‘The Wild Geese’ – Andrew V. McLaglen’s British action classic arrives on a feature packed edition from Severin Films. Treat yourself! |

Earlier this year Severin Films announced the Worldwide UHD Premiere of Andrew V. McLaglen’s 1978 British action classic The Wild Geese with a new 4K restoration (scanned from the original camera negative) The film was theatrically rereleased for the first time and had fans of the film smiling from ear to ear. After its theatrical run its now headed to homes in a stunning Ultimate Collector’s Edition UHD/BD/CD Box Set alongside other formats.

The Box Set comes complete with more than nine hours of new and archival special features (and we all know that I love my special features, so I was so excited to dive into this set) , there’s an exclusive 316-page book – Fifty Men In The Valley Of The Shadow – written by Tony Earnshaw featuring unique script extracts, unseen behind-the-scenes photographs and exclusive interviews with cast and crew, the original soundtrack CD by Roy Budd is also included in the set and for display fans. You get six UK lobby card reproductions.

Screen legends Richard Burton (Where Eagles Dare), Roger Moore (Live and Let Die) and Richard Harris (A Man Called Horse), star as part of a team of ageing mercenaries hired by a wealthy industrialist for one final mission: That mission is to recruit and train a squad of desperate commandos, parachute into an unstable African nation, snatch its deposed President who was previously believed dead from a maximum-security prison camp, escape via the military-controlled airport and massacre anyone who gets in their way. Reaching the target will be murder, but getting out alive may be impossible.

Hardy Krüger (A Bridge Too Far) and Stewart Granger (King Solomon’s Mines) co-star in this explosive action classic produced by Euan Lloyd (The Sea Wolves The Final Option) and directed by Andrew V. McLaglen (The Devil’s Brigade) from a screenplay by two-time Oscar nominee Reginald Rose (12 Angry Men) based on the book by Daniel Carney. I hadn’t seen The Wild Geese for a couple of decades and the last time I did, it was on a 4:3 pan and scan VHS so it was a huge treat to now be able to see the film the way it was intended on my large TV in such a glorious presentation with this 4K bluray. They just don’t make films like this anymore! The epic man on a mission movie that have that ‘epic’ cinematic feel to it. Yes im sure some people can rattle off some exceptions to the ‘they don’t make them anymore’ argument but when you think that between 1978 and 1980 we got The Wild Geese, Force 10 From Navarone, A Bridge Too Far and The Big Red One, those were great times for fans of this type of movie.

I wish they did still make films like this but at least we do still have these classics to revisit. . I had a blast watching The Wild Geese and whilst I had seen the film many years previously. It wasn’t a film that I had seen often and so many of the plot details weren’t as fresh in my mind as they are now. I was rooting for the characters and hoped they made it out of this mission in one piece. If you love Men On A Mission movies then you need to check out The Wild Geese it was great when it came out, it was great years ago when I saw it, and its great now especially in this new edition The 4K looks stunning and will be a treat for those (like me) who had gotten used to watching the film on TV broadcasts or VHS tapes of the film. . Putting the film to one side for a few moments, This edition of The Wild Geese is great but for me its the special features that make this Severin release shine brighter and highlights of this release are the interviews with many of the cast and crew involved with the film who share their stories about their time on The Wild Geese. I love seeing this type of featurette where we catch up in more recent times with someone involved in a film who then talk so lovingly about their part in helping make a film like this into a classic.

Easily my favourite person to hear from in the features was the films Producer Mr Euan Lloyd who takes part in one of the audio commentaries along with Sir Roger Moore, John Glen and the track is moderated by film producer Jonathan Sothcott (Knightfall, Renegades) That particular audio commentary is an archival one (Mr Lloyd passed away in 2016 and Sir Roger passed away in 2017). It is so engaging to hear Euan talk about his experiences putting the film together. He is one of those people you could listen to for hours, and hours and always has your attention. Its also worth noting that on the special features there is a fascinating 37 minute documentary which focuses solely on Mr Euan Lloyd entitled The Last Gentleman Producer and in which we learn about his career before and after The Wild Geese. so make sure you check that out if you pick up this edition.

The Wild Geese is a wonderful addition to any film collectors library and you can order The Wild Geese Ultimate Collector’s Edition now . Its also worth noting that the disc is Region Free so if you are outside of the UK- you can still treat yourself.

https://severinfilms.co.uk/products/the-wild-geese-uhd-blu-ray-cd-combi

As id mentioned. I do love special features on a film release. So what do we get on The Wild Geese set? Well check out this list! Just for those of you who love the numbers. Not including the audio commentaries, we get 163 minutes of features on this disc, So that’s just over 2 and a half hours of material and its great material. Of those 163 minutes, 69 minutes of that is new interviews, and the remaining 94 minutes are archival but are still great featurettes for you to venture into in order to become an expert on The Wild Geese.

DISC 1 (4K UHD):

• NEW! Audio Commentary with Action Film Experts, Mike Leeder and Arne Venema *
• NEW! Audio Commentary with Assembly Editor John Grover and Film Academic and Sth African Historian Calum Waddell *
• Archival Audio Commentary with Producer Euan Lloyd, Star Roger Moore, Second Unit Director John Glen, Moderated by Filmmaker Jonathan Sothcott *

This chat track is fascinating. Especially hearing from Euan Lloyd (who Roger Moore laughingly states ‘Euan, you cant answer in a single sentence can you) Euan shares the backstory on the film, its production, its financing and pretty much everything you want to know about this cinema classic. I could sit and listen to Euan talk for hours. He has fascinating stories to tell you so I cant recommend this chat track enough.

• Theatrical Trailer

DISC 2 (BD):

•    NEW! Audio Commentary with Action Film Experts, Mike Leeder and Arne Venema
• NEW! Audio Commentary with Assembly Editor John Grover and Film Academic and Sth African Historian Calum Waddell
• Archival Audio Commentary with Producer Euan Lloyd, Star Roger Moore, Second Unit Director John Glen, Moderated by Filmmaker Jonathan Sothcott
• Theatrical Trailer

• NEW! Jesse, Take Point! – An Interview with Actor John Kani (Sgt. Jesse Blake) ( 15 minutes)
• NEW! Wild Child – An Interview with Actor Paul Spurrier (Emile Janders) (16 Minutes)
• NEW! Wild Goose Chase – An Interview with 2nd Unit Director / Editor John Glen (24 Minutes)
• NEW! Flight of Fancy – An Interview with Sound Editor Colin Miller (14 Minutes)
• The Wild Geese Director – Interview with Director Andrew V. McLaglen (16 Minutes)
• The Mercenary – Interview with Military Advisor Mike Hoare (10 Minutes)
• The Last of the Gentleman Producers – Documentary on Producer Euan Lloyd Featuring Euan Lloyd, Roger Moore, Joan Armatrading, Ingrid Pitt & more (37 Minutes)
• The Flight of the Wild Geese – Vintage Featurette (24 Minutes)
• THE WILD GEESE Royal Charity Premiere Newsreel (7 Minutes)

DISC 3 (CD):

• THE WILD GEESE Original Soundtrack

* Also Included on Blu-ray

What a great looking set for a great film. The Wild Geese is one of the classics and deserves that status! Great work by Severin Films for those set and great work by all those who were involved in the making of one of the finest action war movies ever made!.