The Wild Geese review – Richard Burton and Roger Moore lead cast of amigos in preposterous African caper

Reactionary boy’s own adventure sends craggy gentlemen mercenaries Burton, Moore and Richard Harris into somewhat implausible action

The outrageously ridiculous, instinctively reactionary Wild Geese take arthritic flight once again in this re-release of the 1978 action adventure from director Andrew McLaglen, featuring the by-then-rather-superannuated stars Richard Harris, Richard Burton and mid-Bond Roger Moore. All of these senior gentlemen are in military berets, some smoking rakish cigars – but looking as if they are wearing gentlemen’s support girdles under their camo to keep them upright, and giving the impression they would be happier taking a long lunch at Langan’s Brasserie in London’s West End.

There’s an outrageous “parachute training” sequence in which we are expected to believe that Roger Moore has jumped from a height, hit the ground and then got up. Never was a stunt double more obviously needed, with Rodge raising a wry eyebrow of complaint afterwards as the drill sergeant yells at him: “You are jumping from an aeroplane not a whorehouse window!”