generating units, reserves of water, fuel, food, ventilation equipment, etc.). The infantry casemates often had one or two "cloches" or turrets located on top of them. These GFM cloches were sometimes used to emplace machine guns or observation periscopes. They were manned by 20 to 30 men.


title: Maginot Line

text: 5. Petits ouvrages: These small fortresses reinforced the line of infantry bunkers. The "petits ouvrages" were generally made up of several infantry bunkers, connected by a tunnel network with attached underground facilities, such as barracks, electric generators, ventilation systems, mess halls, infirmaries and supply caches. Their crew consisted of between 100 and 200 men.


title: Maginot Line

text: 6. Gros Ouvrages: These fortresses were the most important fortifications on the Maginot Line, having the sturdiest construction and the heaviest artillery. These were composed of at least six "forward bunker systems" or "combat blocks", as well as two entrances, and were connected via a network of tunnels that often featured narrow gauge electric railways for transport between bunker systems. The blocks contained infrastructure such as power stations, independent ventilating systems, barracks and mess halls, kitchens, water storage and distribution systems, hoists, ammunition stores, workshops and stores of spare parts and food. Their crews ranged from 500 to more than 1,000 men.


title: Maginot Line

text: 7. Observation Posts were located on hills that provided a good view of the surrounding area. Their purpose was to locate the enemy and direct and correct the indirect fire of artillery as well as to report on the progress and position of key enemy units. These are large reinforced buried concrete bunkers, equipped with armoured turrets containing high-precision optics, connected with the other fortifications by field telephone and wireless transmitters (known in French by the acronym T.S.F., "Télégraphie Sans Fil").


title: Maginot Line

text: 8. Telephone Network: This system connected every fortification in the Maginot Line, including bunkers, infantry and artillery fortresses, observation posts and shelters. Two telephone wires were placed parallel to the line of fortifications, providing redundancy in the event of a wire getting cut. There were places along the cable where dismounted soldiers could connect to the network.


title: Maginot Line

text: 9. Infantry Reserve Shelters: These were found from behind the principal line of resistance. These were buried concrete bunkers designed to house and shelter up to a company of infantry (200 to 250 men) and had such features as electric generators, ventilation systems, water supplies, kitchens and heating, which allowed their occupants to hold out in the event of an attack. They could also be used as a local headquarters and as a base for counterattacks.


title: Maginot Line

text: 10. Flood Zones were natural basins or rivers that could be flooded on demand and thus constitute an additional obstacle in the event of an enemy offensive.


title: Maginot Line

text: 11. Safety Quarters were built near the major fortifications so fortress ("ouvrage") crews could reach their battle stations in the shortest possible time in the event of a surprise attack during peacetime.


title: Maginot Line

text: 14. Narrow Gauge Railway System: A network of narrow gauge railways was built so as to rearm and resupply the main fortresses ("ouvrages") from supply depots up to away. Petrol-engined armoured locomotives pulled supply trains along these narrow-gauge lines. (A similar system was developed with armoured steam engines back in 1914–1918.)


title: Maginot Line

text: 15. High-voltage Transmission Lines, initially above-ground but then buried, and connected to the civil power grid, provided electric power to the many fortifications and fortresses.


title: Maginot Line

text: 16. Heavy rail artillery was hauled by locomotives to planned locations to support the emplaced artillery located in the fortresses, which was intentionally limited in range to .


title: Maginot Line

text: There are 142 "ouvrages", 352 casemates, 78 shelters, 17 observatories and around blockhouses in the Maginot Line.


title: Maginot Line

text: There are several kinds of armoured cloches. Cloches are non-retractable turrets. The word "cloche" is a French term meaning "bell" due to its shape. All cloches were made of alloy steel.


title: Maginot Line

text: Both static and mobile artillery units were assigned to defend the Maginot Line. "Régiments d'artillerie de position" (RAP) consisted of static artillery units. "Régiments d'artillerie mobile de forteresse" (RAMF) consisted of mobile artillery.


title: Maginot Line

text: The defences were first proposed by Marshal Joseph Joffre. He was opposed by modernists such as Paul Reynaud and Charles de Gaulle, who favoured investment in armour and aircraft. Joffre had support from Marshal Henri Philippe Pétain, and there were a number of reports and commissions organised by the government. It was André Maginot who finally convinced the government to invest in the scheme. Maginot was another veteran of World War I; he became the French Minister of Veteran Affairs and then Minister of War (1928–1932).


title: Maginot Line

text: In January 1923, after Weimar Germany defaulted on reparations, the French Premier Raymond Poincaré responded by sending French troops to occupy Germany's Ruhr region. During the ensuing "Ruhrkampf" ("Ruhr struggle") between the Germans and the French that lasted until September 1923, Britain condemned the French occupation of the Ruhr, and a period of sustained Francophobia broke out in Britain, with Poincaré being vilified in Britain as a cruel bully punishing Germany with unreasonable reparations demands. The British—who openly championed the German position on reparations—applied intense economic pressure on France to change its policies towards Germany. At a conference in London in 1924 to settle the Franco-German crisis caused by the "Ruhrkampf", the British Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald successfully pressed the French Premier Édouard Herriot to make concessions to Germany. The British diplomat Sir Eric Phipps who attended the conference commented afterwards that: The London Conference was for the French 'man in the street' one long Calvary as he saw M. Herriot abandoning one by one the cherished possessions of French preponderance on the Reparations Commission, the right of sanctions in the event of German default, the economic occupation of the Ruhr, the French-Belgian railway "Régie", and finally, the military occupation of the Ruhr within a year. The great conclusion that was drawn in Paris after the "Ruhrkampf" and the 1924 London Conference was that France could not make unilateral military moves to uphold Versailles as the resulting British hostility to such moves was too dangerous to the republic. Beyond that, the French were well aware of the contribution of Britain and its dominions to the victory of 1918, and French decision-makers believed that they needed Britain's help to win another war; the French could only go so far with alienating the British. From 1871 forward, French elites had concluded that France had no hope of defeating Germany on its own, and France would need an alliance with another great power to defeat the "Reich".


