Rent The Wild Geese (1978)

Great Action/Adventure - The Wild Geese review by GI

A gutsy Boy's Own Adventure film that is often ludicrous, shoddily written in parts and could have done with a different director rather than Andrew V. McLaglen who was more comfortable with big sprawling westerns and tended to opt for shooting over story. But despite all that this is great stuff, entertaining and with a fantastic cast, it's a bit of a firm favourite amongst many and I can see why. An action adventure with a war story set in Africa. A corrupt London merchant banker (Stewart Granger) hires notorious mercenary Alan Faulkner (Richard Burton - only 51 at the time but clearly looking older) to rescue a deposed African tribal leader from the clutches of a dictator so he can get his hands on the copper mining rights. Faulkner forms a mercenary team with the help of his two friends (Richard Harris and Roger Moore - taking some time off from 007)) and they head off to Africa but they are betrayed and have to fight their way to safety. Wrapped up in the violent action is an attempt to highlight issues over black/white relations and there's a touching relationship developed between a tough racist soldier (Hardy Kruger) and the rescued African (Winston Ntshona). It's here you can sense the potential for this to have been a more meaningful and interesting film but sadly McLaglen preferred to go for extended battle scenes instead. These are exciting for the most part but it's the style of this British production from Euan Lloyd that makes it a favourite. Great cast of character actors including Barry Foster, Jack Watson, Frank Finlay and Kenneth Griffith amongst others. It also boasts a fantastic theme song from Joan Armatrading. Great fun and worth seeking out for the great entertainment it is.

A bunch of British mercenaries fight their way in and out of a Southern African nation - The Wild Geese review by Philip in Paradiso

Allen Faulkner (Richard Burton), a former British Army colonel turned mercenary, arrives in London to meet a banker, Sir Edward Matheson. The latter proposes an operation to rescue Julius Limbani, the imprisoned President of a southern African nation who is due for execution by the country's current ruler. The film shows the preparation of the expedition and its unfolding, as well as its outcome and aftermath.

Thanks to the very good acting (there are several big names of 1970s British cinema, alongside R Burton) and the effective construction of the plot and its key characters, this is a very good and entertaining movie, which actually comes across as plausible in terms of its storyline. Ultimately, this is a man's world, where action and fighting predominate right through: this is a war film, in effect, adapted to the context of Africa in the post-colonial era.

The film is not a masterpiece, but it is very good. And the characters are not shallow or caricatural. I recommend it.