Les chiens de guerre

This movie is the most realistic treatment I've seen of what real mercenary operations and business travels are like. Any who have traveled to third world hell holes like "Zangaro" feel as though they must have had a camera following them around to get the background for this movie, the airport arrival, the hotel holding passports, the "tour guide" and the bar toast are as realistic as you can get. If you like movies that show the real nitty gritty, the backdoor politics, the backstabbing and intrigue that is international diplomacy catch this one the next time it's on cable.

The great thing about reading a Fredirick Forsyth novel is that you're educated while being entertained . He gives you facts and details on everything from modern jet fighters to Ukrainian history . The problem with this though is that the info tend to hold up the narrative which makes a Forsyth novel difficult to successfully translate to screen and to be honest the original THE DOGS OF WAR novel isn't really a book that will appeal to a cinema goer who's into no brain action shoot them ups . I can forgive this since I know what to expect from a Forsyth story but would Mr action fan ? I can just imagine a disappointed Arnie/Bruce/Sly fan slagging the movie off for having only two battle scenes , one at the start of the movie and one at the end , so let me point out that if you're expecting to see DIE HARD IN AFRICA it's maybe not you're kind of movie

If there's a problem with the movie it's mainly down to the structure of the novel with much of the running time taken up with planning the coup , getting the equipment , hiring the boat etc . I also noticed the dialogue was a bit iffy " Which one of your men do I kill to make way for mine ? " . Things like structure and dialogue don't matter too much on the written page but tend to leap out at you on the silver screen , but as many of the commentators on this page have pointed out it's an action film/political thriller with a brain . It's perhaps not as enjoyable as say THE DARK OF THE SUN or THE WILD GEESE but there's certainly entertainment to be had trying to spot the actor before they were a well known face

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.

Shannon (Christopher Walken) is a mercenary war who accepted for the sum of 15,000 dollars to fly to a fictional country in West Africa on a survey mission to procure military information concerning the stability of a dictator's regime, his position strength, and if there is any chance for a coup?

Posing as an American naturalist—especially in native birds—Shannon landed in Zangaro and gathered all the facts he needed but after suffering a brutal beating from the guards for taking pictures of one of the mistresses of the dictator's in front of his compound…

When he's offered a large amount of money to gather a well-equipped mercenary force and go back to Zangaro and lead a military takeover, he reluctantly assents…

The assault has authority, power and unexpected... consequences. So don't miss it!

The best of the "hired killers takes out a bassackwards third world African nation in ten minutes or less" genre. Christopher Walken fans will love this one as he occupies the camera for about 98% of the film and does an admirable job playing ringleader to a small band of mercenaries hired by London's Enron branch to take down some dude with a Gucci sword named Kimba, the benevolent ruler of Okka Bokka Boo. The pace is a little slow for my tastes but they threw in my favorite girl next door, JoBeth Williams, as Walkens ex-wife just to keep me occupied while the guns were being shipped in from Switzerland or somewhere. All I can tell you is the climax is worth waiting for. It's outstanding actually. The DVD is a little disappointing. 2ch sound and no widescreen. See if you can spot Ed O'Neill from Married With Children fame. 7 hand grenades/10