Watch The Dogs of War For Free

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Based on Frederick Forsythe's novel, the film is a realistic depiction of the powers behind international politics and the behind the scenes secret armies used to enforce their edicts.

Unspectacular, but tough and lean slow pot-boiler anti-war feature sees a stoic Christopher Walken on reconnaissance, before leading a group of mercenaries to push out the tyrant dictator of the African nation Zangora. Walken was the lone reason I decided to stick around to watch "The Dogs of War" when it appeared on TV. It's a real mixed bag, as somewhere there is so much potential, but what eventuates is something quite ho-hum. After an excellent build-up (the recon mission) formulating intrigue, tension and harbouring conflict, then midway (the planning) it still remains interesting (because of the intensity Walken and Tom Berenger) despite stodgy pacing and the last quarter (the final assault) is uninspiring and rashly staged, but the closing frames has a neat touch of irony. There's no knocking that it's more thoughtful and conniving in its narrative drive, but the context never truly pushes the boundaries, but gladly it never tries to manipulate the situation either. It's interesting seeing Walken's character really have a change of heart after his returns from his recon mission, well more so booted out with the bruises to prove it. Director John Irvin really does make you feel uncomfortable during those scenes, when it focuses on a badly beat up Walken. It was like fear had engulf his character and then he questions; is there's something better in life than what he does, but after realising he can't go back (the sub-plot midway with his girlfriend) he turns back to what he knows best and the torture he suffered would be a driving force. It almost becomes personal and what he also learns about the devious nature of the American government official he was hired by makes for a powerful climax --- the value of human life, where he would turn a blind eye but not now. Irvin's direction is competently workmanlike and straight-face with a gritty surge, stalwart pacing and some striking international locations. Not your typical war film, but a decent study.

...this movie no doubt severely disappointed most Forsyth fans. It had very little to do with the book. It seems that (as usual) some Hollywood wonk, noting that the novel was a best-seller, gave some hack the basic premise from the back-cover blurb and got him to make something up that would appeal to Joe Sixpack and his girlfriend. The result? A cliché-ridden B-movie. Forsyth must have been livid.It's competently handled (for such an old film it holds up amazingly well), but what presumption! The original story was just fine. What made them think that their version would be better?Pity they didn't have the sense to hire Kenneth Ross to do the screenplay. He'd already done two of Forsyth's other books (Day of the Jackal and Odessa File), and at least made the effort to be faithful to the originals.

The Dogs of War is perhaps one of the finest war movies ever made and is the best mercenary movie ever made. From a technical and tactical perspective (with one notable exception when the four main characters stand together improbably for a moment) the movie is extremely accurate and gets both the details of the business correct and the tactics of such an operation correct.There was a time in the 60s, 70s and 80s when these kinds of operations were carried out by men like Mike Hoare. In the aftermath of Vietnam, veterans who felt out of place and out of sync often fell in with the mercenary crowd, willing to fight someone else's battle for money or loot.Perhaps one of the more impressive sequences is all of the logistical work which captures the nature of the dark world of the arms deals overseas and how the law is skirted.Chris Walken is especially effective in the title role; believable, yet vulnerable and certainly not the Rambo who always wins the fight.