The Wild Geese (1978)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Andrew V. McLaglen

Writers:

Daniel Carney (novel)
Reginald Rose (screenplay)

Release Date:

11 November 1978 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Action | War | Adventure

Tagline:

The Dogs of War. The Best D*** Mercenaries in the Business!

Plot:

A British multinational seeks to overthrow a vicious dictator in central Africa. It hires a band of...

Plot Keywords:

Mercenary | Africa | Rescue | Escape | Airfield

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Richard Burton	...	Col. Allen Faulkner
Roger Moore	...	Lt. Shawn Fynn
Richard Harris	...	Capt. Rafer Janders
Hardy Krüger	...	Lt. Pieter Coetze (as Hardy Kruger)
Stewart Granger	...	Sir Edward Matherson
Winston Ntshona	...	Julius Limbani
John Kani	...	Sgt. Jesse Blake
Jack Watson	...	RSM Sandy Young
Frank Finlay	...	Fr. Geoghagen, the Priest
Kenneth Griffith	...	Medical Orderly Arthur Witty
Barry Foster	...	Thomas Balfour
Ronald Fraser	...	Sgt. Jock McTaggart
Ian Yule	...	Sgt. Tosh Donaldson
Patrick Allen	...	Rushton
Rosalind Lloyd	...	Heather

Runtime:

134 min

Country:

UK | Switzerland

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (London premiere print) | Mono

Certification:

Singapore:PG | Australia:M | Finland:K-15 (uncut) (2005) (DVD) | Finland:K-16 (cut) (1989) (video) | Finland:K-16 (cut) (1978) (theatrical) | Iceland:16 | Netherlands:16 (original rating) | Norway:15 | Norway:16 (1978) | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Marble Hill Park, Twickenham, Middlesex, England, UK

Company:

Richmond Productions

Trivia:

Stewart Granger was cast on very short notice - he replaced Joseph Cotten.

Quotes:

Lt. Shawn Fynn: That's the best news I've had since I threw up my breakfast.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Cinemania (2002)

Soundtrack:

Dance with Death

Those Old Cavalry Flicks

Watching The Wild Geese puts me so in mind of those old John Ford cavalry flicks. Not surprising since the Director Andrew McLaglen learned his trade while on the set of those films with his father Victor McLaglen.

A fine cast was assembled here for this film. Richard Burton, Roger Moore, and Richard Harris certainly have all done better stuff, but their skill makes The Wild Geese enjoyable. Of the three, I think Harris comes off the best, his scenes with his young son are very poignant.

Richard Burton is a mercenary who is being offered a contract by gazillionaire industrialist Stewart Granger. Train and equip a group of mercenaries to rescue a Nelson Mandela type African leader who has been deposed in a military coup. Burton does the job, but when the job is finished he and his mercenaries find getting out a whole lot more than the bargained for.

Starting with Where Eagles Dare, Burton was trying the action/adventure genre on for size and he did well with that. He came up way short with Raid on Rommel, but recouped quite a bit with The Wild Geese. It was his only joint film venture with Richard Harris, pairing both the stage and screen King Arthurs from Camelot.

Of course action adventure is old hat for Roger Moore. He was in his prime as James Bond when The Wild Geese was done. But Moore shows he can be quite serious here. None of the tongue in cheek deadpan that characterizes a Bond film.

The scenes dealing with the recruiting a training of the mercenaries come straight out of John Ford. So are the various types among the soldiers.

I liked Kenneth Griffith's portrayal of the openly gay medic with the group. Yes he's certainly stereotypical, but the point is he's accepted by the men who really don't care about his sexual orientation when in a fight. Secondly he turns out to be quite the John Wayne type hero in the end.

The Wild Geese turned out to be very popular, Burton was going to do a sequel Wild Geese II when he died in 1983. Might have been interesting had he done it since it would have paired with Laurence Olivier in that one.

The Wild Geese is an action/adventure film to be sure, but it's also about loyalty, tradition, and camaraderie. These men may fight for a good paycheck, but they are fanatically loyal to the unit created and to each other.

If that ain't John Ford.............................