Based on the novel by Frederick Forsyth, The Dogs of War is an uneasy mix of espionage and combat that never really succeeds in either role. Based around the character of Paul Shannon, the film follows events in the fictional African state of Zagaro. Hired on a reconnaissance mission by a nameless multi-national corporation, Shannon is captured and tortured before his release, only to return to the country to lead a small band of mercenaries (the dogs of the title) in a bloody coup. The first section of the movie works best, building a real sense of tension and unease,... not least through a typically understated performance by Christopher Walken as the paranoid loner who keeps a pistol in his fridge (watch too for a brief appearance from a young Jim Broadbent). There are obvious references to the by-then obsolete school of Vietnam filmmaking in the second section, with the Asian enemy replaced by an African one. The gung-ho mentality of the soldiers is, however, so two-dimensional that the viewer develops little empathy for their plight. The action is slow and drawn out, with the seemingly endless pregnant pauses operating as a means for enabling the film to achieve a reasonable running time. On the DVD: little is on offer here aside from the usual scene selection, audio and subtitle options and original cinema trailer. --Phil Udell [show more]
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Please note this is a region 2 DVD and will require a region 2 (Europe) or region Free DVD Player in order to play. Academy Award winner Christopher Walken is a brutal mercenary who must fight the ultimate battle - against his own conscience - in this powerful action thriller with a "heart-thumping tempo" (The Hollywood Reporter). The Dogs of War is a spectacular adventure that brilliantly captures the glory - and horror - of war. Jamie Shannon (Walken) is a cynical warrior-for-hire who feels truly alive only in the heat of battle, and now he's about to take on the most challenging assignment of his career: to invade a corrupt African dictatorship and shift control to the "puppet" of a powerful British corporation. To prepare, Shannon masterfully trains and equips a squad of deadly mercenaries with the latest and most destructive tactics and military hardware. But as their explosive assault begins, Shannon finds himself embroiled in an internal conflict of his own: Will this be his greatest triumph, or has he sold his soul along with his battle expertise?
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