First, don't even dare compare this film with Jack Cardiff's masterpiece THE MERCENARIES, also setting in Congo during the Simba revolt. Do not dare. But this little Italian film is worth seeing, though being lousy, worth seeing because there is no real lead hero character, and that's not so usual, you can't focus on one character in particular. And the lost patrol scheme is always interesting to watch. Some details are taken care off, for instance the Simba village attack, during which the mercenaries don't forget to change the ammo magasines. You don't see this in every action film, even the best ones. So, that's a pretty good point to me. Well, I expected far far worse before watching this movie, speaking of racism; but this was the period: late sixties. No boredom at all, and you find here the pure Italian films trade mark, I speak of machismo manners, for instance slapping women for anything, in the most natural way. You have this in nearly, if not every, Italian crime film or western from the sixties and seventies. The village attack by a platoon before getting back thru the jungle has already been made a thousand of times before, the most famous one being PREDATOR. But there were plenty of others, Vietnam topics, mainly Philippine productions. And I also did not expect such character study, for this kind of production I mean. Do not be too hard with this film, OK?
