Allen Faulkner (Richard Burton) arrives secretly in London to meet with Sir Edward Matherson (Stewart Granger). Faulkner is a mercenary leader. Some years ago, he had been retained by President Limbani to help retake his country - somewhere around Congo - from usurpers but Limbani was killed en route to their meeting. Sir Edward reveals that Limbani is alive but not for long. Sir Edward would like to free Limbani to secure the rights to his country's copper mines. Faulkner gathers his core team. There is Rafer Janders (Richard Harris), Shawn Fynn (Roger Moore), Pieter Coetzee (Hardy Kruger), and Sandy Young (Jack Watson). They recruit 40 or so men and fly to Africa for training. On Christmas Day, they insert via parachute to rescue Limbani and secure an airport for their extraction. Everything goes perfectly until their extraction is canceled. Now the fun begins.
Some things are telegraphed from the start. When Faulkner recruits Janders, his son is introduced and a proposed vacation is mentioned. Gee, I wonder how that will go? It announced that he was doomed, the one character whose fate was sealed from the moment he is introduced. Disappointing.
This is an action film in the days before flipping, spinning, double-gun shooting nonsense. Overwhelming forces really are overwhelming. Casualties are high and, in the end, it was all for nothing. Still, it was exciting getting there.
Thumbs up.
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