title: Maginot Line

text: In 1926, "The Manchester Guardian" ran an exposé showing the "Reichswehr" had been developing military technology forbidden by the Treaty of Versailles in the Soviet Union, and the secret German-Soviet co-operation had started in 1921. The German statement following "The Manchester Guardian"s article that Germany did not feel bound by the terms of Versailles and would violate them as much as possible gave much offence in France. Nonetheless, in 1927, the Inter-Allied Commission, which was responsible for ensuring that Germany complied with Part V of the Treaty of Versailles, was abolished as a goodwill gesture reflecting the "Spirit of Locarno". When the Control Commission was dissolved, the commissioners in their final report issued a blistering statement, stating that Germany had never sought to abide by Part V and the "Reichswehr" had been engaging in covert rearmament all through the 1920s. Under the Treaty of Versailles, France was to occupy the Rhineland region of Germany until 1935, but in fact the last French troops left the Rhineland in June 1930 in exchange for Germany accepting the Young Plan. As long as the Rhineland was occupied by the French, the Rhineland served as a type of collateral under which the French would annex the Rhineland in the event of Germany breaching any of the articles of the treaty, such as rearming in violation of Part V; this threat was powerful enough to deter successive German governments all through the 1920s from attempting any overt violation of Part V. French plans as developed by Marshal Ferdinand Foch in 1919 were based on the assumption that in the event of a war with the "Reich", the French forces in the Rhineland were to embark upon an offensive to seize the Ruhr. A variant of the Foch plan had been used by Poincaré in 1923 when he ordered the French occupation of the Ruhr.


title: Maginot Line

text: French plans for an offensive in the 1920s were realistic, as Versailles had forbidden German conscription, and the "Reichswehr" was limited to 100,000 men. Once the French forces left the Rhineland in 1930, this form of leverage with the Rhineland as collateral was no longer available to Paris, which from then on had to depend on Berlin's word that it would continue to abide by the terms of the Versailles and Locarno treaties, which stated that the Rhineland was to stay demilitarised forever. Given that Germany had engaged in covert rearmament with the co-operation of the Soviet Union starting in 1921 (a fact that had become public knowledge in 1926) and that every German government had gone out of its way to insist on the moral invalidity of Versailles, claiming it was based upon the so-called "Kriegsschuldlüge" ("War guilt lie") that Germany started the war in 1914, the French had little faith that the Germans would willingly allow the Rhineland's demilitarised status to continue forever, and believed that at some time in the future Germany would rearm in violation of Versailles, reintroduce conscription and remilitarise the Rhineland. The decision to build the Maginot Line in 1929 was a tacit French admission that without the Rhineland as collateral Germany was soon going to rearm, and that the terms of Part V had a limited lifespan.


title: Maginot Line

text: After 1918, the German economy was twice as large as that of France; Germany had a population of 70 million compared to France's 40 million and the French economy was hobbled by the need to reconstruct the enormous damage of World War I, while German territory had seen little fighting. French military chiefs were dubious about their ability to win another war against Germany on its own, especially an offensive war. French decision-makers knew that the victory of 1918 had been achieved because the British Empire and the United States were allies in the war and that the French would have been defeated on their own. With the United States isolationist and Britain stoutly refusing to make the "continental commitment" to defend France on the same scale as in World War I, the prospects of Anglo-American assistance in another war with Germany appeared to be doubtful at best. Versailles did not call for military sanctions in the event of the German military reoccupying the Rhineland or breaking Part V; while Locarno committed Britain and Italy to come to French aid in the event of a "flagrant violation" of the Rhineland's demilitarised status, without defining what a "flagrant violation" would be. The British and Italian governments refused in subsequent diplomatic talks to define "flagrant violation", which led the French to place little hope in Anglo-Italian help if German military forces should reoccupy the Rhineland. Given the diplomatic situation in the late 1920s, the Quai d'Orsay informed the government that French military planning should be based on a worst-case scenario that France would fight the next war against Germany without the help of Britain or the United States.


title: Maginot Line

text: France had an alliance with Belgium and with the states of the "Cordon sanitaire", as the French alliance system in Eastern Europe was known. Although the alliances with Belgium, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Romania and Yugoslavia were appreciated in Paris, it was widely understood that this was no compensation for the absence of Britain and the United States. The French military was especially insistent that the population disparity made an offensive war of manoeuvre and swift advances suicidal as there would always be far more German divisions; a defensive strategy was needed to counter Germany. The French assumption was always that Germany would not go to war without conscription, which would allow the German Army to take advantage of the "Reich"s numerical superiority. Without the natural defensive barrier provided by the Rhine River, French generals argued that France needed a new defensive barrier made of concrete and steel to replace it. The power of properly dug-in defensive trenches had been amply demonstrated during World War I, when a few soldiers manning a single machine gun post could kill hundreds of the enemy in the open and therefore building a massive defensive line with subterranean concrete shelters was the most rational use of French manpower.


