The Wild Geese (1978)
A Channel4.com review

Richard Burton, Roger Moore and Richard Harris star in an unusual British action film following the bloody work of a group of mercenaries in Africa.

Given his reputation, Richard Burton was the natural choice to play Colonel Allen Faulkner, a hard-drinking mercenary happy to admit that he'd do anything if the price is right. Roger Moore is ideal as his friend Shawn Fynn, a smooth, good-looking womaniser with a penchant for dodgy puns. And when Burton's drinking buddy, Richard Harris stepped in to play his character's drinking buddy Rafer Janders, this late 1970s British superstar fantasy trio was complete, a testament to producer "Gentleman" Euan Lloyd's persuasive powers, if not his imagination.

The three are united when a scheming merchant banker Sir Edward Matherson (a suitably cold and superior Granger) commissions Faulkner to gather together a mercenary expedition force to rescue a deposed African president, Julius Limabani (Ntosha), from prison, so that the West can regain access to his country's valuable copper reserves.

An enjoyable collection of scenes shows the mercenaries on their home turf as Burton's determinedly over-the-top Faulkner gathers them together. The device is a shameless attempt to elicit sympathy for what would otherwise appear to be a pretty unscrupulous bunch of soldiers of fortune, and there's some clumsy foreshadowing, particularly relating to the character of Janders and his son. Nevertheless, it's a great opportunity to show Roger Moore's character juggling the loves of no fewer than 21 different women while eluding a death sentence from a gangster.

The pace picks up once the force has been put together and shipped off to Africa for training. Tension builds inexorably as the meticulously laid plans start to work far too smoothly and the daft, but still engaging action sequences (particularly some stuff involving cross-bows and poisoned darts) are interspersed with shots of Matherson in London deep in talks with various African potentates.

Things soon become increasingly bizarre. There are philosophical interludes about South African politics and sudden encounters with tribal elders and mad-Irish missionaries. It's unusually thoughtful material for such a high-octane action film, and for the most part eloquently put. There are, however, some nauseating sequences of political epiphany involving Hardy Kruger's otherwise well-drawn and convincingly nasty South African mercenary Lt Coetze. Only the undoubted sincerity of intent and a fine performance from Ntosha successfully pulls the material through these doldrums.

Meanwhile Burton, Moore and Harris continue to ham it up with typical panache, ensuring audience attention right up until an excellent climactic action sequence, which again transcends the conventions of the action movie genre with its gritty brutality and the lack of mercy shown to many of the film's most likeable characters.

Verdict: Worth watching for the presence of three great British hams, The Wild Geese is occasionally clumsy, but often thoughtful and full of quality action sequence.

For cast and credits details CLICK HERE.

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