The Wild Geese
A group of seasoned mercenaries are hired to rescue a dying political prisoner from a brutal African dictator, only to be betrayed by the corporation that sent them, forcing them to fight for survival against impossible odds.
Synopsis
A British multinational corporation aims to depose a brutal dictator in central Africa. To achieve this, it recruits a group of (mostly older) mercenaries in London and sends them to rescue an imprisoned opposition leader who is both virtuous and critically ill, set to be executed. After the team successfully completes the rescue, the multinational negotiates a deal with the dictator, abandoning the mercenaries to escape on their own and pursue retribution.
Credits
Related titles
No curated related titles yet. Use the edit affordance to add "More from this director", "Same franchise", or "Adaptation source material" entries — every change goes through the wiki review queue.
How many hands made this film
The scale of the collaboration
A crew of 49+ credited
Why a floor?
This is a minimum, not a total. We only count the credits we’ve captured so far, and coverage is uneven — a blockbuster might show a few hundred names while another of the same size shows a couple dozen. The real crews all ran into the thousands. The number here only grows as full credits are enriched — so we frame it as a floor, never a headcount.
Craft leads on file
Edited by John GlenShot by Jack HildyardScored by Roy BuddDesigned by Syd Cain
Box Office
1978 · Box office
📉 Underperformed — grossed 0.9× its budget
Why 2.5×?
Cinemas keep roughly half of every ticket sold, and a wide release’s marketing often costs about as much again as the film — so a movie needs to gross around 2.5× its production budget just to break even theatrically. It’s a rule of thumb, not the studio’s ledger (home video and streaming come later).
Worldwide gross
$9.9M
Also known as
- Die Wildgänse kommende
- Patos salvajeses
- Les Oies sauvagesfr
- I quattro dell'Oca selvaggiait
Community tags
Be the first to tag this page — tags appear right away. Try a theme, capability, or subject (e.g. WWII, heist, slow burn, time travel, A24).
Cast & Crew
49 unique people credited
Top billed cast
Richard Burton
as Colonel Allen Faulkner
Roger Moore
as Lt. Shawn Fynn
Richard Harris
as Capt. Rafer Janders
Hardy Kruger
as Lt. Pieter Coetzee
Richard Harris Nm0001321
as Capt. Rafer Janders
Stewart Granger
as Sir Edward Matherson
Winston Ntshona
as President Julius Limbani
John Kani
as Sgt. Jesse Blake
Jack Watson
as RSM Sandy Young
Frank Finlay
as Fr. Geoghagen
Kenneth Griffith
as Arthur Witty
Ronald Fraser
as Sgt. Jock McTaggart
Supporting cast
28Barry Foster
as Thomas Balfour
Percy Herbert
as Keith
Ian Yule
as Tosh Donaldson
Glyn Baker
as Esposito
Paul Spurrier
as Emile Janders
Rosalind Lloyd
as Heather
David Ladd
as Sonny Martinelli
Jeff Corey
as Mr Martin
Patrick Allen
as Rushton
Brook Williams
as Samuels
Valerie Leon
as 1st Girl Dealer
Leslie Schofield
as Hitman
Jane Hylton
as Mrs Marjorie Young
Sydney Chama
as Clark
Ken Gampu
as Alexander
Patrick Holt
as Skyjacker
Terence Longdon
as Anonymous Man
John Dennison
as Matherson's Butler
Thomas Baptiste
as Col. Mboya
Jules Walters
as Mboya's Aide
Christopher Chittell
as Philips
Graham Clarke
as Gennaro
Fred Bryant
as Baronet Club Manager
Anna Bergman
as Sonny's Girlfriend
Suzanne Danielle
as Girl at party
Richard Graydon
as Mercenary
Greg Powell
as Mercenary
Garth Watkins
as Club Patron (uncredited)
Directors
1Writers
2Producers
1Other crew
5Parents Guide
AI Personalities
Advisory Bot AI
I keep the family-safety picture honest — community advisories, AI-moderated, summarized without spin.
Ratings & reviews
Official ratings
We’re attempting to crowdsource this data.
Please submit below if you know where it’s available in your region — accurate confirmations help everyone find what they’re looking for.
Where to watch
Not currently streaming on any platform we track.
Gallery
Add imageNo community images for The Wild Geese yet
Add a still, a storyboard, or concept art — every image gets its own page where members can discuss it.
Trailers
No trailers logged for The Wild Geese yet — add the first one below.
Spot a trailer we’re missing?
Add a trailer from any film, show, or game.
Media & Uploads
Scripts, set photos, storyboards, score sketches — community-curated reference material for film students and industry professionals.
Did you or a loved one work on The Wild Geese?
Every stage matters — pitch decks and treatments from development, location scouts and table-reads from pre-production, set photos and crew anecdotes from production, edit-bay notes from post, and press kits, festival memories, or marketing ephemera from distribution. Any moment that didn't make the press tour, any document or photograph that's been sitting in a box — please share it so it's not lost to time.
We particularly welcome contributions from writers, producers, cast, crew, festival programmers, distributors, marketing teams, their families, and anyone who was there at any stage.
Sign in to contribute scripts, stills, photos, or behind-the-scenes stories.
Be the first to share something on The Wild Geese.
Scripts, scans, photos, score sketches — anything that helps another reader study this work.
Memorable quotes
Browse all →No quotes logged for The Wild Geese yet — add the first memorable line below.
Got a quote we’re missing?
Submit a line from any film, show, or game.
The conversation
Loading the conversation…
Comments (0)
on The Wild GeeseNo comments yet. Be the first to share what you think.
Edit history
Loading edit history…