Given the actors, the era, and the previous reviews, I would have expected this to be even worse than the average Chuck Norris movie from the same period. I was pleasantly surprised to be entertained by a movie that's obviously a step above the average Chuck Norris movie from the era. Although it can't hold a candle to , for example, Predator or Platoon, from the same period, the acting is actually pretty decent, the script is definitely not too bad, and the characters come across as real human beings. For a bunch of B-actors, a low budget movie, and obviously a lack of some decent camera equipment, I think they've made the best with what they could do. two major minuses: One: the music is kinda campy & cheesy and continuously detracts from the visible effort the actors put into to it. It might have been in vogue when Madonna made 'Vogue' but it's sooooo dated now. Think a drunk Vangelis on a Monday morning and you're halfway.Two: The movie obviously suffers from not having proper camera equipment and not being able to make 'expensive' shots. Nowadays you can make a better movie with a cheap 200 $ drone camera..but of course they didnt have that back then. Although they DID have helicopters in the movie, they just never bothered to use them for any good looking shots. Cinematography: 3 out of 10.But I think the acting is a LOT better then I had expected, and it's a shame this movie is relegated to obscurity because of it's flaws.

If there's one thing I never understood about the "art" of European trash & exploitation film-making, it's the concept of dubbing actors that already speak English. Quite often I stumble upon obscure cult movies with great names in the cast, like Christopher Lee and Klaus Kinski, and yet for some incomprehensible reason their lines and dialogs are dubbed by atrociously articulating voices. I don't get it. It's a privilege to work with these actors, as far as I'm concerned, so the absolute last thing you do is alter their voices, right? Here in "Code Name: Wild Gees", the legendary infamous Klaus Kinski talks with the posh and eloquent voice of a seemingly elderly homosexual. The voices of the other international stars Lee Van Cleef and Ernest Borgnine luckily aren't dubbed. "Code Name: Wild Geese" is a typically early 80's European action movie from the hand of the versatile Italian director Antonio Margheriti. Basically this means it's a nonsensical but tremendously entertaining popcorn flick chock-full of explosions, testosterone-overloaded male characters, car & helicopter crashes and an ultra-thin storyline set somewhere in the jungle of a dubious problematic country. Margheriti shot three movies like this, together with the German producer Erwin C. Dietrich and largely the same casts. I have yet to see "The Commander", but "Commando Leopard" is equally good fun. Lewis Collins stars as the leader of a band of macho mercenaries known as the Wild Geese. They're kind of like The A-Team, except tougher of course and less inventive with artillery and vehicles. The team is hired by government man Ernest Borgnine to destroy an opium plantation in Burma. Commander Wesley takes the assignment rather personally, since his own since died from a drug overdose. Naturally, loads of infiltrations, double-crossing, collateral damage and violent shootouts ensue. There are plentiful of ridiculously entertaining moments in "Code Name: Wild Geese"; most notably a laughably fake chase sequence in which the cars drive sideways in a tunnel! It's really a stupid sight, especially since the scene ends with homosexually voiced Kinski saying "Isn't that funny?". There are also some very good action sequences and miniature set designs, including a freight train explosion and a helicopter blast. Lee Van Cleef stars as a hired pilot who's initially reluctant to join the battle and Margheriti regular Luciano Pigozzi (the Italian Peter Lorre) plays a priest who provides shelter to the fugitive mercenaries. He also has the, hands down, coolest sequence when his character is found creepily crucified following a retaliation strike by the opium producers. The dialogs are horribly and actually quite redundant, but I guess they needed as much screen time as possible for Ernest Borgnine and Klaus Kinski. Their conversations are truly abominable.

Antonio Margheriti (that's the linguine Anthony Dawson) directs this in-name only second sequel to "The Wild Geese", with ex-Professionals' Lewis Collins as the indomitable Commander Robin Wesley (a very masculine sounding name befitting the tough guy profile), and his band of rag-tag mercenaries as they venture into the jungles of Borneo or thereabouts for a supposedly benign mission to bust an opium operation. But the evil, double crossing Charleton (crazy-eyed Kinski) is playing both sides, and the group find themselves taking refuge in a mission with language assistance from expatriate American (Farmer) as they search for an escape route.Glorious colour tones, stylish costumes and jazzy synthesisers give this jungle war opus the Armani makeover that was en vogue at the time. Collins' suave sophistication and stiff upper lip as he delivers painfully awkward dialogue is so artificial, it's cringe worthy. Ernest Borgnine looks sedated in his brief cameo, while Kinski, conversely, is so over the top, he's hilarious. Only Van Cleef offers some restraint, but he's a passenger. The set designers, special effects crew and pyrotechnic personnel showed flair with their multitude of explosions, and the bodies blown apart in gory detail give it that Euro-trash touch you've come to expect.But while the action sequences are fluent and well constructed, and the general gist of the film is easy to follow, there's still an awful lot of stilted dialogue and overly intense acting. Perhaps as a box set with its younger siblings, this could be a cool if somewhat hokey trilogy. Nice try, but in spite of Collins' penchant for smoking stogies, no cigar.

The plot - A group of highly trained mercenaries are hired to destroy an opium manufacturing plant somewhere in Burma. That's it! Oh well, sometimes simple is best I guess.Whilst far from Antonio Margheriti's best work this film nonetheless provides some cracking entertainment, not least of all due to the great assembled cast here. The Professionals Lewis Collins plays the groups leader and is backed up ably by the likes of genre stalwarts Lee Van Cleef, Ernest Borgnine, Luciano Pigozzi and that great mainstay of madness himself, Klaus Kinski!Plenty of gunfire and big explosions abound along with some of Margheriti's usual cool miniature model work, most notably in a great car chase scene towards the beginning of the movie.Fellow fans of Godfrey Ho ninja movies will delight to see an uncredited Bruce Baron in the cast here to as a laid back member of the group with a predilection for alcohol(!)For Margheriti fans and also those who like a bit of the old mercenary shenanigans you could do a lot worse than to check this one out.