The Dogs of War Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		4.5
Overall		4.5

The Dogs of War Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov July 16, 2022

John Irvin's "The Dogs of War" (1980) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Scorpion Releasing. The supplemental features on the release include exclusive new program with actor Paul Freeman; exclusive new program with first assistant director Anthony Wayle; exclusive new program with co-writer George Malko; vintage promotional materials; and more. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

Remember, you have to stay alive to get paid.

War is business. If you don’t get it, you do not understand why wars are fought. This is the simple message of Frederick Forsyth’s best-seller Dogs of War, which John Irvin made into a film in 1980. More than forty years later, can we say that this message is no longer relevant? Of course not. The game remains the same while the businessmen that play it have become even better.

Jamie Shannon (Christopher Walken) might be the best killer money can buy -- temporarily of course. But he does not eliminate individual targets. He is the type of killer you contract when you wish to overthrow an entire government in a distant corner of the world. In other words, he is a killer that can change the politics of an entire region -- quickly and efficiently, without wasting time on election campaigns and ballots. If you reach out to Shannon, it is because you are someone with big ambitions and a grand vision for the future.

In New York City, Shannon is approached with a job offer that could put enough money in his bank account and allow him to finally buy himself a piece of land somewhere in Colorado or Montana, where he could start a family with his on-again-off-again girlfriend. The job is in the small African country of Zangaro, which is currently ruled by a ruthless dictator unwilling to negotiate with the businessmen the man with the job offer represents. If the dictator is replaced with a “new and committed to democracy” political leader selected by the businessmen, they will be able to secure a priceless contract that will grant them access to Zangaro’s incredibly rich but undeveloped mineral fields.

Before he agrees to do the job, Shannon travels to Zangaro, pretending to be a veteran ornithologist, and attempts to get a feel of how the country is run and whether the job is doable. Soon after his arrival, and despite playing the part of the veteran ornithologist quite well, however, he is arrested, tortured, and imprisoned. It is only because of the efforts of political prisoner Dr. Okoye (Winston Ntshona) that he manages to stay alive in his cell. When eventually Shannon returns to New York, he agrees to do the job and begins assembling a team of mercenaries that could help him change the regime in Zangaro.

Even though the period environment and ambience of Dogs of War could not be any more different than those of Jean-Pierre Melville’s Le Samouraï, these films actually have an identical objective. Indeed, both enter the intimate world of professional killers and begin revealing their routines as they prepare to do the jobs they are hired for. This is why Dogs of War and Le Samourai are awfully difficult to describe as conventional crime or war films -- their pragmatism is incompatible with the genre identity of the conventional crime and war films. (By the way, this is also the reason why Dogs of War “unexpectedly slows down” after Walken’s character returns to New York, because the action and drama are not as important as the slow and meticulous preparation for the upcoming job).

Before he began working on his novel, Forsyth gathered a tremendous amount of information while communicating with various characters exactly like the one Walken plays in Dogs of War. He pretended to be a businessman with very deep pockets interested in staging a coup in an exotic country and entered an underground industry where the right amount of cash could buy a visionary like him an army of mercenaries capable of taking over an entire country. In the novel, Forsyth explains in great detail how the contacts in the underground industry are made, how negotiations there take place, and ultimately how a job is greenlighted and executed. As pragmatic as Irvin’s film is, the scope of its revelations isn’t the same.

Walken leads with tremendous authority -- and yes, even though his style is different, in the “slow” parts he absolutely begins to look like the lone wolf Alain Delon plays in Le Samourai -- but there are solid contributions by Tom Berenger, Colin Blakely, Jean-Francois Stevenin, Robert Urquhart, and Paul Freeman as well.

The man behind the camera was the legendary cinematographer Jack Cardiff, who lensed such timeless classics as The Red Shoes, The African Queen, and Black Narcissus.

Scorpion Releasing's Blu-ray release features two versions of The Dogs of War: U.S. Theatrical Version, which is approximately 104 minutes long (1:43:47), and International Cut, which is approximately 119 minutes long (1:58:33). Both are newly restored in 2K.

*In an exclusive new program that is included on this release, co-writer George Malko confirms that the big hand-held rocket launcher that Walken and Berenger are seen using was authentic. Also, Malko was told by director Irvin that during the production of The Dogs of War there was a person from either the U.S. government or the Department of Defense who was always around to take the weapon after the sequence was shot and place it back in its case and guard it.

The Dogs of War Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, The Dogs of War arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Scorpion Releasing.

