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| The tag-line that runs into the title for John Irvin's The Dogs of War here is actually a Shakespearean quote from Julius Caesar (1599) |
QUICK REVIEW:
A group of mercenaries carry out a coup d'état in a brutally led, African dictatorship for economical gain ... or ?
Dogs of War is an uneven war drama with a young Christopher Walken (The Deer Hunter (1978)) in a fairly uninteresting part as one of the mercenaries. I rarely think about it in his later work, but as a young man, (although he is actually 36 here, so not, in fact, so very young), Walken had a stunning, off-center beauty.
Most of the film concerns an international errand, where one dull weapons deal after the other is introduced and quickly forgotten again. Dogs of War's facets never quite make up for the fact that the film never seems to really deliver what its posters, blurbs and first, exciting scene promises: Action.
It is written by Gary DeVore (Raw Deal (1986)) and George Malko (Indian Killer (1974)), based on the 1974 novel of the same title by Frederick Forsyth (The Day of the Jackal (1971)), and directed by English director John Irvin (Hamburger Hill (1987)). Irvin is making a film entitled Mandela's Gun in South Africa right now for release later this year.
Watch a hokey TV spot for the film here
Cost: Unknown
Box office: 5.4 mil. $ (presumably US only)
= Uncertainty
[Dogs of War is an English production, shot in Miami, Florida, and in Belize, standing in for the fictitious African country Zangaro. The film was photographed by the great Jack Cardiff (The Red Shoes (1948)). Information about the film's budget and box office performance are not to be found online.]
What do you think of The Dogs of War?
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