Wild Geese 2

Despite a trailer promising that "this time the Wild Geese are flying higher than ever before", anyone expecting the same level of entertainment provided by the first film will feel severely short changed by this lame sequel. There's no Roger Moore this time, or Richard Burton - he was expected to reprise his role, but died shortly before production started. Instead, we get dour faced Glenn as a merc for hire, growling his way through some fairly insipid dialogue. A major flaw in the film is that there is no chemistry between him and leading lady Carrera. Thankfully Edward Fox is on hand as a wily fellow mercenary - playing the brother of Burton's character from the original Wild Geese. Despite precious little screen time, the film comes alive whenever Fox appears, with his comical performance. Olivier gets little more than a cameo and is, unintentionally perhaps, hilarious as Hess. A feast of other familiar faces play supporting characters in a story that manages to be eventful, if not always believable. The sporadic action set pieces are efficiently staged, but not as spectacular as audiences have come to expect from more recent thrillers. Director Peter Hunt, veteran of the early Bonds, has done far better. However, for producer Euan Lloyd, this was a step up from his previous effort, the dire "Who Dares Wins". Undoubtably though the real highlight here is a rousing score from the late great composer Roy Budd. Optimum's DVD release offers no extras besides a trailer. At least the picure quality is very good, albeit full frame and the package art work is up to Optimum's usual high standard.

Wild Geese 2 in my opinion is good, but unfortunately it wasn't quite as good as the original Wild Geese film. Perhaps the storylines in this sequel weren't as strong as those in the original film, but I still believe it is worth a buy for fans of war films.