title: Maginot Line

text: The American historian William Keylor wrote that given the diplomatic conditions of 1929 and likely trends – with the United States isolationist and Britain unwilling to make the "continental commitment" – the decision to build the Maginot Line was not irrational and stupid, as building the Maginot Line was a sensible response to the problems that would be created by the coming French withdrawal from the Rhineland in 1930. Part of the rationale for the Maginot Line stemmed from the severe French losses during the First World War, and their effect on the French population. The drop in the birth rate during and after the war, resulting in a national shortage of young men, created an "echo" effect on the generation that provided the French conscript army in the mid-1930s. Faced with a manpower shortage, French planners had to rely more on older and less fit reservists, who would take longer to mobilise and would diminish the French industry because they would leave their jobs. Static defensive positions were therefore intended not only to buy time but to economise on men by defending an area with fewer and less mobile forces. In 1940, France deployed about twice as many men, 36 divisions (roughly one third of its force), for the defence of the Maginot Line in Alsace and Lorraine, whereas the opposing German Army Group C only contained 19 divisions, fewer than a seventh of the force committed in the Manstein Plan for the invasion of France. Reflecting memories of World War I, the French General Staff had developed the concept of "la puissance du feu" ("the power of fire"), the power of artillery dug in and sheltered by concrete and steel, to inflict devastating losses on an attacking force.


title: Maginot Line

text: French planning for war with Germany was always based on the assumption that the war would be "la guerre de longue durée" (the war of the long duration), in which the superior economic resources of the Allies would gradually grind the Germans down. The fact that the "Wehrmacht" embraced the strategy of Blitzkrieg (Lightning War) with the vision of swift wars in which Germany would win quickly via a knockout blow was a testament to the fundamental soundness of the concept of "la guerre de longue durée". Germany had the largest economy in Europe but lacked many of the raw materials necessary for a modern industrial economy (making the "Reich" vulnerable to a blockade) and the ability to feed its population. The "guerre de longue durée" strategy called for the French to halt the expected German offensive meant to give the "Reich" a swift victory; afterwards, there would be an attrition struggle; once the Germans were exhausted, France would begin an offensive to win the war.


title: Maginot Line

text: The Maginot Line was intended to block the main German blow, if it should come via eastern France, and to divert the main blow through Belgium, where French forces would meet and stop the Germans. The Germans were expected to fight costly offensives, whose failures would sap the strength of the "Reich", while the French waged a total war, mobilising the resources of France, its empire and allies. Besides the demographic reasons, a defensive strategy served the needs of French diplomacy towards Great Britain. The French imported a third of their coal from Britain and 32 percent of all imports through French ports were carried by British ships. Of French trade, 35 percent was with the British Empire and the majority of the tin, rubber, jute, wool and manganese used by France came from the British Empire.


title: Maginot Line

text: About 55 percent of overseas imports arrived in France via the Channel ports of Calais, Le Havre, Cherbourg, Boulogne, Dieppe, Saint-Malo and Dunkirk. Germany had to import most of its iron, rubber, oil, bauxite, copper and nickel, making naval blockade a devastating weapon against the German economy. For economic reasons, the success of the strategy of "la guerre de longue durée" would at very least require Britain to maintain a benevolent neutrality, preferably to enter the war as an ally as British sea power could protect French imports while depriving Germany of hers. A defensive strategy based on the Maginot Line was an excellent way of demonstrating to Britain that France was not an aggressive power and would only go to war in the event of German aggression, a situation that would make it more likely that Britain would enter the war on France's side.


title: Maginot Line

text: The line was built in several phases from 1930 by the "Service Technique du Génie" (STG) overseen by "Commission d'Organisation des Régions Fortifiées" (CORF). The main construction was largely completed by 1939, at a cost of around 3 billion French francs (around 3.9 billion in today's U.S. dollar’s worth). The line stretched from Switzerland to Luxembourg and a much lighter extension was extended to the Strait of Dover after 1934. The original construction did not cover the area ultimately chosen by the Germans for their first challenge, which was through the Ardennes in 1940, a plan known as "Fall Gelb" (Case Yellow), due to the neutrality of Belgium. The location of this attack, chosen because of the location of the Maginot Line, was through the Belgian Ardennes Forest (sector 4), which is off the map to the left of Maginot Line sector 6 (as marked).


title: Maginot Line

text: The specification of the defences was very high, with extensive and interconnected bunker complexes for thousands of men; there were 45 main forts ("grands ouvrages") at intervals of , 97 smaller forts ("petits ouvrages") and 352 casemates between, with over of tunnels. Artillery was coordinated with protective measures to ensure that one fort could support the next in line by bombarding it directly without harm. The largest guns were therefore fortress guns; larger weapons were to be part of the mobile forces and were to be deployed behind the lines.


title: Maginot Line

text: The fortifications did not extend through the Ardennes Forest (which was believed to be impenetrable by Commander-in-Chief Maurice Gamelin) or along France's border with Belgium, because the two countries had signed an alliance in 1920, by which the French army would operate in Belgium if the German forces invaded. However, after France had failed to counter the German remilitarisation of the Rhineland, Belgium—thinking that France was not a reliable ally—abrogated the treaty in 1936 and declared neutrality. France quickly extended the Maginot Line along the Franco-Belgian border, but not to the standard of the rest of the line. As the water table in this region is high, there was the danger of underground passages getting flooded, which the designers of the line knew would be difficult and expensive to overcome.


title: Maginot Line

text: In 1939 U.S. Army officer Kenneth Nichols visited the Metz sector, where he was impressed by the formidable formations which he thought the Germans would have to outflank by driving through Belgium. In discussion with General Brousseau the commander of the Metz sector and other officers, the general outlined the French problem in extending the line to the sea in that placing the line along the Belgian-German border required the agreement of Belgium, but putting the line along the French-Belgian border relinquished Belgium to the Germans. Another complication was Holland, and the various governments never resolved their problems.


title: Maginot Line

text: When the British Expeditionary Force landed in France in September 1939, they and the French reinforced and extended the Maginot line to the sea in a flurry of construction from 1939 to 1940 accompanied by general improvements all along the line. The final line was strongest around the industrial regions of Metz, Lauter and Alsace, while other areas were in comparison only weakly guarded. In contrast, the propaganda about the line made it appear far greater a construction than it was; illustrations showed multiple storeys of interwoven passages and even underground rail yards and cinemas. This reassured allied civilians.


