Moustroll Good movie but grossly overrated

WiseRatFlames An unexpected masterpiece

Blake Rivera If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

Zlatica One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

harwhitehead Based on Frederick Forsythe's novel, the film is a realistic depiction of the powers behind international politics and the behind the scenes secret armies used to enforce their edicts.

FlashCallahan Jamie Shannon is a soldier of fortune who will stage a coup or a revolution for the right price. He is hired by British mining interests to scout out Zangaro, a small African nation with rich mineral deposits but a brutal dictatorship. Arrested soon after his arrival, Shannon is imprisoned as a spy, badly beaten, and tortured. While in prison he meets one of the country's leading intellectuals, Dr. Okoye, also imprisoned by the regime. Eventually released, he returns to London and is subsequently offered to opportunity to secretly invade Zangaro's capital and lead a military coup. Shannon accepts, but quietly has his own agenda to pursue.......Bearing in mind this is a review of the theatrical cut, I couldn't possibly comment on the coherence and character development of the extended cut, hence the low rating.Walken is an always watchable screen presence, and always brings something more to the material he has been given, but here, he really struggles with such a poor narrative, and an incoherent cut of the film.What we have here is Walken pretending to be an ornithologist, taking pictures of restricted areas, getting tortured, coming home, and then assembling a team to get his own personal vengeance.Whoever edited this cut of the film really needs to made to watch this over and over, because once Walken leaves the country, it becomes baffling.Berenger just turns up for no reason, and if you didn't know that there was a longer version, or the fact that he has bad mouthed this particular cut of the film, you'd be forgiven in thinking that he was a random stranger annoying Walken.And then it goes to action territory, and by this time, all the cast look bored, despite the plethora of firepower they have, and the rest of the cast just jump at the right time as the explosions.It's annoying really, because I've heard so many good things about this film, and the easiest version to get is this butchered monstrosity.One to avoid, unless you get the full version.

Joxerlives I remember watching this film in the early 80s as my uncle was a big fan. I didn't really get it at the time but appreciated the action packed last 20 minutes or so enough to later read the book it was based upon. Needless to say as an adult I then rewatched the film with new eyes and appreciated it all the more. The movie and the book are very different but you forgive it all, the changes made in order to appeal to an American audience and to cut it down to a workable length. Some say it's nihilistic and critical of post-colonial Africa but that misses the point. Shannon and his team come across as absolute mercenaries, willing to work for revenge and whomever pays their fee. But in the end Shannon develops a conscience, killing the puppet dictator the mining corporation wishes to install in order to exploit the mineral wealth of the country, trying to save the journalist who threatens to expose their plot and avenging his murder at his employer's hands. A huge step forwards for a man who when not paid to kill perfect strangers spends his time watching mundane television and playing computer chess (a great performance from Christopher Walken, a man seemingly dead inside but who actually defies our expectations by doing the right thing). It is only in the heat of battle that Shannon and his fellow 'Dogs of War' seem to truly come alive, addicted to the adrenalin and thrill of combat. Yet in the end they care for the people of Africa whilst the refined and civilised corporate executives blatantly do not. What happens to the country after Shannon leaves it? Maybe the Dr becomes yet another dictator, corrupted by power? But I prefer to think he does a deal with the mining corporation and uses the money to build a better future for his people? In that we have the true message of this film, the mercenaries actually doing the moral thing. And let's face it, that rotary grenade launcher is SOOOOO cool!

AirborneRanger The Dogs of War is perhaps one of the finest war movies ever made and is the best mercenary movie ever made. From a technical and tactical perspective (with one notable exception when the four main characters stand together improbably for a moment) the movie is extremely accurate and gets both the details of the business correct and the tactics of such an operation correct.There was a time in the 60s, 70s and 80s when these kinds of operations were carried out by men like Mike Hoare. In the aftermath of Vietnam, veterans who felt out of place and out of sync often fell in with the mercenary crowd, willing to fight someone else's battle for money or loot.Perhaps one of the more impressive sequences is all of the logistical work which captures the nature of the dark world of the arms deals overseas and how the law is skirted.Chris Walken is especially effective in the title role; believable, yet vulnerable and certainly not the Rambo who always wins the fight.