The Wild Geese (1978)
Directed by: Andrew V. McLaglen
Starring: Richard Burton, Roger Moore, and Richard Harris
Synopsis: A British multinational company seeks to overthrow a vicious dictator in central Africa. It hires a band of (largely aged) mercenaries in London and sends them in to save the virtuous but imprisoned opposition leader, who is also critically ill and due for execution. Just when the team has performed a perfect rescue, the multinational does a deal with the vicious dictator, leaving the mercenary band to escape under their own steam and exact revenge.
Rating: 1/10
Well, as yesterday goes to show, I’m really not cut out for this idea of posting several things per day. I just don’t have that much to say. Or maybe sometimes I’m just too tired. Or lazy. I’ll keep trying this week, but thus far, my numbers aren’t improving either. But I’m really not ready to give this site up, so I’m not sure what I’m going to do.
For now, I’m gonna keep writing when the spirit moves me.
I even forgot to mention that this month’s theme is War Movies in June.
The Wild Geese is a men assembled to do a mission movie in the vein of something like Where Eagles Dare or The Dirty Dozen. It has a great cast, but fails to be even a little bit interesting. It doesn’t help that the white mercenaries’ in Africa plot is steeped in colonialism and racism.
The film does acknowledge this somewhat with a brief scene in which the super-duper racist white guy has a five-minute chat with the sainted black politician (who is vaulted as this amazing human but is only given a handful of lines to speak) and changes his racist ways.
But honestly, you expect that sort of thing in this sort of film. What you don’t expect is action scenes that are poorly staged, poorly directed, and rather dull.
themidnightcafe.org 