The Dogs of War made its high-definition debut via Twilight Time in 2014. (You can see our listing and review of this OOP release here). This recent release is sourced from an exclusive new 2K master that is quite the revelation. In fact, I am going to mention first the only area where I think that some meaningful improvements can be made because the rest is as good as I expected it to be. So, the new master was struck from an interpositive, which is why in some darker areas shadow definition could be slightly better. How much exactly? Well, from time to time, but not always, some of the darker areas reveal more prominent blacks, so in these areas, very fine nuances can be slightly overwhelmed by the blacks. The effect looks a bit like light crushing, but it is what you typically get when you work with an interpositive. (For reference, exactly the same effect is present on Kino Lorber's recent release of The Hot Spot). In fact, on this release, I think that the overall balance is actually very good, so it is really only a couple of areas that could have been tweaked for a superior result. This being said, delineation, clarity, and depth usually range from very good to excellent. The color balance is very convincing as well. The primaries look very healthy and nicely balanced, while the supporting nuances are stretched as best as possible. To be honest, excluding the darker areas that I mentioned above, I don't believe that the existing range of colors can be managed any better on Blu-ray/1080p. Image stability is excellent. I noticed a couple of white specks, but there are no distracting large debris, cuts, blemishes, warped or torn frames to report. My score is 4.25/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

The Dogs of War Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

Even though The Dogs of War comes from the early 1980s, it offers plenty of material that can reveal to you how good your audio system is. Obviously, in the second half, you can use the attack on the military base to judge dynamic potency, but there are plenty of other sequences where the film produces very good nuanced dynamic contrasts while taking advantage of Geoffrey Burgon's score and various dramatic developments. The dialog is clear, sharp, and very easy to follow. I did not encounter any encoding anomalies to report in our review.

The Dogs of War Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• International Cut - Scorpion Releasing's Blu-ray release features two versions of The Dogs of War: U.S. Theatrical Version, which is approximately 104 minutes long (1:43:47), and International Cut, which is approximately 119 minutes long (1:58:33). Both are newly restored in 2K.

• Interview with Co-Star Paul Freeman - in this exclusive new program, actor Paul Freeman (Derek) discusses the rather unusual production of The Dogs of War and specifically his time in Belize where large chunks of it were shot, the various obstacles that had to be overcome (apparently the canal where a key sequence was shot was overflowing with feces), John Irvin's working methods, and interactions with other cast and crew members as well as the lasting friendships that emerged from the shoot. The program was produced by Walter Olsen. In English, not subtitled. (13 min).

• Interview with Co-Star Maggie Scott - in this exclusive new program, Maggie Scott discusses her one and only acting job, how and why it became possible, what it was like to be in Belize and work with various stars, John Irvin's personality and working methods, and why she realized that acting was not for her. The program was produced by Walter Olsen. In English, not subtitled. (10 min).

• Interview with Co-Writer George Malko - in this exclusive new program, co-writer George Malko discusses the original material from Frederick Forsyth's novel and how it was altered to become suitable for The Dogs of War, the greenlighting of the film by United Artists, his interaction with John Irvin, the film's "solid visual appearance", and Christopher Walken's performance. At the end of the program, Mr. Malko also very enthusiastically explains why The Dogs of War has to be experienced on Blu-ray. The program was produced by Walter Olsen. In English, not subtitled. (11 min).

• Interview with First Assistant Director Anthony Wayle - in this exclusive new program, first assistant director Anthony Wayle discusses the shooting of the big action prologue in Miami, the apparently awful experience he had in Belize where more of the action material was staged, the notorious Sweet Water Canal (which was flooded with feces), the bizarre departure after the job had ended (apparently the local airport did not have a booking system), etc. The program was produced by Walter Olsen. In English, not subtitled. (8 min).

• Interview with Production Designer Peter Mullins - in this exclusive new program, production designer Peter Mullins recalls his initial encounter with John Irvin and scouting trip to Belize and discusses some of the locations that were used in the film, the New York sequence and some of the additional footage/material that was done in London and Miami, the tremendous work of special effects coordinator Joe Lombardi (Apocalypse Now, The Godfather), some additional period details that are seen throughout the film, and Jack Cardiff's work. The program was produced by Walter Olsen. In English, not subtitled. (8 min).

• Interview with Costume Designer Emma Porteous - in this exclusive new program, costume designer Emma Porteous recalls her contribution to The Dogs of War, the shoot in Belize, the staging of the big massacre sequence at the end of the film, and some very specific requests John Irvin had. Mrs. Porteous also has some shot but very good comments about her experience with Christopher Walken in New York. The program was produced by Walter Olsen. In English, not subtitled. (5 min).

• Trailers - three vintage trailers for The Dogs of War. Two are fully remastered. One is sourced from a VHS. In English, not subtitled. (3 min).

• Cover - reversible cover vintage poster art.

• Additional Trailers - additional trailers for the following titles from Scorpion Releasing's Blu-ray catalog:
  
  1. The Delta Force
  2. P.O.W. the Escape
  3. Who'll Stop the Rain

The Dogs of War Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Some years ago, Frederick Forsyth's best-seller was a real eye-opener for me. It put a lot of things in proper context and explained the mechanics of war with clarity and authority that I found absolutely fascinating. Later on, some of Robert Ludlum's novels produced similar excitement, but they often played fast and loose with various facts and historic events. John Irvin's The Dogs of War alters some of the original material from Forsyth's novel, but this isn't surprising given the nature of its authentic investigative style. I have always liked Irvin's film a lot, and to be honest, I think that it functions and leaves a lasting impression much like Jean-Pierre Melville's Le Samouraï does. Scorpion Releasing's recent Blu-ray release offers exclusive new, very solid 2K restorations of the shorter Theatrical U.S. Version and longer International Cut of The Dogs of War. It also has an excellent selection of exclusive new bonus features with many of the people that worked on the film. If you decide to add it to your library but reside outside of North America, please keep in mind that it is Region-A "locked". VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.