31 lines
4.7 KiB
Plaintext
31 lines
4.7 KiB
Plaintext
while it was part of former yugoslavia , my country , croatia , used to be almost completely ignored by western films in general .
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words " croatia " and " croatians " were unheard , even in movies whose plots actually took place on croatian locations .
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the rare exception was the dogs of war , 1980 adaptation of frederick forsyth's bestselling novel , yet that rare occasion only added insult to the injury , by mentioning croatians in most unflattering context .
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in a single line they are referred as a bunch of mean people , probably terrorists , who happen to remove parts of arm dealers' stomachs when they are unsatisfied with the quality of merchandise .
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same line also illustrates the milieu where the movie takes place - dark and violent world of shady international deals with the blurred boundaries between business , politics and crime .
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the movie protagonist , shannon ( christopher walken ) is a mercenary who spent the best years of his life fighting numerous little wars all over the globe .
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his latest job is a intelligence mission for powerful mining corporation that demands information about political climate in west african nation of zangaro .
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shannon arrives in that country only to find oppressive regime of president kimba , bloodthirsty madman whose brutality crushed any opposition and scared almost any westerners away .
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after being arrested and tortured by kimba's secret police , shannon leaves country with a help of british journalist north ( colin blakely ) .
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upon return , he is approached by mining company again , but this time they want him to plan and execute the coup d'etat against kimba .
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shannon reluctantly agrees and assembles small group of his surviving mercenary friends who begin meticulous preparation for another small war .
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thing that separates the dogs of war from conventional action movies , especially those made in 1980s , is its authenticity , almost close to documentary .
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it shouldn't surprise anyone , because the author of the novel , frederick forsyth , made reputation by blending fiction with real life , thus creating interesting , exciting yet very believable plots for his books .
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those plots were also responsible for few very successful 1970s thrillers , and one of them , zinnemman's the day of the jackal , is now considered a classic in that genre .
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this one deals with soldiers of fortune , ancient tradition that was resurrected in great turmoil of 1960s and 1970s and filled the void left by vanishing colonial empires .
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unlike wild geese , that used it as a pretext for conventional action adventure , script by george malko and gary de vore ( author whose death last year became real life mystery ) is serious , and instead of action puts emphasis on characters and prosaic details of their work .
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the movie doesn't try to romanticise the mercenary profession nor glorify mercenaries as some kind of superheroes ; they are simply shown as deadly yet expendable tool of powerful forces with questionable agenda .
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christopher walken played in many movies , yet very rarely we can see him in a leading role .
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his performance in this film perhaps isn't breathtaking , yet adequate .
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his notoriously expressionless face is perfect illustration of the disillusioned , world- weary man whose alienation from the " normal " way of life becomes complete and only remaining ideal is loyalty to the shrinking circle of friends .
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although the movie doesn't lack capable actors , their roles are miniature compared with walken's , and only colin blakely as cynical reporter has opportunity to portray his character .
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however , those who look familiar faces would find them plenty in the dogs of war - tom berenger , paul freeman , jo beth williams , victoria tennant ( in brief cameo ) , and biggest surprise is ed o'neill ( of married with children fame ) as shannon's reluctant colleague .
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this was the first major production for john irvin , and it shows why he earned the reputation of capable , yet second class director .
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with the good script he can make very good movie , with the bad script he can make real mess .
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luckily , the dogs of war had a good script .
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irvin's direction was very ascetic and it gave the movie almost documentary feel .
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the only distraction is dramatic music of geoffrey burgon , used on the wrong places .
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in the final battle scene , where we can see mercenaries at work , irvin shows us that modern warfare means superior firepower and tactics , unlike 1980s ramboesque fantasies that rely on macho superheroes .
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unfortunately , by making battle realistic irvin made it somewhat less attractive and his sloppy editing also didn't help .
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but , despite those shortcomings , this movie remains interesting and rare combination of action thriller and gritty , realistic political drama .
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