Welcome back to my blog. Here’s my recommendation of a movie to check out today and hope you punch your “Ticket to the Movies!” OK, let’s move from a cinema classic yesterday (“The Caine Mutiny” with Humphrey Bogart) to a simply terrible flick with the nearly as legendary Richard Burton: “The Wild Geese.” It is a film that was bad from its premiere and only has become worse for the wear of years passed since 1978.
“The Wild Geese” has three top-shelf actors as headliners: Burton, Richard Harris and Roger Moore. It also has a decent but thin supporting cast headed by Stewart Granger and Hardy Krüger. What “The Wild Geese” doesn’t have is any of the following: a competent effort by the director; any effort by the actors; and an uneven outcome of production.
“The Wild Geese” is the story about “good” mercenaries (yes, someone actually believed that there are “good” mercenaries) hired to rescue a “good” African leader who has been kidnapped by a “bad” African leader. Further, you get a white South African mercenary who gets converted to the black man’s cause in Africa and a reprehensible portrayal of a gay medic.
Whew! One steaming pile would be enough, but “The Wild Geese” is a minefield of bad filmmaking at its worst.
Age was a factor in this “action” film as Burton was 53 and Harris at 48 looked 10 years older. Moore, at 50 when the film was released, was two years older than Harris but appears 10 years younger. It wouldn’t have been too bad if Burton and Harris had remained just planners and commanders, but they embarrass themselves and the audience with being in the “action,” too.
The plot of “The Wild Geese” moves from the hiring of Burton for the mission; his getting Harris, who is the brilliant strategist for the team; and the inclusion of Moore as their longtime compatriot. It moves to the recruitment of the mercenary band; a stereotypical training segment; and then the mission and, finally and thankfully, an ending with another stereotype: betrayal and revenge.
So, I say punch your “Ticket to the Movies!” and, if you dare, watch “The Wild Geese.” It is available on several streaming platforms for free with ads. You will definitely thank me later when you watch “The Wild Geese” today!
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