Enough action and adventure for ten mercenary movies !!
Let's be honest....this movie is basically a "Boys Own" action adventure straight out of the fertile imagination of a 16 year old English schoolboy....but, gee it's so much fun to watch !!
According to producer Euan Lloyd, who had worked on the star spangled war film "The Guns Of Navarone" (penned by novelist Alistair McLean), Lloyd was seeking out a similar tale featuring several strong male leads that he could turn into an international blockbuster. An acquaintance of Lloyd working in in Rhodesia in the mid 1960's, met up with then unpublished novelist Daniel Carney, and heard about his manuscript concerning mercenaries seeking to rescue an imprisoned president from a military prison. Lloyd leapt at securing the rights for the intense manuscript, got Carney a publishing deal for his book, and set about getting the story onto the screen.
( The name "the wild geese" is taken from a literary term applied to Irish mercenaries initially operating during the late...
One to wait for!
This is THE "mercenary movie," from the book by David Carney (which sold like coldcakes). Inspired by true events, and featuring locations in southern Africa, the film featured technical advice by members of the original "Wild Geese" who fought against Congolese rebels in the early 1960s.
The story is rooted in the rumor that Moise Tshombe had not been killed following the uprising, but instead kept alive as a political pawn.
In Carney's story, African leader Julius Limbani was reported to have been killed by the Idi-Amin-style strongman who ousted him, but instead was "put on ice" in another country. This other country then realizes the leverage they hold, as the specter of a "resurrected" Limbani would destroy the usurper's government. The strongman then decides to bring Limbani back for execution.
Meanwhile, a British banker has hired mercenary Colonel Alan Faulkner (Sir Richard Burton) to rescue Limbani, to get mining concessions in...
For what it is- excellent "He-Man" entertainment- can't be beat
Made in 1978 and based on Daniel Carney's cynical and rather bleak novel, this film stands as one of the 1970's great unsung action adventure films.
Concerning a small band of mercenary brothers attempting to rescue an African leader, THE WILD GEESE was all but unseen in the states until the advent of home video where it gained a well deserved and loyal cult following amoung action adventure aficionados.
The film isn't perfect by any stretch. The dialouge, written by Reginald Rose is often laughably cliched. Director Andrew V McLaglen doesn't really know how to stage dialouge scenes and the result is some very stilted moments. Some of the minor parts are filled with grossly incompetent actors. There are obvious "sacrificial lamb" telegraphing plot points. The film also doesn't really know what tone it wishes to set- is it a straight up adventure in the vein of GUNGA DIN or does it want to be taken seriously (several clumsy attempts at humour hint at parody)as a...
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