Christopher Walken

Tom Berenger

Winston Ntshona

Hugh Millais

JoBeth Williams

Paul Freeman

Colin Blakely

George Harris

Jean-François Stévenin

Pedro Armendáriz Jr.

Ed O'Neill

Jean-Pierre Kalfon

Thomas Baptiste

Robert Urquhart

Terence Rigby

David Schofield

Jim Broadbent

Victoria Tennant

Diana Bracho

Alan Beckwith

Gyearbuor Asante

Eddie Tagoe

Jack Lenoir

John Irvin

Frederick Forsyth

Gary DeVore

George Malko

Jack Cardiff

Antony Gibbs

Larry DeWaay

Norman Jewison

Patrick J. Palmer

Geoffrey Burgon

Peter Mullins

Bert Davey

John Siddall

Emma Porteous

Mike Fenton

Jane Feinberg

Susie Figgis

Ted Lloyd

Anthony Waye

Gerry Gavigan

Terry Madden

Barbara Allen

Terry Needham

John Downes

Yvonne Axeworthy

Cassian Elwes

Chic Waterson

Robin Vidgeon

Danny Shelmerdine

David James

Frank Heeney

Richard Mills

Neville Smallwood

Ramon Gow

Ivan Sharrock

Ken Weston

Peter Honess

Terry Busby

Fred Carter

Harry Cordwell

Tony Graysmark

Dave Jordan

Keith Denny

Joe Lombardi

Lawrence J. Cavanaugh

Steve Lombardi

Eddie Stacey

Marvin Walters

Graham V. Hartstone

Nicolas Le Messurier

Les Wiggins

Archie Ludski

Thriller

Action

Adventure

The Dogs of War

Juniper Films

United Artists

United Kingdom

Zangaro, the fictional African country in The Dogs of War, is something like Zamunda's poor, small neighbor – especially small. North (Colin Blakely), a British documentarian, informs James Shannon (the invaluable Christopher Walken) that a week after taking office, President Kimba sent his opponents, Colonel Bobi (George Harris) and Dr. Okoye (Winston Ntshona), into exile and jail, respectively.

When Shannon, a mercenary on a reconnaissance mission to determine the feasibility of a coup d'état, is arrested, what are the odds that he'll briefly find himself in the same cell as the good doctor? Apparently, as good as befriending one of Kimba's mistresses.

Contrived coincidences aside, director John Irvin wisely favors, like the Frederick Forsyth novel upon which it is based, an 'ask questions first, shoot later' philosophy; as a result, a large portion of the 100-minute running time is devoted to the preparations and logistics of the coup — which itself is left for the film's climax (an approach reminiscent of that of The Dirty Dozen), and it's over before soon-to-be-ex-president Kimba knows what hit him.

Shannon's personal life, or lack thereof, also receives a lot of attention, which helps explain his willing willingness to pursue this line of work in general, and to return to Zangaro following his traumatic first experience in the country.

The reasons behind the coup, in contrast, are not explored as thoroughly; in a nutshell, Roy Endean (Hugh Millais), an English businessman, is interested in a recently discovered platinum deposit on Zangaro.

Basically, the only difference between Kimba and Bobi is that, as the latter puts it, “He wants to be God, I want to be rich”; meanwhile, Endean explains that "The people I represent will not do business with a madman." Ergo, out with Kimba and in with Bobi — these plans, though, are subject to change, considering that Shannon may or may not have his own agenda.

Ed O'Neill, in just his second film credit, has a pre-Married with Children cameo, and the ever-reliable Tom Berenger is Shannon's lieutenant, but The Dogs of War is, as it should be, Walken’s film through and through.