Film Review: Code Name: Wild Geese (Codename: Wildgänse/Arcobaleno selvaggio, 1984)

EuroWar, exploitation (sub)genre of military action films characteristic for West European cinema, has evolved from late 1960s till 1980s. At first, such films dealt exclusively with Second World War only for their plots to switch attention to Vietnam in 1970s, before dealing with various fictional and real wars in various Third World countries during 1980s. One of such conflict was what is now known as War On Drugs, which is the subject of Code Name: Wild Geese, 1984 film made in West German-Italian co-production and directed by Anthonio Margheriti (credited under pseudonym “Anthony M. Dawson”).

Despite the title suggesting otherwise, the film has nothing to do (at least officially) with classic 1978 British war film The Wild Geese, although some might find similarities in the plot about former British military officer leading elite group of veteran mercenaries in top secret and dangerous mission for certain shady characters whose agenda at the end of the day might not be that different from villains. Such protagonist, played by Lewis Collins, is Captain Robin Wesley, leader of small but elite team of special operations veterans from various countries. He is hired by Hong Kong-based business tycoon Brenner (played by Hartmut Neugebauer) to conduct delicate and dangerous mission for Fletcher (played by Ernest Borgnine), US Drug Enforcement Agency official who desperately want to remove the supply of heroin from poppy fields in Golden Triangle in Southeast Asia. The task is to penetrate the area controlled by powerful warlord General Lao Khan (played by Protacio Dee) and destroy laboratories and opium processing facilities. Wesley concludes that he would need a helicopter to quickly sneak into Khan’s territory and for extraction, so he recruits pilot China (played by Lee Van Cleef) to his team, and he agrees on condition for financial compensation and reduced prison sentence for previous smuggling activities. Wesley’s plan works at first and his team infiltrates Khan’s territory with the help of local anti-Khan guerillas. But soon the helicopter gets destroyed and Wesley is forced to walk through the jungle towards the target. They manage to destroy one facility and take shelter in a jungle church of Swiss missionary priest (played by Luciano Pigozzi) who tells them about another. Wesley decides to strike that new target, despite being encumbered by Kathy Robson (played by Mimsy Farmer), former Canadian reporter being turned into heroin addict while being Khan’s captive.

Margheriti had prolific career in Italian exploitation cinema and his rich experience is quite visible in this film, which is, for the most part, well-directed and well-paced. After slightly slow start, which allows introduces Wesley and other characters to the audience, action begins and doesn’t stop till the end. Despite having relatively low budget, Margheriti puts Philippine locations to good use, creating good action scenes, with plenty of pyrotechnics and excellent stunt work, and the special effects featuring miniatures are impressive even for today’s standards. Quality of action deteriorates, and only slightly, during somewhat confusing ending.

While technically well-done, Code Name: Wild Geese suffers from Michael Lester’s script which uses too much cliches while making almost all of the characters one-dimensional. That includes the protagonist, whose son has died of heroin overdose and which turns out to be rather lame attempt to add some depth. Lewis Collins, British actor who gained fame by ex-mercenary Bodie in popular British TV series The Professionals, looks the part and delivers good action (unsurprisingly, because he served as British Army officer in real life), but his character is forgettable. Same goes for members of his team, but also for characters played by otherwise respectable actors like Borgnine (who appears briefly but overacts in each scene) or world-weary and visibly old Lee Van Cleef. Italian veteran character actor Luciano Pigozzi is much better in the small role of priest, while Mimsy Farmer is brought only to fill obligatory quota of female characters; while the script, mercifully, spares her from romantic subplot, she is forced to over-act as traumatised addict and victim of abuse. Presence of Klaus Kinski, legendary actor specialised in playing macabre villains, in the role of Brenner’s associate Charlton, signals rather predictable twist at the end of the film. Although disappointing for anyone by undemanding fans of the genre, Code Name: Wild Geese can still be recommended to those who want to see how low budget military action films looked in 1980s.

RATING: 5/10 (++)

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