The Dogs of War (1980)

Directed by

John Irvin

Genre

drama film, action film, war film

Country

United Kingdom, United States

Runtime

1h 44m

Rated

R

Rating

5.8 of 10 from 172 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A mercenary unit is hired to overthrow the president of a small African country so a British businessman can take its platinum deposits. The soldiers plan and carry out the coup while navigating the moral and physical dangers of the mission.

serioustensegrittyslow-burnbleakclinicalmilitarysuspenseful

What happens

The Dogs of War is a 1980 action-thriller war film directed by John Irvin and starring Christopher Walken, Tom Berenger and Colin Blakely. Based on Frederick Forsyth's 1974 novel, it follows a small mercenary unit of soldiers privately hired to depose the president of a fictional African country modeled on Guinea-Bissau, Guinea-Conakry, Equatorial Guinea and Angola (as they were in the late 1970s), so that a British tycoon can gain access to a platinum deposit. Norman Jewison was an executive producer. The title is based on a phrase from William Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar: "Cry, 'Havoc!', and let slip the dogs of war." A British and American co-production, The Dogs of War premiered on 17 December 1980, and was released in the United States by United Artists on 13 February 1981. It received mixed-to-positive reviews from critics. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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