title: Maginot Line

text: Czechoslovakia was also in fear of Hitler and began building its own defences. As an ally of France, they were able to get advice on the Maginot design and apply it to Czechoslovak border fortifications. The design of the casemates is similar to the ones found in the southern part of the Maginot Line and photographs of them are often confused with Maginot forts. Following the Munich Agreement and the German occupation of Czechoslovakia, the Germans were able to use the Czech fortifications to plan attacks that proved successful against the western fortifications (the Belgian Fort Eben-Emael is the best known example).


title: Maginot Line

text: The World War II German invasion plan of 1940 ("Sichelschnitt") was designed to deal with the line. A decoy force sat opposite the line while a second Army Group cut through the Low Countries of Belgium and the Netherlands, as well as through the Ardennes Forest, which lay north of the main French defences. Thus the Germans were able to avoid a direct assault on the Maginot Line by violating the neutrality of Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Attacking on 10 May, German forces were well into France within five days and they continued to advance until 24 May, when they stopped near Dunkirk.


title: Maginot Line

text: During the advance to the English Channel, the Germans overran France's border defence with Belgium and several Maginot Forts in the Maubeuge area whilst the Luftwaffe simply flew over it. On 19 May, the German 16th Army captured the isolated petit ouvrage La Ferté (south-east of Sedan) after conducting a deliberate assault by combat engineers backed up by heavy artillery, taking the fortifications in only four days. The entire French crew of 107 soldiers was killed during the action. On 14 June 1940, the day Paris fell, the German 1st Army went over to the offensive in "Operation Tiger" and attacked the Maginot Line between St Avold and Saarbrücken. The Germans then broke through the fortification line as defending French forces retreated southward. In the following days, infantry divisions of the 1st Army attacked fortifications on each side of the penetration; capturing four petits ouvrages. The 1st Army also conducted two attacks against the Maginot Line further to the east in northern Alsace. One attack broke through a weak section of the line in the Vosges Mountains, but a second attack was stopped by the French defenders near Wissembourg. On 15 June, infantry divisions of the German 7th Army attacked across the Rhine River in Operation "Small Bear", penetrating the defences deep and capturing the cities of Colmar and Strasbourg.


title: Maginot Line

text: By early June the German forces had cut off the line from the rest of France and the French government was making overtures for an armistice, which was signed on 22 June in Compiègne. As the line was surrounded, the German Army attacked a few ouvrages from the rear, but were unsuccessful in capturing any significant fortifications. The main fortifications of the line were still mostly intact, a number of commanders were prepared to hold out, and the Italian advance had been contained. Nevertheless, Maxime Weygand signed the surrender instrument and the army was ordered out of their fortifications, to be taken to POW camps.


title: Maginot Line

text: When the Allied forces invaded in June 1944, the line, now held by German defenders, was again largely bypassed; fighting touched only portions of the fortifications near Metz and in northern Alsace towards the end of 1944. During the German offensive Operation Nordwind in January 1945, Maginot Line casemates and fortifications were utilised by Allied forces, especially in the Bas-Rhin department in Grand Est, and some German units had been supplemented with flamethrower tanks in anticipation of this possibility. Stephen Ambrose wrote that in January 1945 "a part of the line was used for the purpose it had been designed for and showed what a superb fortification it was." Here the Line ran east–west, around the villages of Rittershoffen and Hatten, south of Wissembourg.


title: Maginot Line

text: After the war, the line was re-manned by the French and underwent some modifications. With the advent of French nuclear weapons in the early 1960s, the line became an expensive anachronism. Some of the larger "ouvrages" were converted to command centres. When France withdrew from NATO's military component in 1966, much of the line was abandoned, with the NATO facilities turned back over to French forces and the rest of it auctioned off to the public or left to decay. A number of old fortifications have now been turned into wine cellars, a mushroom farm, and even a disco. Besides that, a few private houses are built atop some of the blockhouses.


title: Maginot Line

text: Ouvrage Rochonvillers was retained by the French Army as a command centre into the 1990s but was deactivated following the disappearance of the Soviet threat. Ouvrage Hochwald is the only facility in the main line that remains in active service, as a hardened command facility for the French Air Force known as Drachenbronn Airbase.


title: Maginot Line

text: In 1968, when scouting locations for "On Her Majesty's Secret Service", producer Harry Saltzman used his French contacts to gain permission to use portions of the Maginot Line as SPECTRE headquarters in the film. Saltzman provided art director Syd Cain with a tour of the complex, but Cain said that not only would the location be difficult to light and film inside, but that artificial sets could be constructed at the studios for a fraction of the cost. The idea was shelved.


title: Maginot Line

text: In analysing the Maginot Line, Ariel Ilan Roth summarised its main purpose: it was not "as popular myth would later have it, to make France invulnerable", but it was constructed "to make the appeal of flanking far outweigh the appeal of attacking them head on". J.E. Kaufmann and H.W. Kaufmann added that prior to construction in October 1927, the Superior Council of War adopted the final design for the line and identified that one of the main missions would be to deter a German cross-border assault with only minimal force to allow "the army time to mobilise." In addition, the French envisioned that the Germans would conduct a repeat of their First World War battle plan to flank the defences and drew up their overall strategy with that in mind. Julian Jackson highlighted one of the line's roles was to facilitate that strategy by "free[ing] manpower for offensive operations elsewhere... and to protect the forces of manoeuvre"; the latter included a more mechanised and modernised military, which would advance into Belgium and engage the German main thrust flanking the line. In support, Roth commented that the French strategy envisioned one of two possibilities by advancing into Belgium: "either there would be a decisive battle in which France might win, or, more likely, a front would develop and stabilise". The latter meant the next war's destructive consequences would not take place on French soil.


