This one has it all. Adventure, slapstick, war, love, buddy-cops and cartoon villains. It is a cooking pot of everything, and while this should have meant disaster, it is the opposite, and it makes for one hell of an entertaining film. Lee Marvin and Roger Moore were two very big names to have here, and two very different actors. Fitting, then, that they play two very different characters, pitted together in German East Africa at the onset of the Great War in 1913 and 1914, to take on the tyranny of the local German commander in the region when their ivory hunting comes under his radar.
The film bounces from one adventure to the other, in almost non-linear fashion. Marvin and Moore have great chemistry, and they deserve some credit for playing roles which were completely out of character for them. Marvin, in particular, is a joy to watch as a hard-drinking rogue of an Irish-American, pitting his trade in this exotic land. This brings me on to the cinematography. The film is well-shot, with DOP Michael Reed utilising the potential of the filming locations in South Africa and Malta. Mr. Reed died last week, and his work included Hammer films like "The Gorgon", "Dracula: Prince of Darkness", "Prehistoric Women", "Rasputin: The Mad Monk" and the Bond film "On Her Majesty's Secret Service".
The film bounces from one adventure to the other, in almost non-linear fashion. Marvin and Moore have great chemistry, and they deserve some credit for playing roles which were completely out of character for them. Marvin, in particular, is a joy to watch as a hard-drinking rogue of an Irish-American, pitting his trade in this exotic land. This brings me on to the cinematography. The film is well-shot, with DOP Michael Reed utilising the potential of the filming locations in South Africa and Malta. Mr. Reed died last week, and his work included Hammer films like "The Gorgon", "Dracula: Prince of Darkness", "Prehistoric Women", "Rasputin: The Mad Monk" and the Bond film "On Her Majesty's Secret Service".