Ashdoc's movie review---the dogs of war

The tin-pot republic of Zangaro---typical specimen of the hellhole that is Africa.....

Its ruled by a typically brutal dictator called Simba....oh actually it is Zimba....

But Zimba Simba who cares......they are all the same in the banana republics of Africa arent they.....

He's come to power by killing all his enemies , and to make sure no one entertains any future thought of enemity to him , he kills them before they have such thoughts.....

And he lives lavishly with his harem in the midst of his garrisoning troops in their barracks while his country is awash in a sea of crime and injustice.....

Into this godforsaken place comes our hero---posing as a wildlife photographer.....

He's instantly suspected for what he is---for who would come to this hellish place taking photographs if he is not sent by Zimba's enemies for taking measure of Zimba's power and the potential of destroying it.....

......And so he is packed off to jail where amidst myriad tortures , he meets the leader of the democratic movement of Zingaro who is cooling his heels in jail for the past 4 years for preaching democracy.....

But our hero's a white man---a citizen of the United States , and that country wont take the death of its countryman so lightly.....

So he cant be killed and has to be sent home.....

A home where the people who have sent him are waiting for his report on the situation in Zingaro......

For them he is just a mercenary , a dog of war......

.....And such dogs are expendible.......

But before such dogs are expended they have their uses.....

And his use to his handlers is to assemble a pack of dogs like himself and start a revolution in that little corner of Africa called zingaro.....

.....And their plan is to prop up a suitably black president who allows them to loot the mineral resources of his country and make money.....

But our dog is a dog with a mind of his own.....

And above all he's a good dog.....

He's not got long to live due to a fatal disease, and so has no use for the money his handlers are offering him.....

And at the end of his life he wants to do something good for humanity.....

But firstly , does he succeed in bringing revolution to Zingaro ??

Happily he does , and the director torches alight Frederick Forsythe's dull novel by moving away from the script and showing some real action unlike the novel which concentrated only on the planning of the coup and disappointingly stopped before some fighting broke out.....

As President Zimba's palace is swept by a hailstorm of firepower and the invaders fire grenades , rockets and bullets into the garrison protecting Zimba , the question is not whether Zimba will go but in how short a time will Zimba's power collapse.....

But the bigger question is---what is our hero's plan to put idealism in action in Zingaro ??

And will the people who financed him take his betrayal lying down ??

For answers to it , watch THE DOGS OF WAR.....

I found it a decent watch.....