I love the film but I've really had a hard time picking out my favourite character. Harris and Burton were both great but I'm gonna plumb for Hardy Kruger as Pieter, great portrayal of a tough as nails set-in-his ways old man, must have been quite an effort for Hardy to get the part just right so he could portay Pieter so convincingly.
"He's a bit of a rough diamond but his heart's in the right place."
.....the guy in charge. Now, er, um.......damn! What was his name?
Serious, mysterious, cold, ruthless, professional, intelligent, sharp witted, loyal. Great character.
What guy could gas 300 people without batting an eyelid and shoot his own men yet still make sure the widows and orphans get their cut.
Mrs Young didn't like him too much but.
"Men! We have been double crossed! But we will plan our way out of here!"
- "We just needed to be held!"
- "You got the bonus plan!" - FF
Richard Burton played the guy in charge Alan Faulkner. He is cool and also Welsh.
share I liked Richard Harris' Rafer Janders best. His character is great and Harris does a good job with it, but what really sold me is the ending. That shot of Janders chasing after the plane is beautifully done and hard to watch as Janders and Faulkner address each other the last time.
Powerful stuff. Although how can you wrong with any of the characters, main or supporting? They all turn in fine performances.
"Congratulations, Major. It appears that at last you have found yourself a real war." Ben Tyreen
Sandy has always been one of my favourites, the whole training ground sequence was fantastic, cracks me up when he kicks Witty in the ribs and screams "You Bleeding Screaming *beep* MOVE IT BEFORE I SOW UP YOUR AR$EHOLE!"
Didn't feel as bad when he got killed though as I did when Rafer died though, that sticks in the throat everytime I watch the film, not to mention I'm convinced hes gonna make it!
You got to feel sorry for Rafer with a son who can't scream propeply.
shareThis has been one of my favourite films when I first saw it back in 1986 when it was shown on TV and I now have it on DVD.
The thing that makes me think is... What must have it been like behind the scenes when making the film?
Can you imagine it?
Richard Burton and Richard Harris were renowned for their drinking habits. Can you imagine the alcohol consumed? When you watch the film I'm pretty sure that all that whisky and wine that Burton gulps down his neck is real. In the scene where he meets Matheson and they discuss the situation... when the camera changes angle look at Burton's eyes... he looks as ****ed as a newt. I don't think they managed to get that scene done in one take. (Probably Burton wanted to do numerous takes anyway).
Roger Moore would have been looking into a mirror practicing his eye brow techniques (as he was very much the James Bond in that time frame). Some of the one liners directed at him, especially from the Sergeant Major... "You are jumping from an ariplane sir! Not a whore house window!" Pure class as he was the ladies man of the 70's.
Jack Watson who played RSM Sandy Young was brilliant. Towards the end of the film Faulkner informs Sandy "When people aren't around, you can call me Allen."
The only time that he calls Allen's name is when he is shot running for the plane. He's one of those characters that you want to survive.
As for the Rafer Janders character, the end part with the plane, (and if we all know the film so well, we know what happens). I don't know how other people reacted to it but my hands clasped my head and I can remember thinking "Oh s**t! Get up man, I know you are hurt but you can make it!"
Hardy Kruger has always been a great actor. The next film that he appeared in was A Bridge Too Far in which he gave an excellent performance.
All of the supporting cast were brilliant. Kenneth Griffith as Witty as the 'camp' medic brought a more humane approach to alot of situations with some good belly laughs.
Excellent old school film making with action that doesn't gratify violence and characters that you hope to get through the tense situation.
Great soundtrack too.
Everyone that I know that has seen the film can remember parts from it.
Shame they don't make them like this anymore.
"Richard Burton and Richard Harris were renowned for their drinking habits. Can you imagine the alcohol consumed? When you watch the film I'm pretty sure that all that whisky and wine that Burton gulps down his neck is real."
Apparently Burton's back condition and his medication meant he couldn't drink for the duration of filimg, though i agree he looks drunk in the Matherson scene!
The producers were struggling to get Harris insured due to his drinking reputation as you say, but they reached an agreement where half his salary was kept back from him with deductutions made for any filming problems caused by his drinking, on his condition producer Euan Lloyd did exactly the same. It worked as he only had 1 drunken incident the entire shoot, otherwise remaining dry.
"He's a bit of a rough diamond but his heart's in the right place."
Check out the two-part feature on the film in Impact magazine in 2003, and in the most recent edition of Cinema Retro, which carries an interview with Euan Lloyd. Both are UK mags but they are available in the States.
Hey thanks guys... that was really good information you put on the board.
Didn't know the full back ground to the actors situations and it's great to hear about it.
Also I'll check out those features for sure.
Agree with you on everything except for the "soundtrack" part, the soundtrack was horribly inadequate, IMO.
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All four of the officers were great. As for the troops, it would have to be the bloke with the handlebar moustache wearing the SAS beret. Anyone catch his name in the movie? I think Burton mentioned it once when they were running for the plane but I cannot figure it out. Out of all the characters, his is the only one that seems to actually have been in the service. For one the way he moves on patrol and as wella s being the only Merc to actually be wearing the SAS flash on his beret.
shareHis character name was Tosh Donaldson and he was played by Ian Yule. Ian served with Colonel 'Mad Mike' Hoare in the The Congo in the 1960s and actually introduced Col. Hoare to the producers who promptly hired him as a technical advisor. Ian also handled most of the weapons training on the film in an unofficial capacity. So he went from 5 Commando (Hoare's mercenary unit and the original Wild Geese) to the movie. He's in his late sixties or early seventies now and he's still a hard bastard - the real McCoy.
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without doubt, Sir Edward Matheson. absolutely brilliant portrayal by Stewart Granger, has to be one of the alltime best screen villains ever.
"Sir, you bastard!"
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My Father and I have always adored the Medic. When he's forced to fight before he dies the lines that he comes out with always makes us laugh.
shareCorpsman Witty was well portrayed. While he did provide a chuckle or two, the immense saddness of the character comes through on the scene where the bridge is bombed with dead and dying Mercs laying all over the place. With a look, Colonel Faulkner and Corpsman Witty communicate what is to be the fate of one of the gravely wounded Mercenaries. Witty just slowly shakes his head letting Faulkner know that his troop is beyond saving.
This was my father's all time favorite movie. We had not seen it for over 20 years and last year I found it on DVD on eBay. My father died last April. This was the movie we ever watched together.
Favourite Characters:
Falkner
Janders
Finn
Whitty
Sandy
Jessie "I'm glad you got my telegram jessie" "So am I sir, .... it was my breakfast"
the priest
I loved Jack Watson as Sandy Young. He was incredible in that part. Roger Moore was likewise fine and suave as ever as the flippant dandy Shawn Flynn. Moreover, Frank Finlay makes the most out of his rather minor, yet memorable part as a feisty priest. And Stewart Granger as smarmy industrialist Sir Edward Matherson was a perfectly hateful villain.
300 bios and counting.
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One of my favourites this movie. Rafer jandis is played well by harris. This movie has everything in it for me, watch it regulary and wish we had the stars nowadays to make movies like this.
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