Qiang Xu I watched this file when I was in my middle school around 30 years ago, in a movie theater invited by an elder neighbor boy. Though impressed by its action part, I couldn't understand fully the dialog in the movie. Nevertheless, the movie was so good and left a deep trace in my memory.Yesterday night, I watched it again on my home DVD player. It was so sweet, like being reunited with an old friend. All the memories 30 years ago came back. Because I am over 40 now, I can understand most of the dialog, though my English comprehension is still not that good.Don't want to waste time on analyzing the characters of Richard Burton, Richard Harris, and Roger Moore. They are simply the fantastic trio. That aside, the movie paid great attention to the minor details. I am not a military expert, but I can see the action part is much more realistic than most war movies from Hollywood.Couldn't understand why its rating is so low (only 6.8) at IMDb. It is the best ever mercenary movie, IMHO.

Brian Lindsey Ye old "whip a disparate group of men into an elite commando team and send 'em on a mission" formula, only with a not-so stiff British upper lip and a distinct African flavor. And it all works quite well. Richard Burton is Col. Faulkner, the veteran soldier of fortune hired by an industrialist (Stewart Granger) to rescue an imprisoned political leader from the clutches of a brutal African dictator. Faulkner assembles a force of experienced mercenaries, including old buddies Flynn (Roger Moore) and Janders (Richard Harris), for the daring but meticulously planned raid, which in the end turns out a rather bloody affair. This is a solid if undistinguished action-adventure film done the old fashioned way (no digital explosions!), elevated by a cast of familiar, likable actors and a closer adherence to the real world. Nobody does anything super-heroic or impossible (even with 007 himself on hand), and the high body count ultimately includes a significant number of the mercenaries themselves. The film even addresses the subject of racial politics in post-colonial Africa without getting preachy or slowing down the narrative. Like THE DIRTY DOZEN, it's the antithesis of the "chick flick" -- this is purely a guy's movie, the kind you knock back in the BarcaLounger with a cold beer to. (If you're a guy, that is.) The impatient under-30 crowd may get a bit antsy during the first hour, though, as virtually all the action is saved for the second half.

Dark Jedi Yesterday we sat down to watch another oldie that I had seen when I was younger quite some years ago. I remember this movie being quite high on my list of movies that I appreciated as a kid so when I saw it coming it on Blu-ray I had to get it. It is still a decent film but I remembered it as better.The story is a fairly old a frequently reused one. Band of mercenary gets a mission by some person or entity of debatable reputation. Said person or entity double-crosses them, usually in a way which leaves them stranded and with a very short life expectancy. One or more of the mercenaries did not have his or hers imminent demise written into the script and thus ruins the plans, and usually the life, of one or more persons on the double-crossing side. Nothing wrong with a trusted and tried story as long as it is well done.In 1978 when this film was made I guess the actions scenes were considered fairly good. Today they are rather mediocre though. The mercenaries that are supposed to be experts are behaving in a fairly amateurish manner. The bridge attack scene is especially annoying in that these people just sit there waiting for the plane to make pass after pass instead of getting their behinds under cover. In a later scene Richard Harris is seen shooting at the bad guys together with a bunch of his fellow mercenaries but his gun is pointing in a 30 degree angle upwards. He might have hit some real geese but sure as hell not any of the bad guys.As so many films from the 70's it also tries to make a political statement but that particular part is just boringly old today. A South African running around and calling the guy they are supposed to rescue for "kaffer" all the time because he is black is at best a historical curiosity, and a fairly boring one at that, today. Naturally a 5 minute, equally boring, speech from the black guy turns the South African guy. Boring and silly.That is not to say that the movie is a bad one. It is still worth watching. The first parts of the movie, when the main characters are introduced, is quite enjoyable. I especially liked the bad attitude of Col. Faulkner. I have always liked Richard Burton as an actor and he doesn't disappoint in this movie. Roger Moore is of course always Roger Moore. Whether or not you like him is another story. Also, even though it is not up to today's standards there are plenty of watchable action in the later parts of the movie.So I did enjoy my oldie movie evening but the movie was not as good as I remembered. But then it is maybe not surprising when you re-watch a move that you first saw as a kid.

Tweekums When mercenary leader Colonel Faulkner is hired by wealthy merchant banker Sir Edward Matherson to rescue deposed African leader President Julius Limbani from a barracks deep inside hostile territory he knows it won't be easy. Once he has recruited the men he needs they head to Swaziland to train. They then fly north and parachute to there target. At first things go well; they quickly eliminate the soldiers based there; silently taking out the sentries with a cross bow then gassing the rest while they slept. It isn't long before they are at the airport with Limbani waiting for the plane to return to pick them up... this is where the action really starts; Matherson has made a new deal and no longer needs Limbani so the plane abandons them to their fate. Trapped deep inside hostile territory with enemy forces fast approaching they must quickly decide what to do. The initial plan is to drive south into Limbani's tribal heartland to try to raise a revolution but that looks unlikely when their transport is destroyed and many of them are killed... the will just have to find a alternate way out of the country and once out Falkner will make sure somebody pays for all those bodies left littering Africa! If you want a proper 'Boy's Own' adventure this is it; the first hour nicely introduces all the main characters as well as Falkner there is Rafer Janders, the planner; Shawn Flynn, a pilot; Pieter Coetzee, an Afrikaner who just wants to earn enough to buy a farm back home; Sandy Young, the RSM and Witty, the camp (in more ways than one) medic. Once the action starts it is almost none stop and it soon becomes clear that it isn't just nameless background characters that are going to die; characters we've grown to care about die too. This leads to a genuinely tear-jerking moment towards the end when Falkner will have to make the hardest decision imaginable. The cast is loaded with star names: Richard Burton, Richard Harris, Roger Moore and Hardy Krüger but it isn't the sort of 'all star' film where well known stars just take turns to show off a bit; they all do great jobs as do the other, less well known, actors. The action looks believable, which shouldn't be too surprising given that famous mercenary 'Mad Mike' Hoare acted as an adviser and many of the cast had seen military service during the war. Some may find this a little bit non-PC as the openly gay medic is distinctly camp and Coetzee constantly calls Limbani 'kaffir'; this misses the point though Witty may be a camp stereotype but the men accept him for who he is and he is a heroic character who doesn't shirk from the fight and Coetzee grows to become more moderate as he gets to know Limbani and acknowledges that he doesn't understand the politics of his own country. Overall if you are looking for a good solid action flick you could do a lot worse than this.