The Dogs of War Review

MPAA Rating: R
Released: 1981

Although The Dogs of War was released during the 80's, the heyday of rock 'em sock 'em action flicks, it's immediately evident that this is no twin brother to the gloriously violent flicks such as Rambo: First Blood Part II. Instead this is a thoughtful war drama that stars Christopher Walken as the leader of a crack band of mercenaries that are hired to topple a ruthless dictator in a small South African country. While there is some action and gunplay to be found, ultimately this film adaptation of the novel it shares its name with places the focus on character development and story.

Jamie Shannon (Christopher Walken) is a grizzled veteran of many past wars and firefights. He and his crack team of American mercenaries have survived through conflicts that would make most strong men weep like school girls, yet despite their proficiency in the art of war as well as their past services they live in relative poverty in the inner city.

Side note: This was one of my small gripes with the film since you'd think that a crack crew such as this would have plenty of money (heck, some international criminals have millions of dollars on their heads!). Oh well, back to the plot summary…

One day Jamie is approached by a representative of a powerful corporate conglomerate and given a job offer: infiltrate the South African country of Zangora to assess the political climate. Since the paranoid madman Kimba rules the tiny country with an iron fist, the mission certainly won't be easy. This fact is hammered home when Kimba's goons cut Jamie's assessment short by imprisoning him, torturing him, then deporting his broken body back home.

Although he paid a fair price to accomplish the job, his hirer isn't quite through with him. It appears there is plenty of platinum in that impoverished country, so the conglomerate feels that toppling Kimba and replacing him with a dictator of their own would be a profitable venture. So he offers Jamie another lucrative deal: take his crack team of mercenaries into the country and overthrow Kimba.

So Jamie gathers together most of his old crew including Drew (Tom Berenger) and Derek (Paul Freeman) and plans the infiltration and military action. But as Jamie plans and executes the mission, he learns that it's a dirty business and that there is much that was kept from him.

For the most part The Dogs of War succeeds at what it achieves to set out: the creation of a deliberately-paced drama that provides an intense study of both the characters in the film as well as the all-too common living accommodations of those unfortunate enough to live within a tyrannical dictatorship. The film exudes a sense of grittiness, unhappiness and paranoia that serves the story well.

Unfortunately at times its strength also seemed to be its weakness, for while the cinematography, story and direction are fairly sharp, the pace becomes a tad too plodding. It's a small criticism, and one that all viewers will not share due to the nature of the film, but The Dogs of War felt a bit stretched out to me.

Christopher Walken has always been one of the cooler actors in Hollywood, though more often than not he relies on that one quality to get him through the countless B-movies he's starred in. In The Dogs of War, Walken is not only cool… he's a darn good actor that brings forth a real human portrait of a toughened mercenary that's just not able to leave his violent life behind or mesh into "civilized" society.

The other actors perform rather admirably too – all except one surprise actor lend credible performances and blend seamlessly with the story. The one surprise? Tom Berenger. While I maintain that he's one of the better and more entertaining actors I've seen, his role was a little disappointing in The Dogs of War. He struck me as a caricature rather than a fleshed-out human.

When push comes to shove, my criticisms of this movie are rather light and will not necessarily be shared by many other viewers. It's one of those deliberate films that some will hate and some will fall in love with. Myself, I fell into the middle of the spectrum. Although I enjoyed The Dogs of War, it's not one of those films I'll want to watch repeatedly.

Movie rating: 6 stars

If you enjoyed The Dogs of War you may also find the following films to be of interest:

Enjoy the Dogs of War experience in the comfort of your own home with these products!

DVD

Other Resources:

The Dogs of War IMDb Page

Movie Sitemap

Wondering if the Netflix service is all
it's cracked up to be? Read our
detailed review and find out!