title: Maginot Line

text: Postwar assessment of whether the Maginot Line served its purpose has been mixed. Its enormous cost and its failure to prevent German forces from invading France have caused journalists and political commentators to remain divided on whether the line was worthwhile. The historian Clayton Donnell commented, "If one believes the Maginot Line was built for the primary purpose of stopping a German invasion of France, most will consider it a massive failure and a waste of money... in reality, the line was not built to be the ultimate saviour of France". Donnell argued that the primary purpose of "prevent[ing] a concerted attack on France through the traditional invasion routes and to permit time for the mobilisation of troops... was fulfiled", as was the French strategy of forcing the Germans to enter Belgium, which ideally would have allowed "the French to fight on favourable terrain". However, he noted that the French failed to use the line as the basis for an offensive. Marc Romanych and Martin Rupp highlight that "poor decisions and missed opportunities" plagued the line and point to its purpose of conserving manpower: "about 20 percent of [France's] field divisions remained inactive along the Maginot Line". Belgium was overrun, and British and French forces evacuated at Dunkirk. They argue had those troops been moved north, "it is possible that Heeresgruppe A's advance could have been blunted, giving time for Groupe d'armees 1 to reorganise". Kaufmann and Kaufmann commented, "When all is said and done, the Maginot Line did not fail to accomplish its original mission... it provided a shield that bought time for the army to mobilise... [and] concentrate its best troops along the Belgian border to engage the enemy."


title: Maginot Line

text: The psychological factor of the Maginot Line has also been discussed. Its construction created a false sense of security, which was widely believed by the French population. Kaufmann and Kaufmann comment that it was an unintended consequence of André Maginot's efforts to "focus the public's attention on the work being done, emphasising the role and nature of the line". That resulted in "the media exaggerat[ing] his descriptions by turning the line into an impregnable fortified position that would seal the frontier". The false sense of security contributed "to the development of the "Maginot mentality"".


title: Maginot Line

text: Jackson commented that "it has often been alleged that the Maginot Line contributed to France's defeat by making the military too complacent and defence-minded. Such accusations are unfounded". Historians have pointed to numerous reasons for the French defeat: faulty strategy and doctrine, dispersion of forces, the loss of command and control, poor communications, faulty intelligence that provided exaggerated German numbers, the slow nature of the French response to the German penetration of the Ardennes and a failure to understand the nature and speed of the German doctrine. More seriously, historians have noted rather than the Germans doing what the French had envisioned, the French played into the Germans' hand, culminating in their defeat.


title: Maginot Line

text: When the French Army failed in Belgium, the Maginot Line covered their retreat. Romanych and Rupp indicate that with the exception of the loss of several insignificant fortifications from insufficient defending troops, the actual fortifications and troops "withstood the test of battle", repulsed numerous attacks, and "withstood intense aerial and artillery bombardment". Kaufmann and Kaufmann point to the Maginot Line along the Italian border, which "demonstrated the effectiveness of the fortifications... when properly employed".


title: Maginot Line

text: The term ""Maginot Line"" has become a part of the English language: "America's Maginot Line" was the title used for an "Atlantic Magazine" article about America's military bases in Asia. The article portrayed vulnerability by showing a rocket being transported through a marshy area atop an ox. "New York Times" headlined "Maginot Line in the Sky" in 2000 and "A New Maginot Line" in 2001. It was also frequently referenced in wartime films, notably "Thunder Rock", "The Major and the Minor" (albeit as a comedic metaphor) and "Passage to Marseille".


title: Maginot Line

text: Somewhat like "line in the sand" it is also used in non-military situations, as in "Reagan's budgetary Maginot Line."


title: WJSN

text: WJSN (; ), also known as Cosmic Girls, is a South Korean girl group formed by Starship Entertainment. The group debuted on February 25, 2016, with the extended play "Would You Like?" and with twelve members: Seola, Xuanyi, Bona, Exy, Soobin, Luda, Dawon, Eunseo, Cheng Xiao, Meiqi, Yeoreum and Dayoung. In July 2016, WJSN added a thirteenth member, Yeonjung, to the group.


title: WJSN

text: On December 4, 2015, Starship Entertainment and Yuehua Entertainment launched a 12-member girl group called WJSN, where the Korean and Chinese members were divided into different subunits.


title: WJSN

text: On December 10, the first unit, Wonder Unit, was announced (Cheng Xiao, Bona and Dayoung). On December 17, the second three-member unit (Xuanyi, Eunseo and Yeoreum) was introduced: Joy Unit. On December 21, WJSN's Wonder and Joy Units released a Christmas cover of "All I Want For Christmas Is You" by Mariah Carey. On December 24, the third unit, Sweet Unit, was announced (Seola, Exy and Soobin). On December 31, the final unit was announced: Natural Unit (Meiqi, Luda and Dawon).


title: WJSN

text: WJSN debuted on February 25, 2016, with the release of their debut mini album "Would You Like?", including the title tracks "Mo Mo Mo" and "Catch Me." The group held their debut stage on the February 25th episode of M Countdown with "Catch Me" and "Mo Mo Mo."


title: WJSN

text: On July 11, Starship Entertainment confirmed that I.O.I's Yoo Yeon-jung would be joining the group. In August 2016, Seola, Exy, Soobin, Eunseo, Cheng Xiao, Yeoreum, and Dayoung teamed up with label mate Monsta X to form the unit Y-Teen. It was a project unit group that promoted as CF models for KT’s phone fare service and would release EPs, music videos, and various entertainment content.


