Having just watched wild geese on DVD for the first time in almost 20 years I'm actually amazed how well it stands up today in the sense that it really portrays well the image of of the mercenary and the mercenary mentality in general back in the 60's and 70's! Watching wild geese today is very nostalgic particularly if you remember seeing the movie at the time, but boy so much in the world has changed since then, it's nearly 30 years old. Back in 1978 southern Africa was one of the worlds hot spots now it is the forgotten continent and the biggest threat to Africa is not communism, mercenaries, black majority rule, wars but aids.
As for the movie itself the character development at the beginning of the four major actors was well done! Faulkner himself puts it as well as any body when he says "when I'm not killing complete strangers I'm an out of work drunk" who does what he does purely for the money and doesn't care who signs the checks. Janders on the other hand has a conscience who wants to retire gracefully and just watch his son grow up. Fynn is a petty crook who has the right cold blooded streak required for being a mercenary because he has no problem killing people he does not like. Also, Coetzee a down on his luck Afrikaner who finds the confines of London not to his taste; he just wants to go back to South Africa and buy a farm. He realistically portrays the contempt that Whites had for blacks back then. The blacks were not ready for prime time and the whites were the ones that carried the blacks and made South Africa what it was. He did not like them but did not hate them, probably mistrusted them and feared them.
The Secondary cast , Tosh, Witty and Sandy etc who obviously find retirement or life in civvy street dull and jump at the opportunity to to get the adrenalin flowing for one last time again come across as believable as a sorry looking bunch of middle aged misfits. As another reviewer points out mercenaries were often bored and out of work malcontents who found civilian life difficult to deal with. The prospect of a large pay check and some excitement was certainly a no brainier when stacked up against regular visits to the labor exchange or some poorly paid factory job! This part of the movie is interesting. If wild geese or something similar was to be made today you would have bunch of macho looking men, muscle bound,squared jaws probably in their late 20's and early 30's with state of the art equipment. Hollywood in particular has done a wonderful job in brainwashing modern audiences that special forces fit the above description but this is nonsense. Unfortunately this is what viewers expect or want to see and Hollywood whose primary motive is profit wants to portray this image to draw in the audiences. However the reality is nothing could be further from the truth. If you were to meet any special forces you would never believe they are special forces many of them look so inconspicuous. Secondly you should not get confused that all mercenaries were former special forces, many came from regular regiments did not have proper training nor good equipment to boot and more often than not resembled the type of oddballs that Wildgeese stereotyped so well.
After they had been double crossed they only manage to escape from the Zimbas by fighting themselves to an air strip and stealing an aging Dakota whereby crash landing it in Rhodesia with only 13 members of the original outfit surviving. I can't tell you the amount of films over the years where the bad guys can't shoot straight, no not in wild geese, 37 perish.
Yes you could say that the fighting was not really realistic and their uniforms were perhaps too clean at the end, remember it's a film, however in my opinion no movie can be realistic about war or close quarters combat, I don't care what people say about Black Hawk down or Saving Private Ryan.
It's good entertainment, good characters(Richard Burton was very believable as Faulkner), plenty of politically incorrect dialog, action and a none fairytale ending with the loss of Jaunders who was probably the most likable of all the characters. In addition Limbani who in 1978 was playing a sort of Nelson Mandela type character who was prepared to reach out to the whites; Coetzee understands that he may have a point, white and blacks need each other for the continent to survive. Funnily enough 10 years on Mandela was released from prison and the rest is history, how right Wildgeese was back then. I expect Wildgeese to be broadcast on the History channel some time in the future as it is part of history now! Lastly, as for the DVD it's been digitally restored and re-mastered and simply looks great. Some may complain that it's not real wide-screen with the top and bottom being sliced off to give that impression but I would have to say that it did not in any way spoil the movie.
The extras are great too, about the London premier, making of wild geese as well as a commentary from Euan Lloyd and Roger Moore. Note: some have questioned why it was a 30th anniversary DVD when the movie was released in1978. My guess is that most of the cast have died and the surviving cast and crew are getting up there ---- -- -- do it now when you can!!
As for the movie itself the character development at the beginning of the four major actors was well done! Faulkner himself puts it as well as any body when he says "when I'm not killing complete strangers I'm an out of work drunk" who does what he does purely for the money and doesn't care who signs the checks. Janders on the other hand has a conscience who wants to retire gracefully and just watch his son grow up. Fynn is a petty crook who has the right cold blooded streak required for being a mercenary because he has no problem killing people he does not like. Also, Coetzee a down on his luck Afrikaner who finds the confines of London not to his taste; he just wants to go back to South Africa and buy a farm. He realistically portrays the contempt that Whites had for blacks back then. The blacks were not ready for prime time and the whites were the ones that carried the blacks and made South Africa what it was. He did not like them but did not hate them, probably mistrusted them and feared them.
The Secondary cast , Tosh, Witty and Sandy etc who obviously find retirement or life in civvy street dull and jump at the opportunity to to get the adrenalin flowing for one last time again come across as believable as a sorry looking bunch of middle aged misfits. As another reviewer points out mercenaries were often bored and out of work malcontents who found civilian life difficult to deal with. The prospect of a large pay check and some excitement was certainly a no brainier when stacked up against regular visits to the labor exchange or some poorly paid factory job! This part of the movie is interesting. If wild geese or something similar was to be made today you would have bunch of macho looking men, muscle bound,squared jaws probably in their late 20's and early 30's with state of the art equipment. Hollywood in particular has done a wonderful job in brainwashing modern audiences that special forces fit the above description but this is nonsense. Unfortunately this is what viewers expect or want to see and Hollywood whose primary motive is profit wants to portray this image to draw in the audiences. However the reality is nothing could be further from the truth. If you were to meet any special forces you would never believe they are special forces many of them look so inconspicuous. Secondly you should not get confused that all mercenaries were former special forces, many came from regular regiments did not have proper training nor good equipment to boot and more often than not resembled the type of oddballs that Wildgeese stereotyped so well.
After they had been double crossed they only manage to escape from the Zimbas by fighting themselves to an air strip and stealing an aging Dakota whereby crash landing it in Rhodesia with only 13 members of the original outfit surviving. I can't tell you the amount of films over the years where the bad guys can't shoot straight, no not in wild geese, 37 perish.
Yes you could say that the fighting was not really realistic and their uniforms were perhaps too clean at the end, remember it's a film, however in my opinion no movie can be realistic about war or close quarters combat, I don't care what people say about Black Hawk down or Saving Private Ryan.
It's good entertainment, good characters(Richard Burton was very believable as Faulkner), plenty of politically incorrect dialog, action and a none fairytale ending with the loss of Jaunders who was probably the most likable of all the characters. In addition Limbani who in 1978 was playing a sort of Nelson Mandela type character who was prepared to reach out to the whites; Coetzee understands that he may have a point, white and blacks need each other for the continent to survive. Funnily enough 10 years on Mandela was released from prison and the rest is history, how right Wildgeese was back then. I expect Wildgeese to be broadcast on the History channel some time in the future as it is part of history now! Lastly, as for the DVD it's been digitally restored and re-mastered and simply looks great. Some may complain that it's not real wide-screen with the top and bottom being sliced off to give that impression but I would have to say that it did not in any way spoil the movie.
The extras are great too, about the London premier, making of wild geese as well as a commentary from Euan Lloyd and Roger Moore. Note: some have questioned why it was a 30th anniversary DVD when the movie was released in1978. My guess is that most of the cast have died and the surviving cast and crew are getting up there ---- -- -- do it now when you can!!