Leonard Maltin and Roger Ebert
Leonard Maltin gave this propaganda film a BOMB rating in his book.
"Juvenile, intentionally anachronistic comic history of William Walker. [....] A self-indulgent mess."
Roger Ebert gave the film ZERO stars in his original review.
"That leaves Harris virtually alone to negotiate a pointless and increasingly obnoxious exercise in satire by Alex Cox, the director, who doesn't seem to have a clue about what he wants to do or even what he has done. Although the ads for "Walker" don't even hint it, this movie is apparently intended as a comedy or a satire. I write "apparently" because, if it is a comedy, it has no laughs, and if a satire, no target.
As Harris stalks through the bloody streets of towns torn by revolution, bullets whiz past his ears without hitting him, and supporting characters read Time, Newsweek and People, and puff on Marlboros. Why? To show that it's all a joke, perhaps, or that today's headlines are the same as yesterday's, or that the press has always had it all wrong about Nicaragua, or that Alex Cox is a clever lad."
This film had the potential to be a fascinating story. Unfortunately, it exists for one reason and one reason only - for Cox to bash American foreign policy.