# The Wild Geese
**The Wild Geese** is a 1978 British action film directed by Andrew V. McLaglen, in which a team of aging mercenaries led by [Richard Burton](https://www.edgepedia.org/richard-burton) is hired by a wealthy banker to rescue a deposed African president, only to be abandoned by their employer after the mission succeeds[1](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/the-wild-geese-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0yotuyoti) • [2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1978/11/14/the-wild-geese-betrayal-of-the-african-mercenaries/25089c29-dbce-4e32-83b0-d64ed4dffdf4/). It stars Richard Burton, Roger Moore, Richard Harris, Hardy Krüger, and [Stewart Granger](https://www.edgepedia.org/stewart-granger), runs 134 minutes, and was produced by Euan Lloyd[3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Wild-Geese-The) • [4](https://www.cinema.com/articles/19576/wild-geese-the-movie-review.phtml).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director / producer | Andrew V. McLaglen; produced by Euan Lloyd[5](https://www.bfi.org.uk/film/15698348-61b2-5c2f-898a-44df82f408e7/the-wild-geese) |
| Source | Daniel Carney's novel *The Thin White Line*, unpublished when Lloyd bought the film rights[6](https://www.on-magazine.co.uk/arts/film-reviews/the-wild-geese-4k/) |
| Lead cast | Richard Burton (Colonel Allen Faulkner), Roger Moore (Lt. Shawn Fynn), Richard Harris (Capt. Rafer Janders), Hardy Krüger (Lt. Pieter Coetzee)[3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Wild-Geese-The) |
| Running time / rating | 134 minutes; rated R in the United States[3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Wild-Geese-The) |
| Filming | Shot mainly at Tshipise, South Africa, in 1977, with studio work at Twickenham Film Studios[7](https://madmikehoare.com/blog-The_Wild_Geese_film_rereleased.html) • [8](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078492/locations/?item=lc0350194) |
| Military advisor | Colonel "Mad Mike" Hoare, on whom Burton's character was based[7](https://madmikehoare.com/blog-The_Wild_Geese_film_rereleased.html) |
| 2025 revival | 4K restoration from the original camera negative premiered in UK cinemas on 14 November 2025[4](https://www.cinema.com/articles/19576/wild-geese-the-movie-review.phtml) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
A British banker, Sir Edward Matherson (Stewart Granger), hires former [British Army](https://www.edgepedia.org/british-army) colonel turned mercenary Allen Faulkner (Richard Burton) to parachute into the fictional central African country of Zembala with a team and rescue Julius Limbani ([Winston Ntshona](https://www.edgepedia.org/winston-ntshona)), the deposed president, from a maximum-security prison before his execution[9](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0078492/credits/) • [10](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/nov/14/the-wild-geese-review-richard-burton-richard-harris-roger-moore). Faulkner recruits his old comrades Shawn Fynn ([Roger Moore](https://www.edgepedia.org/roger-moore)) and Rafer Janders (Richard Harris), and the team trains a 50-man contingent of commandos for the mission[2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1978/11/14/the-wild-geese-betrayal-of-the-african-mercenaries/25089c29-dbce-4e32-83b0-d64ed4dffdf4/) • [7](https://madmikehoare.com/blog-The_Wild_Geese_film_rereleased.html).
The rescue succeeds, but on the brink of complete success the mercenaries are double-crossed: the plane meant to extract them is ordered to leave without them, and Matherson, a copper magnate whose mining interests the restored Limbani was meant to favor, betrays his own men for reasons of state or profit the film never clarifies[2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1978/11/14/the-wild-geese-betrayal-of-the-african-mercenaries/25089c29-dbce-4e32-83b0-d64ed4dffdf4/) • [10](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/nov/14/the-wild-geese-review-richard-burton-richard-harris-roger-moore). The remainder of the film follows the stranded team's fight to reach safety, ending with Burton's character taking revenge on the employer who sold them out[2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1978/11/14/the-wild-geese-betrayal-of-the-african-mercenaries/25089c29-dbce-4e32-83b0-d64ed4dffdf4/).
