Post by Lightfighter on Mar 25, 2011 5:28:03 GMT -5
An oldie, but goodie.
The original story was written by Frederick Forsyth. Mr Forsyth is one of those authors that you kind of have to wonder a little about. My first experience with him was, of course, his novel Dogs of War. His writings have a very distinct characteristic in that they are extremely well researched. To write this particular story, Mr Forsyth moved to Africa for several months, and even lived on a cargo ship for at least a portion of the writing. The amount of information that he provides in his story telling makes you wonder whether or not he may at one time or another been involved in the espionage business.
The story is about a group of independent mercenaries who have been doing the job of hired soldiers for a good long while, with their primary Area of Operations (AO) being the Dark Continent of Africa. The story begins with the group coming out on the losing end of a revolution against an African warlord. They have spent several months in the warlord's employ, only to have the tables turned by the rebels. Now they must flee the country or be killed. Upon return to their various haunts, the leader, Cat Shannon, is approached by an employee of a large mining consortium with the proposal of work in Africa. The mining consortium is interested in the, 'refining of certain resources in the country of Zangaro, east Africa.' Shannon, being a mercenary, jumps at the chance to make some more money and return to his old stomping grounds. He rounds up his old crew and gets to work.
The screenplay only differed from the book slightly, which is unusual. I typically find that the more the movie is like the book, generally the better it is. The fact that the screen writers stayed so close to the original manuscript is a testament to their good sense. Now, some of the events were changed, a few extra happenings written in and a few extra characters were added to flesh out the movie and add some extra suspense and action. Overall, I think the job was well done.
The original story was written by Frederick Forsyth. Mr Forsyth is one of those authors that you kind of have to wonder a little about. My first experience with him was, of course, his novel Dogs of War. His writings have a very distinct characteristic in that they are extremely well researched. To write this particular story, Mr Forsyth moved to Africa for several months, and even lived on a cargo ship for at least a portion of the writing. The amount of information that he provides in his story telling makes you wonder whether or not he may at one time or another been involved in the espionage business.
The story is about a group of independent mercenaries who have been doing the job of hired soldiers for a good long while, with their primary Area of Operations (AO) being the Dark Continent of Africa. The story begins with the group coming out on the losing end of a revolution against an African warlord. They have spent several months in the warlord's employ, only to have the tables turned by the rebels. Now they must flee the country or be killed. Upon return to their various haunts, the leader, Cat Shannon, is approached by an employee of a large mining consortium with the proposal of work in Africa. The mining consortium is interested in the, 'refining of certain resources in the country of Zangaro, east Africa.' Shannon, being a mercenary, jumps at the chance to make some more money and return to his old stomping grounds. He rounds up his old crew and gets to work.
The screenplay only differed from the book slightly, which is unusual. I typically find that the more the movie is like the book, generally the better it is. The fact that the screen writers stayed so close to the original manuscript is a testament to their good sense. Now, some of the events were changed, a few extra happenings written in and a few extra characters were added to flesh out the movie and add some extra suspense and action. Overall, I think the job was well done.