WILD GEESE, THE: DVD

SYNOPSIS:
A British multinational company led by billionaire Sir Edward Matherson (Stewart Granger) plots the overthrow of a vicious African despot and engages a team of veteran mercenaries led by Colonel Allen Faulkner (Richard Burton) for the job. Faulkner recruits master planner Rafer Janders (Richard Harris) and pilot Shawn Fynn (Roger Moore), and some soldiers. Their task is to rescue the critically ill and imprisoned Julius Limbani (Winston Ntshona) leader of the opposition, before he is executed. But after the success of their operation, their employer does a shady deal with the ruling dictator, cutting off the team and leaving it to its own devices in its efforts to escape.

Review by Andrew L. Urban:
The big name cast (today's equivalent in that regard at least is perhaps Ocean's Eleven and Twelve, but without Julia Roberts) helped power The Wild Geese into commercial heaven and a Royal Command screening. It's an action adventure that stands the test of time primarily for the same reason. (Roger Moore had just come off playing James Bond.)

Writer Reginald Rose is in my personal hall of fame for his 1957 screenplay, 12 Angry Men, a very different drama indeed, but here he's adapting someone else's novel. I haven't read the novel, but Rose's script is always gripping, occasionally entertaining and sometimes moving. The film genre is action adventure, but the tone is more character driven than the genre implies to today's audiences. Hence the importance of the cast, and their ability to draw us into their world. Indeed, there's no action for the first hour - but there is nonetheless tension.

And some of that tension is political - a little preachy and hokey but bear in mind the times of its making, and the context of South African politics.

The audio commentary is unusual in that it is moderated by a journalist, making it more like a Q&A. It's full of detail, thanks to experienced producer Euan Lloyd, whose memory is surprisingly robust, interesting and often amusing. Roger Moore adds a few anecdotes and John Glen talks about having to prove himself to US director Andrew McLaglan, breaking rules and needing money.

The Movietone newsreel shows how red carpet coverage has changed, and the 23 minute making of doco shows how this standard feature has also changed. It may look and sound dated, but it's more like a real doco than most contemporary making of efforts. And by the way, the title, Stars' War, is not a clever twist on Star Wars; it was the original title (as you can see in the doco) and refers to major stars in one movie with war-like elements.

Published December 8, 2005