As a kid, I caught part of a movie that featured a team of commandos infiltrating an enemy outpost — and what stuck with me is that they used a crossbow and cyanide-tipping quarrels to take out the sentries.
I now know the movie was The Wild Geese:
Like The Dogs of War, The Wild Geese takes place in post-colonial Africa. It may be even more “Hollywood” — perhaps ironic, because it was a British production — with at least as many gasoline explosions and automatic weapons fired from the hip. And, again, cyanide-tipped crossbow quarrels.
The story was inspired by a mysterious plane load of mercenary soldiers that had landed at Kariba Airfield in Rhodesia in 1968, supposedly with an African president.
Great movie and a stirring (albeit typically ’70s) soundtrack. Probably the only feature film where the main song (“Left, Right”) was sung by a British Army regiment, The Irish Guards.
Also the movie that is responsible for me owning a Hi-Power and unfulfilled lust for an FN-FAL.
Oops. Main song for The Wild Geese was titled “Dogs of War”, thus leading to confusion with prior mentioned movie.
The ending of The Wild Geese is classic. The team flees with the president to an airstrip, fighting a rear guard action against hundreds of African soldiers. Of course Roger Moore can fly a DC-3. (Well he is 007.). The tension is palpable as they all attempt to board the moving plane, while returning machine gun fire. Running for the taxiing plane Richard Harris is wounded, and won’t make it, and Richard Burton shoots him in order to keep him from being taken alive and presumably tortured by the African soldiers. This move was f*cking awesome when I was a kid. Although honestly it doesn’t hold up as an adult.
Roger Moore’s character is described early on as able to fly anything with wings. Also, I believe Richard Harris’s character pleads to be shot, knowing what the African soldiers will do to him if he’s caught alive. I agree that it’s an awesome movie from a 10-year-old boy’s perspective, and not so much from an adult’s perspective — but that’s true of so many “great” movies. (I guess we adults are supposed to read the book, if there is one.)