Not as insane as in The Deer Hunter

Another of the movies that I had the chance to DVR during one of the free preview weekends is The Dogs of War. It's going to be on again, tomorrow afternoon at 4:32 PM on ActionMax (part of the Cinemax package if you have it).

Christopher Walken plays, Jamie Shannon, a mercenary as we can see in an introductory scene set somewhere in Central America. He's able to make a hasty escape and get back to New York. Somehow, people know how to get in touch with mercenaries underground, because British businessman Endean is able to find Shannon with another job proposal.

This on, however, doesn't seem to involve any actual fighting. Instead, Endean tells Shannon about an African company called Zangaro. Valuable mineral deposits have been found there, but because of the dictator Kimba, getting at those minerals is going to be a risky proposition. Endean would like somebody more pliant in office, and wants Shannon to determine whether a coup d'état would be a viable proposition.

Shannon reluctantly accepts the job, ultimately deciding that the way to get around the regulations is to be on a false passport pretending to be a nature photographer. It seems interesting that he was worried about bringing that camera to Zangaro as when he gets there one of the first westerners he meets is the journalist North (Colin Blakely). North is nosy, however, and suspects that Shannon isn't telling the truth about being a nature photographer.

Of course, we know that North is right in his suspicions, as Shannon goes out with Evelyn, a woman he meets who happens to be one of Kimba's mistresses. Shannon takes photographs of Evelyn in front of a military garrison, which is obviously part of military reconnaissance, and the authorities get that Shannon has done something terribly illegal. So they arrest him and have him tortured in prison, which is where he meets Dr. Okoye. Okoye was an independence advocate during the colonial era, but lost the presidential election to Kimba, who had Okoye arrested.

Eventually Shannon is deported back to the States. When Endean gets in touch with him, Shannon says that there's no chance of a coup working at this time. Not the news that Endean wanted to hear, especially since Endean is friendly with Col. Bobi, another freedom fighter who went into exile after Kimba became a dictator. Endean and Bobi are impatient for that coup to happen and need Shannon's logistical support. So the coup planning goes on....

As I watched The Dogs of War, for some reason I couldn't help but think of Walken's earlier performance in The Deer Hunter, where he goes to fight in the Vietnam War more out of a sense of adventure than anything. Shannon's motivations for being a mercenary are never really explained; I have no idea if the Frederick Forsyth book on which the movie is based goes into that. Not that it's particularly important for the film to do so.

As a story, The Dogs of War mostly works, although viewers looking for an action movie may want to know that this is a more meticulous movie with the real action confined to the last 20 minutes or so. I had no problem with that, but some people might. Walken dominates and does quite well in doing so. The politics of mercenaries and interfering in the third world are largely avoided, which I think is to the movie's benefit.

I found The Dogs of War to be quite worth a watch. It seems to be out of print on DVD, which is a big shame.