## Production
Producer Euan Lloyd had long wanted to make an action film in the vein of *Where Eagles Dare* or *The Guns of Navarone*. When the proofs of Daniel Carney's novel *The Thin White Line* reached him, he bought the film rights; the book remained unpublished until the film was made, after which it appeared in shops as *The Wild Geese*[6](https://www.on-magazine.co.uk/arts/film-reviews/the-wild-geese-4k/). Reginald Rose wrote the screenplay, with Dudley Lovell also credited, and Roy Budd composed the score; the title song "Flight of the Wild Geese" is by [Joan Armatrading](https://www.edgepedia.org/joan-armatrading)[5](https://www.bfi.org.uk/film/15698348-61b2-5c2f-898a-44df82f408e7/the-wild-geese) • [6](https://www.on-magazine.co.uk/arts/film-reviews/the-wild-geese-4k/).
**Real mercenaries behind the fiction.** Colonel Allen Faulkner was a thinly disguised version of Colonel Michael "Mad Mike" Hoare, who led mercenary units in the Congo whose members called themselves the Wild Geese, after a 17th-century Irish mercenary army[11](https://film-authority.com/2025/04/01/the-wild-geese/) • [12](https://militarygogglebox.com/2022/07/21/the-wild-geese-1978/). Hoare served as the film's military advisor, and two of his former Congo soldiers, Tullio Moneta and Ian Yule, appeared in the cast[7](https://madmikehoare.com/blog-The_Wild_Geese_film_rereleased.html).
Principal filming took place in South Africa in the summer and autumn of 1977, mainly at Tshipise in what was then Northern Transvaal (now Limpopo), where the unit took over a health spa, with additional shooting in the Messina border region and studio work at Twickenham Film Studios[7](https://madmikehoare.com/blog-The_Wild_Geese_film_rereleased.html) • [12](https://militarygogglebox.com/2022/07/21/the-wild-geese-1978/) • [8](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078492/locations/?item=lc0350194). Roger Moore estimated the African location filming at about three months[12](https://militarygogglebox.com/2022/07/21/the-wild-geese-1978/). Budget figures differ between sources: IMDb lists an estimated $10,000,000[13](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078492/), while an academic study of British film describes it as a $12 million production, probably the biggest British production since the days of *Lawrence of Arabia* and *The Guns of Navarone*[14](https://files.core.ac.uk/download/pdf/228188641.pdf).
## Reception and controversy
The film was a considerable commercial success in Britain and other countries, easily recouping its cost, and was one of the most popular movies of 1978 at the British box office[12](https://militarygogglebox.com/2022/07/21/the-wild-geese-1978/). Contemporary American reviews were mixed to negative: Roger Ebert gave it one star out of four, calling the story predictable and the direction of the battle scenes clumsy[15](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-wild-geese-1978), while Gary Arnold of The Washington Post called it a "negligible, time-killing combat melodrama" and noted that the employer's betrayal conveniently depoliticizes the plot[2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1978/11/14/the-wild-geese-betrayal-of-the-african-mercenaries/25089c29-dbce-4e32-83b0-d64ed4dffdf4/).
The film drew controversy at release for its portrayal of African characters and settings, with criticism of stereotypical representations and a lack of cultural sensitivity. Shooting the movie in apartheid-era South Africa proved ethically troubling, and the choice sparked demonstrations when the film opened in London[4](https://www.cinema.com/articles/19576/wild-geese-the-movie-review.phtml). The [British Board of Film Classification](https://www.edgepedia.org/british-board-of-film-classification)'s advice for the 2025 re-release notes racist language including the term "kaffir", and racist and homophobic attitudes that are condemned within the narrative[1](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/the-wild-geese-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0yotuyoti). Reviewers have also singled out the relationship between [Hardy Krüger](https://www.edgepedia.org/hardy-kruger)'s openly racist South African mercenary Pieter Coetzee and President Limbani, which one 2025 review describes as a bromance in which Limbani praises white people to the skies[10](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/nov/14/the-wild-geese-review-richard-burton-richard-harris-roger-moore), and which the On: Yorkshire Magazine review calls a clunky, tagged-on attempt to address racism[6](https://www.on-magazine.co.uk/arts/film-reviews/the-wild-geese-4k/).
