JSPrine

Despite the many negative comments I've read here, I give two thumbs up for "The Wild Geese." Remember that the versions you usually see on TV have been horribly mutilated, which definitely makes a huge difference in the film. Some of these jokers should understand that the movie was made for entertainment, and not as a training aid. As sheer entertainment, this movie does very well indeed.

The combat sequences were well done (they should have been, one of the lead actors had actually been a mercenary in the Belgian Congo), and they even went to the expense of hiring legendary mercenary commander "Mad Mike" Hoare as an advisor, too. Some of the less pleasant aspects of combat soldiering are dealt with satisfactorily, which took guts even in 1978 when this movie was made.

The actors perform more than adequately, despite some highly implausible lapses in logic in their actions...if anything, the writers should take the heat here, and not the actors.

I especially enjoyed the HALO sequence...I can feel my adrenalin kicking in every time I see the C-130 throttling up for its takeoff run, and when the troopers start their mass exit off the tailgate, I can't help but grin.

I find this movie strangely satisfying, and heartily recommend it to anyone who enjoys a straightforward action movie. I give it 8.8 out of 10.

Big, colorful, lavish, HOTEL is a very nice movie. It's set in New Orleans' French Quarter, and Warner Brothers even managed to get the NOPD star-and-crescent badges on the police officers' uniforms correct...a nice attention to detail. Even the music was properly scored to the locales depicted...another plus. True, most of the movie was shot on WB's back lots, but some of the French Quarter scenes were actually shot in New Orleans.

An all-star cast performs more than adequately, but Karl Malden literally steals the movie! He plays a sneak-thief named "Keycase", and he obviously played his role with relish. In one wonderful scene, he surveys his loot after a harrowing evening's thieving, and sadly mutters "It's those damned credit cards!" If you remember that Malden later became the American Express man ("Don't leave home without it!"), this scene is priceless.

Another classic is when the cops finally get him. Handcuffed to a NOPD officer, Malden can't help but swipe a hotel ashtray as he's being led to jail...grinning happily the whole time.

It's great entertainment, and I rate it 9 out of 10.

Jeffrey Hunter is very good in this splendid account of a British seaman who pits himself single-handedly in a desperate battle against a huge German warship.

Slow-moving at first, the action builds inexorably into a grand and (at least for me) very satisfactory climax. Who cares about realism when you can have this much fun?

Michael Rennie (one of my favorite actors) is well-cast in his role, and Bernard Lee (you might know him as James Bond's chief) is also very good.

If you see this movie and enjoy it, you might also be interested in Peter O'Toole's "Murphy's War", which is quite similar in many respects.

I rate this good old movie 7.5 out of 10.