title: WJSN

text: On January 4, WJSN released their third mini album "From. WJSN". The EP contains six tracks including the title track "I Wish."


title: WJSN

text: WJSN held their first solo concert, "Would You Like - Happy Moment," from May 19–20 at the Blue Square Samsung Card Hall. A total of 2,000 fans gathered in two days.


title: WJSN

text: WJSN's first full-length album, "Happy Moment", was released on June 7, with a total of ten tracks including the lead single "Happy." The album ranked number 1 on Hanteo's daily and real-time charts after release.


title: WJSN

text: On February 27, WJSN released their fourth mini album "Dream Your Dream", which consists of six tracks including the lead single "Dreams Come True." Their comeback showcase was held at the Yes24 Live Hall on the same day as the album's release.


title: WJSN

text: On June 1, WJSN and Weki Meki formed a project group called WJMK and released a digital single "Strong."


title: WJSN

text: Two Chinese members, Meiqi and Xuanyi, participated in the Chinese version of survival show "Produce 101" during the first half of 2018. The survival show concluded with Meiqi ranking 1st and Xuanyi ranking 2nd, making them both members of the temporary girl group Rocket Girls 101.


title: WJSN

text: On September 19, WJSN returned with their fifth mini album "WJ Please?" and the title track "Save Me, Save You". The Chinese members, Cheng Xiao, Meiqi and Xuanyi, did not participate in the comeback and the group continued as ten members. Meiqi and Xuanyi were preparing to debut with Rocket Girls 101, while Cheng Xiao was filming "Legend of Awakening", a Chinese historical fantasy drama as the second lead actress, which would be her acting debut.


title: WJSN

text: On October 2, the group received their first music show win of their career with "Save Me, Save You" on SBS MTV's "The Show".


title: WJSN

text: On January 8, WJSN released their sixth mini album "WJ Stay?", which consists of seven tracks including the lead single "La La Love." The group continued to promote as ten members, with the Chinese members, Cheng Xiao, Meiqi and Xuanyi, unable to participate in the comeback due to prior commitments.


title: WJSN

text: WJSN held their second solo concert, "Would You Stay - Secret Box," from March 2–3 at the Blue Square Imarket Hall.


title: WJSN

text: WJSN released their special album "For the Summer" on June 4, which consists of five tracks including the lead single "Boogie Up."


title: WJSN

text: In August 2019, WJSN held their first concert tour titled "WJSN 1st Mini Live 2019 "Would You Like?" Zepp Tour in Japan", starting on August 17 in Zepp DiverCity in Tokyo.


title: WJSN

text: WJSN released their seventh mini album "As You Wish" on November 19, which consists of seven tracks including the lead single "As You Wish."


title: WJSN

text: In 2020, WJSN had planned to hold their third concert titled "WJSN Concert "Obliviate,"" starting on February 22, 2020, at the Olympic Hall in Seoul, South Korea and finishing on March 22, 2020, at the Toyosu PIT in Tokyo, Japan. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the concert was postponed.


title: WJSN

text: On September 23, WJSN announced the formation of the new sub-unit WJSN Chocome, featuring members Soobin, Luda, Yeoreum, and Dayoung. They released their debut single album "Hmph!", and its title track with the same name on October 7.


title: WJSN

text: WJSN released their ninth mini album "Unnatural," with the title track of the same name on March 31, 2021.


title: WJSN

text: On April 26, 2021, WJSN announced the formation of their second sub-unit WJSN The Black, featuring members Seola, Exy, Bona and Eunseo, along with announcing their first single album "My Attitude" and its title track "Easy", which was released on May 12.


title: WJSN

text: On September 23, 2021, WJSN released the promotional single "Let Me In" through Universe Music for the mobile application Universe.


title: WJSN

text: On January 5, 2022, WJSN Chocome released their second single album "Super Yuppers!". On February 21, 2022, it was confirmed that WJSN will be participating in the second season of Mnet competition show "Queendom", which ran from March to June 2022. Dawon did not participate in the show, while Bona joined in the third round due to scheduling conflicts with her drama "Twenty-Five Twenty-One". WJSN was announced as the winners of "Queendom 2" at its live finale on June 2.


title: WJSN

text: On May 6, Starship Entertainment announced the group's will be holding their fourth concert tour, titled '2022 WJSN Concert Wonderland' at the Olympic Hall on June 11 and 12. Following their win on "Queendom 2", it was announced that WJSN would be making a comeback on July 5 with their special single album "Sequence", with the title track "Last Sequence".


title: WJSN

text: On November 18, 2022, Starship Entertainment announced that it will hold a fan concert '2023 Cosmic Girls Fan-Con Codename: Friendship' on January 7 and 8, 2023.


title: The Wrestler (2008 film)

text: The Wrestler is a 2008 American sports psychological drama film directed by Darren Aronofsky and written by Robert Siegel. The film stars Mickey Rourke, Marisa Tomei, and Evan Rachel Wood. Rourke plays an aging professional wrestler who, despite his failing health and waning fame, continues to wrestle in an attempt to cling to the success of his 1980s heyday. He also tries to mend his relationship with his estranged daughter and to find romance with a woman who works as a stripper.


title: The Wrestler (2008 film)

text: Production began in January 2008 and Fox Searchlight Pictures acquired rights to distribute the film in the U.S.; it received a limited release on December 17, 2008, and was released nationwide on January 23, 2009. It was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on April 21, 2009, in the United States. It was released in the United Kingdom on January 16, 2009.


title: The Wrestler (2008 film)

text: The film received universal acclaim and won the Golden Lion Award at the 65th Venice International Film Festival, where it premiered. Film critic Roger Ebert called it one of the year's best films, while Rotten Tomatoes reported that 98% of critics gave the film positive reviews. The success of the film revitalized the career of Mickey Rourke, who went on to receive a BAFTA award, a Golden Globe Award, an Independent Spirit Award and an Oscar nomination for Best Actor. Tomei also received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.


