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Richard Burton, Roger Moore, Richard Harris, Hardy Kruger, Stewart Granger ... see more see more... , Jack Watson , Winston Ntshona , John Kani , Kenneth Griffith , Barry Foster , Jeff Corey , Ronald Fraser , Ian Yule , Brook Williams , Percy Herbert , Patrick Allen , Glyn Baker , Rosalind Lloyd , Jane Hylton , David Ladd , Paul Spurrier , Christopher Chittell , Graham Clark , Joseph Cotten , Frank Finlay , Ken Gampu , Valerie Leon , Jazzer Jeyes , Len Sparrowhawk , Clive Curtis , George Leech

The plot of this of this adaptation of the Daniel Carney's novel, sprinkled throughout a series of extended Sam Peckinpah-inspired action sequences, deals with a collection of mercenary toughguys -- C... read more read more...olonel Allen Faulkner (Richard Burton), Lieutenant Shawn Fynn (Roger Moore), Rafer Janders (Richard Harris), Pieter Coetzee (Hardy Kruger) -- who are hired to parachute into the African bush country and abscond with deposed African president Julius Limbani (Winston Ntshona) and reinstall him as a reigning monarch of an African country, to satisfy British mercantile interests. The action sequences were successful enough to spawn a sequel -- appropriately titled Wild Geese II. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

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70% liked it

5,361 ratings

Critics

60% liked it

5 critics

R, 2 hr. 12 min.

Directed by: Andrew V. McLaglen

Release Date: November 11, 1978

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DVD Release Date: September 27, 2005

Stats: 266 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (266)

  • DragonEyeMorrison
    September 11, 2011
    DragonEyeMorrison
    Wild Bunch vibe, with a british flavour. In many ways this has the soul and form that was lacking in The Expendables. British people truly are more badass by default.
  • kpn666
    January 14, 2008
    kpn666
    An action war thriller which takes the best parts of the Dirty Dozen, the Dogs of War and others and rolls them into this hectic flick with more than a touch of style and throw in a star leading cast and yep, it works!

    One of the best war action movies Ive seen, they sure dont... read more make them as they used to! Meet the Wild Geese, a mercenary group hired to rescue an exiled African president for a British CEO whose interests lie in the Presidents country's copper mines, an obvious plot of treachery and deception afoot. But when things go astray, the Wild Geese decide if they are going to die, they will die hurting those who betrayed them where it hurts - and crossing these men will come at a high price as the CEO and the African dictators' army will find out the hard way.

    Its smart, a great script, some great humor and near realistic action scenes, its not a movie with all the huff and fluff of Hollywood, but a geunine near reality based movie, so no fancy computer imagery or such, just nice raw cinema at its best.


    Yep, defintley a war movie to watch!
  • Dannyrovira
    September 13, 2010
    Dannyrovira
    A entertaining good old blood and guts action-adventure, starring the late Richard Burton in a first-rate performance as a fearless veteran mercenary, Colonel Faulkner who has been employed by a sinister British banker, well played by Stewart Granger, who in a effort to advance h... read moreis own business interests, wants him to free a deposed African president from a brutal prison in Africa, before he is executed by a ruthless dictator. Burton contacts and also hires his former mercenary compatriots, played terrifically by Roger Moore and Richard Harris, who organized 50 crack mercenary paratroops to go to a remote hostile corner of Africa to rescue the imprisoned president. Burton and his team of mercenaries accomplished their mission, only to fine out the hard way that they have been double-crossed by the banker, who has struck a new deal with the dictator. Solid direction by Andrew V. MacLaglen, with excellent supporting performances by Hardy Kruger, Jack Wetson, Winston Ntshona, John Kani, and Kenneth Griffith. The thrilling combat battle sequences are well-choreographed, and the nail-biting climactic escape is very suspenseful. Filmed on location in South Africa. Highly Recommended.
  • DrLappos
    September 15, 2007
    DrLappos
    Brilliant. Old Brits with guns and stuff....
  • FanadFilmsProduction
    May 5, 2007
    FanadFilmsProduction
    This was one of the most real performances Richard Burton ever gave. Also, Roger Moore and Richard Harris were amazing in it.

