MovieChat Forums > The Dogs of War (1981) Discussion > Great movie...until

Great movie...until

posted 15 years ago by ccknight
18 replies | jump to latest

I thought this was a great movie, very entertaining...up until he returns to America for the second time and all the other characters such as Tom Berenger get introduced. After that I felt it was a rapid descent downhill. All the other people on the mercenary team gave terrible performances and strangely enough Walken's performance seemed to go downhill after that too. Don't get me wrong, there are some great scenes in this film and some fantastic acting from Walken but it all seems to get thrown away. Berenger's death scene was just ridiculous. Anyone else feel the same?

[–] overninethousand 15 years ago

No.

[–] Bixbyfan 15 years ago

me neither

What happens if you get half killed twice?

[–] bhilburn 10 years ago

I concur.

"check the imdb cast list before asking who portrayed who in movies please"

[–] PopperTheKungFu-Dragon 8 years ago

Ditto.

Poorly Lived and Poorly Died, Poorly Buried and No One Cried

[–] Barney_Ross 15 years ago

Yeah but you should put SPOILER in your thread title you know...

[–] ccknight 14 years ago

what do you mean I should put spoiler in the thread? 'Great movie...until'...what the hell do you think i'm gonna be talking about!!

get some common sense :P

[–] tehck 10 years ago

No, you follow the rules lest one of us rats you out and gets your unlabeled spoiler post removed.

[–] 10 years ago

[deleted]

[–] jwild49 15 years ago

Hell no...I loved this film from beginning to end. I loved Walken and Berenger together and I was pissed when Berenger's character died.

"I am Reality"

[–] sneakguest 15 years ago

Yeah I agree, and it specially became worse after they returned to Kangaro the last time, that whole attack on the city was ridcolous, taking over a whole capital city with just around 40 men??? wtf...
But I don't think Berengers death were bad thou, on the contrary, if also Walken n everyone else that was starring in the movie would have died too, It would have been much better... specially a headshot on the director, coz oh man... I know books r always better then movies, but the difference here was too big...

[–] Eli_Zardo 15 years ago

that whole attack on the city was ridcolous, taking over a whole capital city with just around 40 men??? wtf...

They didn't attack or take over the city, just the military garrison Kimba was in.

[–] McStallen 14 years ago

Right- they did not need to destroy the Zangaro's entire army. All they needed to do was get rid of Kimba and his most loyal soldiers in the garrison- most of the government and military could remain in place as Bobi/Okoye took over, as it was presumed they would switch their allegiance to whomever was in power.

[–] 14 years ago

[deleted]

[–] franzkabuki 12 years ago

No, I thought the second US segment and particularly the scenes in London and Paris were really great, love this kind of international adventum intrigue going on. And the final battle was ferocious and effective beyond expectations. A very good film all in all - not as great as The Day Of The Jackal, but way better than The Odessa File (which I probably do need to see again, though). Another fine Walken performance to top things off. 8/10. Getting the feeling 1980 was by far the best movie year of the Eighties.

"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan

[–] Fourdot 11 years ago

I immediately thought of William Holden getting shot the same way in The Wild Bunch.Copied for TDOW? Who knows?

[–] wegottableeder 11 years ago

I thought Berenger's death scene made a great point - it was a reminder of just how vulnerable they were out there, and how death could strike at any moment when they least expected it.

The part I thought was awkward and didn't really gel with the rest of the movie was when the British reporter gets killed.

[–] mmablaster 11 years ago

I thought the end battle made the movie. Loved that there was no CGI just huge explosions everywhere and chaos. Berenger's death came out of the blue, but when you are running around in a war zone anything can happen.

mrjerkay.blogspot.com/

[–] Dark_Star1 8 years ago

I thought it was a great movie right until the end of the opening credits. It all sucked from there.

This was just a bad movie on every level. Maybe the worst performances I've ever seen by Berenger and Walken; it was like they couldn't believe they let themselves get talked into making this crap. They took a complex, ingenious plot and turned it into simplistic trash with no credibility at all.

Seriously, just what actually worked about this movie? Can anyone tell me?