## Later history and 2025 restoration
The film became a popular UK television staple in the 1980s, though ITV broadcasts cut roughly half an hour of action and dialogue, including several sequences depicting the bond between Coetzee and Limbani[11](https://film-authority.com/2025/04/01/the-wild-geese/). A sequel, *Wild Geese II* (1985), followed a different mission with a new lead[6](https://www.on-magazine.co.uk/arts/film-reviews/the-wild-geese-4k/).
In 2025 the film returned to cinemas in a new 4K restoration scanned from the original camera negative, its first theatrical re-issue, premiering in UK cinemas on 14 November 2025 through Munro Film Services[4](https://www.cinema.com/articles/19576/wild-geese-the-movie-review.phtml) • [1](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/the-wild-geese-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0yotuyoti). Severin Films released an Ultimate Collector's Edition UHD/Blu-ray/CD box set in December 2025, including a Roy Budd soundtrack CD and a 316-page making-of book by journalist and film historian Tony Earnshaw, *Fifty Men in the Valley of the Shadow*[4](https://www.cinema.com/articles/19576/wild-geese-the-movie-review.phtml) • [6](https://www.on-magazine.co.uk/arts/film-reviews/the-wild-geese-4k/) • [7](https://madmikehoare.com/blog-The_Wild_Geese_film_rereleased.html). Reviewers of the revival have remained divided: Kevin Maher of The Times gave it 4/5, calling it "simmering with knotty ideas, and redolent of its era", while Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian gave it 3/5 and wrote that its "rather casual cynicism dates this film very considerably"[16](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/wild_geese/reviews).
## References
1. [The Wild Geese, British Board of Film Classification](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/the-wild-geese-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0yotuyoti)
2. [Gary Arnold, "'The Wild Geese': Betrayal of the African Mercenaries", The Washington Post, 13 November 1978](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1978/11/14/the-wild-geese-betrayal-of-the-african-mercenaries/25089c29-dbce-4e32-83b0-d64ed4dffdf4/)
3. [The Wild Geese (1978), The Numbers](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Wild-Geese-The)
4. [Kevin Stanley, "Wild Geese, The: Movie Review", Cinema.com](https://www.cinema.com/articles/19576/wild-geese-the-movie-review.phtml)
5. [The Wild Geese (1978), British Film Institute](https://www.bfi.org.uk/film/15698348-61b2-5c2f-898a-44df82f408e7/the-wild-geese)
6. [Sarah Morgan, "The Wild Geese (1978) – Film Review", On: Yorkshire Magazine](https://www.on-magazine.co.uk/arts/film-reviews/the-wild-geese-4k/)
7. ["'The Wild Geese' film re-released", official site for 'Mad Mike' Hoare and Chris Hoare, 18 November 2025](https://madmikehoare.com/blog-The_Wild_Geese_film_rereleased.html)
8. [The Wild Geese (1978) - Filming & production - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078492/locations/?item=lc0350194)
9. [The Wild Geese (1978), Box Office Mojo](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0078492/credits/)
10. [Peter Bradshaw, "The Wild Geese review", The Guardian, 14 November 2025](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/nov/14/the-wild-geese-review-richard-burton-richard-harris-roger-moore)
11. ["The Wild Geese", film-authority.com](https://film-authority.com/2025/04/01/the-wild-geese/)
12. ["The Wild Geese (1978)", Military Gogglebox](https://militarygogglebox.com/2022/07/21/the-wild-geese-1978/)
13. [The Wild Geese (1978), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078492/)
14. [Academic study of Euan Lloyd and British film production, CORE](https://files.core.ac.uk/download/pdf/228188641.pdf)
15. [Roger Ebert, "The Wild Geese", Chicago Sun-Times, 14 November 1978](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-wild-geese-1978)
16. [The Wild Geese, Audience Reviews, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/wild_geese/reviews)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › War and historical films (individual works) › War action and adventure › War action films released through 1999 › Released 1963 to 1998*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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