MovieChat Forums > The Wild Geese (1978) Discussion > Any other good movies about mercenaries/...

Any other good movies about mercenaries/special forces?


I really enjoyed this film and it reminded me of my days at the magazine rack looking through Soldier of Fortune magazine while my parents shopped at the grocery store. Just curious if there are any other films about mercenaries or special forces taking place in Africa or Latin America. I remember a Russell Crowe film with Meg Ryan that I watched years ago and Tears of the Sun with Bruce Willis, but older films made in the 1960's to 1980's would be great recommendation wise.

Conquer your fear, and I promise you, you will conquer death.

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Dark of the Sun, 1968

"Someone has been tampering with Hank's memories."

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Looks like a great recommendation. The time period of the 1960's thru 1980's African decolonization and popular revolts vs. special forces is very interesting.

Conquer your fear, and I promise you, you will conquer death.

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And a superb soundtrack from conceptual jazz composer Jacques Loussier.

"Someone has been tampering with Hank's memories."

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Not quite the same thing but you should see The Wages of Fear by Henri-Georges Clouzot before you die.

Marlon, Claudia & Dimby the cats 1989-2005, 2007, 2010. Clio, July 1997 - 1 May 2016.

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Dogs of War, but with a caveat. It's a slower moving film, particularly the early part. Most of the action is in the third act and it's at night. It has some great moments. Given the passage of time, it differs heavily from the book, though the basic plot is the same. The Wild Geese novel swipes a lot of elements from Frederick Forsyth's novel, without the same level of craft. However, the Wild Geese Novel is pretty good and fleshes out some of the characters.

Not exactly the same kind of film; but, a decent caper/action film is Killer Force, with Peter Fonda, Telly Savalas and Christopher Lee. Ian Yule, who plays Tosh, appears as one of a group of mercenaries. Fonda is a security officer for a South Africa diamond mining company. There has been smuggling from within and his chief sets him on a mission to try to uncover the source. He ends up recruited by a group of mercenaries, led by Hugh O'Brien, to lead them past the security precautions to get to the diamond vault. There are some twists and turns and it's a decent little B-movie. OJ Simpson was one of the mercenaries.

Oliver Stone's Salvador features James Woods as a journalist, who encounters an American mercenary in the country.

There are some others out there, though of variable quality.

A decent mercenary film is the Professionals, with Lee Marvin and Burt Lancaster. It's set at the early part of the 20th Century, where a group of specialists have been hired by a millionaire to bring back his wife, who has been kidnapped by a Mexican revolutionary. Like Wild Geese, things aren't quite what they seem. Very well done with a great cast. It's done as a modern western, though.

Fortunately, Ah keep mah feathers numbered for just such an emergency!

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Play Dirty

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Similar to The Wild Geese:

The Dogs of War

The Final Option (Who Dares Wins)

Ronin

Blackhawk Down

The Professionals

The Soldier

Raid on Entebbe

Munich (2005) or Sword of Gideon (1986) (based on the same book)

Salvadore (sort of)

Aliens (same type of action)

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High Risk

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ccorraliza wrote:

High Risk


I love High Risk, but that doesn't really qualify. I'm not sure there was a single mercenary soldier in the film. The protagonists were all amateur thieves, and the everyone else was either involved in the cocaine trade or citizen revolutionaries.

Speaking of High Risk, is it possible to find even a quality DVD anywhere? The one DVD release was the worst transfer I've ever seen.

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