    I could watch this over and over again.
  • EdwardGump
    September 17, 2010
    EdwardGump
    Good luck to you, you Godless murderers.
    file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Edward%20Cantillo/My%20Documents/cooltext469859153.png.pngMixing action, humor, sentiment, and even a few righteous moral convictions, The Wild Geese is good, rousing fun. Released theatrically in 197... read more8 (oddly, this 2005 DVD release is referred to as the "30th Anniversary Edition"), director Andrew V. McLaglen?s film depicts the adventures of a group of British mercenaries hired by a shady multinational corporation to free the benevolent leader of an African nation held captive by a ruthless dictator. Led by the caustic, no-nonsense Col. Allen Faulkner (Richard Burton), these soldiers of fortune are all stout fellows out to earn a big payday and restore a good man to his rightful place of power (the underlying message of universal racial brotherhood is effective, if somewhat simplistic), and they do their job swiftly and efficiently... at least until they're double-crossed by their venal, perfidious employers, at which point the film becomes a tale of survival and revenge. The cast, which also includes Richard Harris, Roger Moore, and a host of other fine veteran actors, is first-rate, the story-telling efficient, the dialogue entertaining (with occasional bursts of profanity), and the action reasonably exciting and not overly graphic. And even if the pace is somewhat leisurely by new millennium standards (we're nearly an hour into it before the actual mission starts), The Wild Geese is a very enjoyable ride. Bonus features include a profile of producer Euan Lloyd and commentary by Lloyd, Moore, and journalist Jonathan Sothcott. --Sam Graham
    file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Edward%20Cantillo/My%20Documents/cooltext469858658.png.png
    The first few minutes were really boring but his was anstounding movie. All cause of acting and effects and you have a little bit of good acting.
  • zardoz3
    July 24, 2010
    zardoz3
    Treacherous corporate big wig Sir Charles Matherson (silver-haired
    Stewart Granger of "The Prisoner of Zenda") hires an aging but elite
    mercenary, Colonel Allen Faulkner (Richard Burton of "Raid on Rommel"),
    to snatch an ailing African leader, Julius Limbani (Winston Ntshona o... read moref
    "The Dogs of War") from under the nose of a ruthless dictator who has him under lock and key at Zembala Prison in the middle of nowhere. Faulkner enlists the aid of two indispensable individuals, mastermind combat strategist Rafer Janders (Richard Harris of "Unforgiven") and veteran pilot Shawn Fynn (Roger Moore of "Live and Let Die") to help ramrod the mission. They also hire Lieutenant Pieter Coetze (Hardy Kruger of "Hatari") because he knows South Africa like the back of his hand, and he can wield a cross-bow with unerring accuracy. Faulkner rounds up 50 soldiers-of-fortune for the mission. The recruitment scenes are some of the best, especially when Faulkner visits his old drill sergeant, RSM Sandy Young (Jack Watson of "The Devil's Brigade"), who has settled down to a mundane life of "whipping the rose bushes into shape" for his wife. Young relishes the the process of whipping men into shape and he is prepared to execute them on the spot if they refuse to follow his orders. In an example of diversity, the medic, Medical Orderly Arthur Witty (Kenneth Griffith of "The Lion in Winter") that Faulkner and company hire is an openly gay character. Not only is Witty treated as an equal, but he also has a terrific death scene where he mows down several South African soldiers.