title: The Wrestler (2008 film)

text: Professional wrestler Robin Ramzinski, better known by his ring name Randy "The Ram" Robinson, rose to fame in the 1980s. Now past his prime, Randy wrestles on weekends for independent promotions in New Jersey while living in a trailer park and working part-time at a supermarket under Wayne, a demeaning manager who mocks Randy's wrestling background. As a regular at a strip club, Randy befriends a stripper named Cassidy who, like Randy, is past her prime. After winning a local match, Randy agrees to a proposed 20th-anniversary rematch with his most notable opponent, "The Ayatollah", which Randy hopes could return him to stardom.


title: The Wrestler (2008 film)

text: Randy intensifies his training, which includes steroid injections. After wrestling in a hardcore match, Randy suffers a heart attack backstage and undergoes coronary artery bypass surgery. His doctor informs him that he nearly died and has to stop taking steroids. To make things even worse, the doctor warns Randy not to wrestle anymore, as his heart can no longer handle the stress brought on by it. Reluctantly, Randy decides to retire and begins working a full-time shift at the supermarket's deli counter.


title: The Wrestler (2008 film)

text: At Cassidy's suggestion, Randy visits his estranged daughter Stephanie, whom he had abandoned when she was a child, but she rebuffs him. While helping Randy buy a gift for Stephanie, Cassidy reveals that she has a son. Randy makes romantic advances toward her, which she rejects on the grounds of her job. Later, Randy gives the gift to his daughter and apologizes for abandoning her. The two bond over a visit to a beachfront boardwalk, where he often took her as a child, and agree to meet for dinner on the coming Saturday. Randy goes to Cassidy's strip club to thank her, but she once more rejects him, resulting in a heated exchange. Upset, Randy goes to see a wrestling match and finds solace in his wrestling friends. While at a bar with them, he gets drunk, snorts cocaine, has sex with a woman in the women's restroom, then wakes up in her bedroom the next morning. Exhausted, he sleeps the entire day and misses his dinner with Stephanie. He goes to her house to apologize, but she angrily tells him she never wants to see him again.


title: The Wrestler (2008 film)

text: At the deli counter, a patron recognizes Randy as the wrestler, though he denies it. The customer persists, which agitates Randy, who then cuts his own hand on the slicer and promptly quits on the spot, going into a rampage in the store while insulting Wayne and the customers. Spurred by the fan's recognition of him and with nothing left, Randy decides to return to wrestling and reschedules the rematch with The Ayatollah. He reconciles with Cassidy, who has also just quit her job, though she begs him not to wrestle because of his heart condition and pleads with him to cancel the match. However, Randy disregards her advice, explaining to her that he belongs in the ring with his fans and fellow wrestlers who love and respect him.


title: The Wrestler (2008 film)

text: As he wrestles, Randy begins to feel chest pain and becomes unsteady. Noticing this, The Ayatollah urges him to initiate the pin and end the match. Randy refuses, however, and climbs the top rope for his signature finishing move, a diving headbutt called the "Ram Jam". He looks over and sees Cassidy has left. As the crowd cheers his name, Randy, with tears in his eyes, leaps from the top rope.


title: The Wrestler (2008 film)

text: Professional wrestlers who appeared in the film include: Robbie E, Necro Butcher, Nick Berk, The Blue Meanie, Sabian, Nate Hatred, Ron Killings, L.A. Smooth, Jay Lethal, Johnny Valiant, Jim Powers, Austin Aries, Claudio Castagnoli, Larry Sweeney, Paul E. Normous, Romeo Roselli, John Zandig, Chuck Taylor, Nigel McGuinness, D. J. Hyde, Kit Cope, Drew Gulak, Bobby Dempsey, Judas Young, Pappadon, and Jay Santana.


title: The Wrestler (2008 film)

text: "The Wrestler" was written by Robert D. Siegel, a former writer for "The Onion", and entered development at director Darren Aronofsky's Protozoa Pictures. Nicolas Cage entered negotiations in October 2007 to star as Randy. The following month Cage left the project, and Mickey Rourke replaced him in the lead role. According to Aronofsky, Cage pulled out of the movie because Aronofsky wanted Rourke as the lead character. Aronofsky stated that Cage was "a complete gentleman, and he understood that my heart was with Mickey and he stepped aside. I have so much respect for Nic Cage as an actor and I think it really could have worked with Nic but, you know, Nic was incredibly supportive of Mickey and he is old friends with Mickey and really wanted to help with this opportunity, so he pulled himself out of the race." In a 2009 interview with "Access Hollywood", Cage denied Aronofsky's account, stating that "I wasn't, quote, 'dropped' from the movie. I resigned from the movie because I didn't think I had enough time to achieve the look of the wrestler who was on steroids, which I would never do."


title: The Wrestler (2008 film)

text: When first approached for the lead role, Rourke was initially reluctant, stating, "I didn't really care for the script, but I wanted to work with Darren and I kind of thought that whoever wrote the script hadn't spent as much time as I had around these kind of people and he wouldn't have spoken the way the dude was speaking. And so Darren let me rewrite all my parts and he put the periods in and crossed the T's. So once we made that change, I was okay with it."


title: The Wrestler (2008 film)

text: Wrestler Hulk Hogan claimed in 2012 on "The Howard Stern Show" that he was also offered the role of Randy "The Ram" Robinson. Hogan claims he turned down the role because he felt he wasn't the right man to portray the character. Aronofsky disputed Hogan's claims, stating on his personal Twitter page that, "...the role of the Wrestler was always [Rourke's]; it was never Hulk Hogan's as he claims on [The Howard Stern Show]."


