Los perros de la guerra

The entire beginning and middle of the film are utterly engrossing. It was a nice change to see a film that showed the amount of planning and attention to detail and contingency plans that goes into preparing a military operation, even a quick raid like the one planned here. The final raid however is a disappointment though, especially because of the realistic and detailed nature of the film to that point. These are serious professional mercenaries in a gritty realistic film and in the final battle, logic and realism go out the window as these "professionals" walk slowly in the open firing from the hip like they were in a Rambo film. Had they fought like that in real life, they'd have all been killed in the first few seconds. I don't think the director understood the nature of combat and that's too bad because otherwise, this film is a gem.

John Irvin directed this film, starring Christopher Walken as war veteran mercenary who gets a job by government to travel to Africa and inform the situation that is pretty hot in there. He does it, and sees the violence that takes place there, and when he returns to US and tells about the evil dictator that dominates there, the new job for him is to travel there again and wipe out the incarnation of evil..

This film isn't any action film as many seem to have expected - me included - but this is pretty sophisticated, but still also little slow moving (dir. cut. 15mins longer than the US version) portrait about the state of some countries in the world, and what these dictators can do to people and country. I'm mostly fascinated by the film's atmosphere and calmness as there isn't stupid gunplay or other usual flaws often found in these films. Walken acts greatly in his role of retired war veteran who takes the job only because of money offered to him. At the end, a twist in plot is coming and all the greediness and betrayal in the film gets a new face.

The end is little stupid as it tries to imitate Apocalypse Now a little, by depicting Walken's face and "the horror" as Francis Ford Coppola did, and the gun fights at the end are also little unnecessary, especially when the film managed to be without them for so long. Still the result is satisfying, yet little too long and occasionally may make the viewer feel little tired, but this film isn't meant to be watched when tired. The US distributor cut the original version by over ten minutes, and I saw the original director's cut which includes many important bits of dialogue and things that add to the film. So I recommend the director's cut of the film as it is the directors original version.

Dogs of War is pretty intelligent and interesting depiction of power and dictatorship, and also very nostalgic in its atmosphere and scenery. The gun battle at the end of the film is great looking and also gripping, but as mentioned, also little unnecessary and too traditional finale. 7/10

An effective and efficient little film detailing the story of a military coup in an African country. This one's based on a novel by Frederick Forsyth, so it has more realism behind it than some I could mention, and as an added bonus the director is John Irvin, who later went on to make the equally authentic HAMBURGER HILL. This one stands out because it has an actual plot to it leading up to the big action scene at the end, and that alone makes it more original than 99% of the guys-on-a-mission type films that came out in the 1980s.

Christopher Walken, twitchy and solemn, stands out in this early role as the hard-ass mercenary who's seen plenty of conflict over the years. Walken is a guy who seems to live and breathe his characters rather than the other way round, and he's one of the best things in this film. His trip to the made-up African nation of Zangora is fraught with peril and tension, and yet seems real throughout in the same way that a film like BLOOD DIAMOND had the ring of authenticity to it.

The violence that follows is expected yet none the less shocking for it, and even the character building exposition scenes back in the West are handled in such a way that you never lose interest in the proceedings. Then things shift up a gear for the pyrotechnic meltdown at the climax, which is more familiar to fans of action and war movies, but the strong storyline proceeding this moment makes it all the more full of impact.

The "dogs of war" (this phrase takes its literary origins from William Shakespeare) is an exciting as well as interesting action/war film . It concerns a military coup in an African country and stars Christopher Walken and Tom Berenger , though he has said in interviews that around half of his role was omitted from the final release print . It deals with mercenary James Shannon (Christopher Walken) , on a reconnaissance job to the African nation of Zangaro, is tortured and deported . He returns to lead a coup and tangles with an Idi Amin-alike dictator. As various soldiers of fortune (Tom Berenger , Paul Freeman , among others) , used to be the best of friends give a toast : ¨Long live death, long live war, long live the cursed mercenary" (this is an adaptation of the original Foreign legion toast) and all of them battle side by side in hellhole Africa .

This war film packs adventures , large-scale blow-up , thrilling plot , and lots of action for the most part , but also contains too much dialogue . It's a good mix of action-packed , adventure , thriller and warfare genre . Overly somber rendition based on Frederick Forsyth's novel , in fact , while researching the novel in the early 1970s, author pretended he was actually financing a coup d'etat in Equatorial Guinea , the pretense allowed Forsyth access to a number of underworld figures, including mercenaries and arms dealers ; Forsyth has since commented that the arms dealers were the most frightening people he has ever met . Frederick is a famous author best-sellers whose novels have been successfully adapted to cinema and TV such as ¨The day of Jackal¨, ¨Odessa¨ and ¨The fourth protocol¨ . Fine support cast who realize professionally competent interpretations , some of them with no more than a line or two to say such as Colin Blakely , Paul Freeman , and brief interventions from JoBeth Williams , Robert Urquhart , Ed O'Neill , Jim Broadbent , Jean Pierre Kalfon , Victoria Tennant , Pedro Armendariz Jr and first cinema film of David Schofield.

Good cinematography by Jack Cardiff , who also shot a movie about mercenaries in Africa titled ¨The mercenaries¨, it was filmed on location , as African and Central America sequences were filmed in Belize City, Belize in Central America . The motion picture was well directed by John Irvin , though it was originally going to be directed by Norman Jewison. John had previously filmed amidst real life battles when he worked in a television news crew in Vietnam during the 1960s. Irvin once said: "Unlike most young film directors, I've been in battle. Throughout the sixties I went to various war zones and I met numerous mercenaries in Algeria and South East Asia, so I had my own personal strings to draw on. I would say our depiction of mercenaries is pretty accurate. We talked to a lot of mercenaries and were able to get a lot of information from them about how they would have handled the operation". As the movie's major battle sequence was directed by director John Irvin and not the Second Unit Director . Rating : Nice picture , better than average . Worthwhile watching .

There's an old saying that goes: The b*stard you know is better than the b*stard you don't know.* "Dogs of War" dives into the muddy waters of forcibly changing rulers. How good of an idea is that anyway? What are you really getting?

*I had to asterisk the word because imdb flagged it.

The tumultuous and fictitious African country of Zangoro has a ruthless dictator named Kimba as her ruler. He acquired the seat of power through elections then immediately dispatched his opponents. He proceeded to suppress any and everyone who challenged or questioned his authority.

Shannon (Christopher Walken) was tapped on the shoulder to lead a coup to uproot Kimba. That is Shannon's specialty, but he is not unscrupulous.

This was a movie that had me teetering the whole time. They established that Kimba was a wicked despot, but he's the guy they elected. Furthermore, the options for a suitable ruler were limited. It's always a sensitive topic when you're talking about foreigners openly or furtively infiltrating a country to take out its ruler.

But the dogs of war are just that--they're the dogs. They don't make the assignments they just execute them. Shannon and his men were the right dogs for the job.