"Horror Castle" director Antonio Margheriti's "Code Name: Wild Geese" with Lewis Collins and Lee Van Cleef qualifies as an explosive, action-packed, but formulaic military actioneer about hard-nosed mercenaries dispatched with the blessings of the DEA to destroy an evil Asian general's opium factory in the Golden Triangle. Predictably, complications arise, and everybody finds themselves in for a considerably more difficult mission than they were prepared for from the outset. Although it is not related to the 1978 Richard Burton epic "The Wild Geese" or its tardy sequel "Wild Geese II," the Tito ("Tentacles") Capri, Gianfranco ("The Last Hunter") Couyoumdjian, and Michael Lester screenplay clearly borrows elements from the two earlier films, but rearranges them so there are enough differences. The rugged cast includes Ernst Borgnine, Klaus Kinski, Mimsy Farmer, Manfred Lehmann, and Frank Glaubrecht. Margheriti and cinematographer Peter Baumgartner lensed this actioneer on location in Hong Kong and lush jungles of the Philippines. Some of the action scenes, such as a fast-paced car chase through a tunnel under construction and most of the explosions that occur in long shot are done with cost-saving miniatures, as Margheriti did with his Karen Black & Lee Major's thriller "Killer Fish." "Code Name: Wild Geese" is nothing memorable, but it is done with a lot of savvy and Kinski's fake elite British accent make it worthwhile, especially if you're in the mood for a shoot'em up with no shortage of explosions and a high body count. One of the last scene when our hero attaches a flamethrower to a helicopter skid and burns up everything and everybody at an opium plant gives it an edge.
Captain Robin Wesley (Lewis Collins of "The Final Option") is a top-notch mercenary who trains his men under conditions as close to actual combat as he can. Obviously, Margheriti and his scenarists pilfered the first scene from the Andrew V. McLaglen thriller "ffolks" with Roger Moore whose title character keeps his mercenaries on their toes with similar exercises. Wesley is called in by his employer, Baldwin (Wolfgang Pampel) to blow the smithereens out of a opium factory run by a ruthless, bald-headed warlord. Fletcher (Ernst Borgnine of "Marty") represents the DEA, and Charlton (Klaus Kinski of "Nosferatu") hangs around as back-up in case Wesley and his men run into trouble. Before the mission begins, Wesley loses his helicopter pilot so he strikes a bargain with the authorities to release Travis (Lee Van Cleef of "For a Few Dollars More") to fly for him. Travis is an expert chopper pilot who has flown in five wars but wound up in prison for smuggling.
Initially, everything goes according to plans and our heroes wipe out the opium factory. During the heated combat, Travis leaves his post in the helicopter to help the mercenaries and an adversary smashes the fuel tank, sets the chopper afire, and it blows up. Wesley and company take some casualties, but now they have to march out. The warlord learns about this debacle and sends an army out to make an example of our death-defying heroes. The local guerrillas liberate a bamboo prison nearby and rescue Katy Robson (Mimsy Farmer) who has been held hostage and shot up repeatedly with heroin. They take her with them. Wesley and his men tromp through the jungle and find a priest (Peter Lorre look-alike Luciano Pigozzi of "Baron Blood") running a mission. At this point, our heroes learn that there is a second opium factory and a train that delivers the narcotics. While they are away blowing up the train when it crosses a bridge, the warlord's army storms the mission, kills everyone, and crucifies the priest. Eventually, back at mission headquarters, Fletcher and Charlton figure that no news is good news and decide that our heroes must have lost their helicopter. Charlton arranges for back-up and leads it into the jungle on a motorized riverboat with a squad of well-armed thugs. Everything changes radically when Charlton hurls himself into the fray.
The leads don't have much of a chance to act because the explosions and the thrill-a-minute heroics keep them dodging bullets and shrapnel. "Code Name: Wild Geese" is the conclusion to a successful trilogy that Margheriti started with Lewis Collins and continued with "Commando Leopard" with Klaus Kinski and "The Commander" with Lee Van Cleef and Donald Pleasence.
Captain Robin Wesley (Lewis Collins of "The Final Option") is a top-notch mercenary who trains his men under conditions as close to actual combat as he can. Obviously, Margheriti and his scenarists pilfered the first scene from the Andrew V. McLaglen thriller "ffolks" with Roger Moore whose title character keeps his mercenaries on their toes with similar exercises. Wesley is called in by his employer, Baldwin (Wolfgang Pampel) to blow the smithereens out of a opium factory run by a ruthless, bald-headed warlord. Fletcher (Ernst Borgnine of "Marty") represents the DEA, and Charlton (Klaus Kinski of "Nosferatu") hangs around as back-up in case Wesley and his men run into trouble. Before the mission begins, Wesley loses his helicopter pilot so he strikes a bargain with the authorities to release Travis (Lee Van Cleef of "For a Few Dollars More") to fly for him. Travis is an expert chopper pilot who has flown in five wars but wound up in prison for smuggling.
Initially, everything goes according to plans and our heroes wipe out the opium factory. During the heated combat, Travis leaves his post in the helicopter to help the mercenaries and an adversary smashes the fuel tank, sets the chopper afire, and it blows up. Wesley and company take some casualties, but now they have to march out. The warlord learns about this debacle and sends an army out to make an example of our death-defying heroes. The local guerrillas liberate a bamboo prison nearby and rescue Katy Robson (Mimsy Farmer) who has been held hostage and shot up repeatedly with heroin. They take her with them. Wesley and his men tromp through the jungle and find a priest (Peter Lorre look-alike Luciano Pigozzi of "Baron Blood") running a mission. At this point, our heroes learn that there is a second opium factory and a train that delivers the narcotics. While they are away blowing up the train when it crosses a bridge, the warlord's army storms the mission, kills everyone, and crucifies the priest. Eventually, back at mission headquarters, Fletcher and Charlton figure that no news is good news and decide that our heroes must have lost their helicopter. Charlton arranges for back-up and leads it into the jungle on a motorized riverboat with a squad of well-armed thugs. Everything changes radically when Charlton hurls himself into the fray.
The leads don't have much of a chance to act because the explosions and the thrill-a-minute heroics keep them dodging bullets and shrapnel. "Code Name: Wild Geese" is the conclusion to a successful trilogy that Margheriti started with Lewis Collins and continued with "Commando Leopard" with Klaus Kinski and "The Commander" with Lee Van Cleef and Donald Pleasence.