title: The Wrestler (2008 film)

text: The roughly 40-day shoot began in January 2008, with filming taking place on 16mm film throughout New Jersey in Elizabeth, Linden, Rahway, Roselle Park, Hasbrouck Heights, Garfield, Asbury Park, Dover, a supermarket in Bayonne where Rourke served and improvised with real customers, and in New York. Scenes were also shot at The Arena in Philadelphia. The shoot wrapped up in March.


title: The Wrestler (2008 film)

text: Afa Anoa'i, a former professional wrestler, was hired to train Rourke for his role. Anoa'i brought his two main trainers, Jon Trosky and Tom Farra, to work with Rourke for eight weeks. Both trainers also have parts in the film.


title: The Wrestler (2008 film)

text: One scene features a fictional Nintendo Entertainment System video game called "Wrestle Jam '88". It starred the characters of Robinson and The Ayatollah. Aronofsky requested a fully functioning game for the actors to play. Programmer Randall Furino and the film's title designer Kristyn Hume created a playable demo with a working interface and AI routines that also featured 1980s era-appropriate graphics and music.


title: The Wrestler (2008 film)

text: To add more realism, the locker room scenes were improvised for Rourke and others to look as if they were actually socializing. Some of the deli scenes were improvised because Aronofsky was filming Rourke actually working there.


title: The Wrestler (2008 film)

text: Clint Mansell, the composer for Aronofsky's previous films, "π", "Requiem for a Dream", and "The Fountain", reprised his role as composer for "The Wrestler". Slash played the guitars on the score. A new Bruce Springsteen song, also titled "The Wrestler", plays over the film's closing credits. Springsteen wrote the song while on tour in Europe after receiving a letter and a copy of the script from Rourke.


title: The Wrestler (2008 film)

text: The Guns N' Roses song "Sweet Child o' Mine" is played during Randy's ring entrance at the end of the film. In his Golden Globe Award acceptance speech, Rourke mentioned that Axl Rose donated the song for free due to the film's modest budget, and the film's closing credits thank Rose for this. Rourke had used the same song as his intro music during his stint as a boxer in the early 1990s. In the film, his character Randy even mocks one of Axl Rose's biggest rivals in the early 1990s popular music scene, Kurt Cobain.


title: The Wrestler (2008 film)

text: Also featured in the film are two Ratt songs ("Round and Round" and "I'm Insane"), the Quiet Riot song "Metal Health" (which is Randy's entrance song except for the last match), the FireHouse song "Don't Walk Away", the Slaughter song "Dangerous", the Scorpions song "Animal Magnetism", "Balls to the Wall" by Accept, "Soundtrack to a War" by Rhino Bucket and the Cinderella song "Don't Know What You Got (Till It's Gone)". The two Ratt tunes are actually recordings by Rat Attack, a project featuring Ratt lead singer Stephen Pearcy and guitarists George Lynch (Dokken) and Tracii Guns (L.A. Guns). The Madonna song "Jump" is played in the bar scene. The Birdman and Lil Wayne song "Stuntin' Like My Daddy" can be heard in the strip club. Also in the film is a song called "Let Your Freak Out" by independent Toronto singer-songwriter Deesha which can be heard during the strip club scene where Marisa Tomei's character is having an emotional conversation with Mickey Rourke's character.


title: The Wrestler (2008 film)

text: In the Toronto International Film Festival interview conducted by James Rocchi, Aronofsky credited the 1957 Charles Mingus song "The Clown", an instrumental piece with a poem read over the music about a clown who accidentally discovers the bloodlust of the crowds and eventually kills himself in performance, as a major source of inspiration for the movie. Aronofsky also said the brief reprise of Senator and Presidential-candidate John McCain's "Bomb bomb Iran" to the tune of The Beach Boys' "Barbara Ann" in the movie evolved as improvisation on the set. The Ayatollah wrestling character's persona had developed more than 20 years before but, in part through this musical moment and its connection with the character, came to still feel appropriate to Aronofsky in 2008.


title: The Wrestler (2008 film)

text: WWE helped promote the film through an on-screen angle (a fictional storyline used in wrestling). This involved the heel Chris Jericho criticizing legendary retired wrestlers such as Ric Flair, who he felt were embarrassing themselves, as well as Mickey Rourke for his portrayal in "The Wrestler". At the 15th Screen Actors Guild Awards, Rourke announced he would be competing at WrestleMania 25, specifically targeting Jericho. The announcement led to a confrontation between the two on "Larry King Live", which showed signs of second thoughts from Rourke. On January 28, it was announced through Rourke's spokesperson that the actor would not compete at WrestleMania, and he was soon after announced instead as a guest.


title: The Wrestler (2008 film)

text: Rourke was also invited to the 2009 WWE Hall of Fame induction ceremony the night before WrestleMania. The angle culminated the following night where Jericho faced Ricky Steamboat, Roddy Piper, and Jimmy Snuka in a handicap match. After his victory, Jericho dismantled Flair and challenged Rourke, who finally entered the ring and punched him out. Flair then congratulated Rourke.


title: The Wrestler (2008 film)

text: "The Wrestler" received almost universal critical acclaim. Rotten Tomatoes reported that 98% of critics gave the film positive reviews based upon a sample of 233 reviews, with an average rating of 8.40/10, and gave it a Golden Tomato for best drama of 2008. The critical consensus states that "Mickey Rourke gives a performance for the ages in "The Wrestler", a richly affecting, heart-wrenching yet ultimately rewarding drama." At Metacritic, which assigns a rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film has received an average score of 80, based on 36 reviews, signifying "generally favorable reviews". Alonso Duralde, of MSNBC, said, "Rourke's work transcends mere stunt-casting; his performance is a howl of pain that seems to come from a very real place."