Hackett

Richard Harris swore off the booze during shooting of "THE WILD GEESE" so as to get the part. I believe he managed it except for an "incident" involving Irish Coffee's. Dear old Ronald Fraser turned up so pissed he could not walk. He told Roger Moore that the Doctors told him stop drinking or stop breathing. He stopped for the shot and never touched another drop again.

cooleyn

I saw this in the cinema when it came out and have it on DVD and agree its a great film with a whos-who of British acting talent.

Only thing I'd like to comment on, though . . . the script is almost an exact steal of Frederick Forsyth's "Dogs of War" (later made into a movie, of course, with Christopher Walken in the lead role).

I always wondered how the makers got away with it - it's so blatant!

Just a pathetic little bit of trivia - so please just ignore me.

batman

The novel The Dogs of War was published in 1974 and was 'inspired' by real events that happened some years before. The film (1981) is significantly different from the book and more closely resembles The Wild Geese than the novel. Also, the same real events that 'inspired' it were also featured in an unpublished novel that was written in 1968 called The Thin White Line which was the basis for the screenplay of TWG. So the source material for TWG appeared a longtime before Forsyth's novel. So, taking all these factors into account, it looks like TDOW is actually a rip-off of TWG.

Bats.

Jingle bells Batman smells ... I heard that at school Daddy.

BAT QUIZ 16 HAS JUST BEEN POSTED IN THE COMPETITION THREAD - 06/01/09

cooleyn

Oh, erm, okay then - sorreeeeeeee

batman

Don't be daft .....

Bats.

Jingle bells Batman smells ... I heard that at school Daddy.

BAT QUIZ 16 HAS JUST BEEN POSTED IN THE COMPETITION THREAD - 06/01/09

cooleyn

Just joking - always interesting to get the right facts, thanks.

dremble wedge

And to be honest who does?

maninasuitcase

I absolutely love this action packed film and way back in early 1981 this was the very first movie I ever hired for my VCR.

stevie boy

3 of my most viewed films are, the Wild Geese, Where Eagles Dare and The Spy who came in from the Cold, all with Mr. Burton in them

GRAEME

Yeah, I love Andrew V McLaglen's Brit action movies too. He brought the fun male bonding thing from his westerns and applied it to British millieu.

It's interesting how, having been literally brought up in American Westerns (Dad Victor, hanging around John Ford sets, directing the Duke), late in his career he switched to Brit action. It certainly extended his popularity as the traditional western he was known for faded.

Maybe, he just wanted to "come home" as well?

Mind you, I'm not so keen on Breakthrough - the Burton follow up to Peckinpah's excellent Cross of Iron. If ever a sequel was not required...

Captain Casper

Snap!

john audley

Surely one of the greatest and exciting film moments must be the free fall of parachutists from the rear of the plane with a great musical score

'You should be kind to us normals, there are not many of us left you know'!

Harleybloke

Joan Armatrading's best song to my mind.

.....You couldn't hear it, if they were shooting at me with howitzers!

Grey Wyler

Changing the subject ever so slightly, but does anyone know whatever happened to The Wild Geese author, Daniel Carney.
He put out a few cracking novels then just seemed to vanish.

NathanC

The Wild Geese has always been up there among my favourite action films. It's particularly refreshing to see that some of the heroes (particularly among the officers) are past their sell-by dates, with graying hair and the odd age freckle on their hands, which makes it all the more suspenseful whenever they come under fire. Great action, great relationships between the characters and a tear-jerking finale - what more could you ask for in a film?

The cast is second to none with many legends including Burton, Harris, Moore, Kruger ensuring that the film is packed with wonderful acting.

Speaking of The Wild Geese, I really ought to pop it in my DVD player again sometime soon.