    Happily, "Shenandoah" director Andrew V. McLaglen and "12 Angry Men"
    scenarist Reginald Rose never give our heroes a break. The best action
    movies make their heroes earn their heroism and have them endure a
    baptism by fire. Our heroes are alerted to attack the barracks ahead of
    schedule on Christmas day. The attack goes off without a hitch.
    Nevertheless, it is the kind of mission that would raise the hackles on
    a staunch moralist's back. Our heroes skewer three tower guards with
    cross-bow arrows with cyanide-tipped quarrels containing a fast-acting poison to keep them for alerting their fellow soldiers. Afterward, our heroes don gas masks and slip into the barracks and murder the soldiers one-by-one as they are
    sleeping with cyanide gas. Mind you, these mercenaries don't play
    around at soldier boy heroics. You get a taste of this kind of extreme
    behavior before the mission is launched when Roger Moore's character
    Shawn Fynn perforates a mafia bodyguard in the head with a bullet. It
    seems that they had given him narcotics laced with strychnine and he
    saw a junkie suffer a horrible death. How often do you see the former
    James Bond doing something this heinous? Anyway, after they rescue
    Limbani, our heroes radio their transport plane to pick them up.
    Meanwhile, the double-crossing Sir Charles has cut another deal with
    the South Africans to get a copper concession, and he orders the
    transport plane to fly off without the mercenaries. Our heroes have to
    lam out in trucks with Limbani. The first thing that goes wrong for
    them occurs at a bridge over a dried up river bed. One of their trucks
    stalls out about the same time that a twin-engine aircraft swoops in
    and strafed them. Faulkner has his men evacuate, but some don't make it
    out before the plane drops a napalm bomb that turns everything into a
    blazing inferno. Later, they have to shoot their way through scores of
    African soldiers to find an old Dakota and fly it off. During all this
    shooting and killing, more than half of Faulkner's men die. Faulkner is
    especially saddened and outraged when he has to execute his old friend
    Rafer to keep him from falling into enemy hands.

    Unquestionably, "The Wild Geese" ranks as the best African-themed
    mercenary melodrama that you will ever see. The closest movie to it is
    the Rod Taylor & Jim Brown mercenary movie "Dark of the Sun" (1968).
    Mind you, if you're looking for a lightweight, inspirational actioneer,
    skip this bullet-riddled affair. One of the high points comes when our
    parachute-clad heroes dive plunge from a transport plane en masse. This
    is the real thing when these guys topple out of the plane, and McLaglen
    has some cool point-of-view shots of the mercenaries falling through
    the skies. After they capture at the base, everything goes south for
    our heroes and they are forced to improvise under pressure. If you like
    your action movies with a heart and a mind, "The Wild Geese" qualifies
    as the kind of tour-de-force thriller that you will want to take a
    gander at!
  • LittleMissBloodAndGuts
    June 3, 2009
    LittleMissBloodAndGuts
    Ex mercs claim this is one of the more realistic mercenary films. A great cast of my favorite, gristled, alcoholic actors (it's true -several had a provision in their contracts to stay off the sauce until production concluded) and a believable conclusion. Plenty of action and m... read moreore importantly, political realism.
  • caarnold2
    November 5, 2006
    caarnold2
    My favorite movie- a wonderfully realistic look at mercenary warfare as it was from the 60s to the 80s.
  • vincentvangogh1889
    June 13, 2006
    vincentvangogh1889
    Richard Burton, Roger Moore and Richard Harris are great as three British mercenaries hired to rescue an imprisoned African leader. They don't make good action movies like this any more.

View All The Wild Geese Reviews

Critic Reviews

Brian Mckay
March 18, 2003
Brian Mckay, eFilmCritic.com

When you're in the mood for a high-caliber, top-notch Brit action film, you can't do much better than "The Wild Geese". Full Review

March 26, 2009
Variety

Click to read the article Full Review

Janet Maslin
May 9, 2005
Janet Maslin, New York Times

Click to read the article Full Review

Chuck O'Leary
October 9, 2005
Chuck O'Leary, Fantastica Daily

No review available.

Emanuel Levy
July 2, 2005
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com

No review available.

Jeffrey Westhoff
May 20, 2005
Jeffrey Westhoff, Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL)

No review available.

Lori Hoffman
January 5, 2005
Lori Hoffman, Atlantic City Weekly

No review available.

January 26, 2006
Time Out

Click to read the article Full Review

May 24, 2003
Film4

Click to read the article Full Review

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The Wild Geese Trivia

  • Which British actor's real name was Richard Jenkins? (from the 50s,60s & 70s and he was in the film Wild Geese)  Answer »
  • Richard Burton, Richard Harris and Roger Moore all appear in which film together?  Answer »
  • Which of the following "Wild Geese" actors is English?  Answer »
  • "There's a separate clause in my contract that says my liver is to be buried separately with honors." This quote is from which movie  Answer »
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