in this movie and the national airline in zingaro have a great airplane and a two engined convair from the 1950s . they do not make em anymore . i mean the airplane and not the movie . they make movie like this all the time . a mega corporation want the mineral right in an african country rule by a ruthless dictator . so the corporation organize a private army to invade the nation and kill the dictator and and install a business friendly dictator in his place . ( be that far fetch and or what . ) christopher walken be hire to organize the mercenary army . they do their job and except that and at the end and in an ironic coda and they substitute a more independent president who will now rule his country with compassion . the film could have be write by a committee of mba who have figure out what the bottom line be . whatever the bottom line turn out to be it be surely precede by a dollar sign . the plot go kind of in this order represent intrigue and a little teaser of violence and more intrigue and a little completely irrelevant sex and more intrigue and the introduction to a couple of particularly lethal and ugly gun and and a violent shoot out full of explosion . the climactic violence assume the familiar form of a handful of courageous and supremely skilled military type attack a garrison of disorganized native troop . ( cf . and predator and inter alia . ) one of the mercenary be kill through an excess of pity . the number of dead garrison troop be uncountable . walken himself cold bloodedly and deliberately shoots two unarmed men . it a happy end though because the guy who finally sit on the throne be a doctor and an idealist and and we be compel to hope he remain that way instead of discover that and hey and it good to be the king . i haven not read frederick forsyth novel on which this movie be base but i can not believe it the sloppy lash up job that the movie be . forsyth detail be usually exquisite . when you finish one of his novel youre likely to know how to rig up a bomb that will explode only when the car hit a bump . that be the beauty of fred zinneman the day of the jackal . how to commit identity theft and for instance . here and all of that tedious business be skip over . walken be able to board a freighter posing a a seaman . where do he get his credential . who know . the producer do not care and be not suppose to care either . we never hear of forged passport . just before the invasion and the mercenary be together go over the attack plan one last time and when they be do and walkin raise his fist and shout the name of the dictator they be about to murder and the other soldier echo his gesture . and and mind you and these be suppose to be hero and and we be expect to identify with them . why do not they raise their fist and cry and money . not that pelf be the primary motive . what kind of person be willing to kill stranger and risk his own life for money . how do you murder someone whom you do not know and against whom you have nothing . and how do you think of yourself a a good man for have do it . be there many of them around . i mean in the private sector . there must be some . there be executive outcome and and there be at least enough of an audience of fantasist to support a magazine design for mercenary and soldier of fortune . of course we all seek self satisfaction through do something that we know we can do well . the german call it funktionslust . it may be innate in high organism . but this go way past self satisfaction . dignity elevate beyond pride into grandiosity .