The motion picture The Wild Geese is now available on DVD distributed by Mosaic.
Richard Burton, Roger Moore, Richard Harris and Hardy Kruger, headline a rip roaring adventure yarn set in Africa sometime in the seventies.
Three old hands, and a South African “expert” are hired by corrupt Stewart Granger to “do a job ”in Africa, so that a business cartel can make a quick fortune.
The story line to get the merry band to Africa, moves smartly on, so the real action can start with double crosses and unexpected set backs that brings honour to all the characters that we have been rooting for all along .
Of course that is not the whole story and there is a satisfying twist in the tale.
It’s not all old hat, bearing in mind a very similar episode involving African diamonds and mercenaries just a few years ago !
They really don’t make big films like this any more with dollops of humour, loud bangs and nail biting sequences every ten minutes.
I should add, that the support actors in the film are really useful in filling out the story.
Mention should be made of Hugh Griffith’s (the confused father of one of the many brides in ‘Four Weddings and a Funeral’. He steals every scene in which he appears as an irascible mess sergeant. A talent he carried on in his real life, which I personally witnessed in Belfast a few years ago but that’s another story!
In many ways, this movie was the last of its kind (with big stars and an even bigger budgets).
This got the punters into the cinemas and entertained them.
This re release, with a cleaned up print and interesting extras, is a great night in, when you can escape the horrors of the credit crunch and have a laugh.
The extras have a nostalgic feel to them, showing footage of the London premier,(old Hollywood stars and formally dressed English actors).
All very grand really.
The profile on the producer, Euan Lloyd is informative and gives you an idea how movies actually get made.
This DVD package has family appeal, and is first class entertainment .
It is well worth a look.
Star Rating 7/10
Kenneth Griffith (not Hugh)