The Sea Wolves (1980) - Movie Review 

Excellent review; you pointed out many of the fine details, including the Bond connections. “The Sea Wolves,” along with “The Wild Geese,” remains on my list of favourite films. And you’re right: Andrew V McLaglen is an underrated director. (I enjoyed “Chisum,” too.) I don’t share the few (slight) reservations you have about the film. I saw it in the cinema, and enjoyed it thoroughly. Once again, Reginald Rose offered a tightly constructed screenplay, with the necessary exposition leading to the actual mission. Any feature film has limited time to establish character, more so in an ensemble piece; naturally the early part of the film would have some ”slowness” to it. Roger Moore plays a Bond-like character, but is more impressive than in his Bond films. Trevor Howard is a pleasure to see, as always. In his memoir, John Glen briefly touched upon his work on “The Sea Wolves.” He described how the editing process helped with Gregory Peck’s role, since he was not that experienced an action star. More critically, David Niven was in poor health: he had started to show symptoms of the ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease) that would take him a couple of years later. I was appalled that it was not a box-office success, at least in the US. I found out later that the distribution process was a shambles, with legal problems between Lorimar and whomever else! I’ve said for years, that the Sea Wolves should have shot the publicity department for that asinine MAD Magazine-style poster, which would lead anyone to believe that the film was a slapstick comedy!

Thanks for another great review. I don't remember ever seeing The Sea Wolves. It looks like a film I would enjoy. I think it's available to watch for free on RU-vid. I'll check it out.

Another enjoyable review, I have not seen this movie and after watching this review I will seek it out. Thank you.

This film is a treat for people my age (50 somthing) David Niven Roger Moore Gregory Peck and many classic British actors. Good feel good movie (:

It needs a proper Bluray release as it's still not officially released. It's a great movie at that.

I thought I saw this as a kid, but I don't think I did. The one I saw also starred Elliott Gould and I think you would have mentioned him if he made an appearance in this film.

Please do a review on The Wild Geese. You'll probably get a panic attack when you hear all that un-PC racial talk in South Africa!

Surely you've seen Trevor Howard with Celia Johnson in Lean's 1945 'Brief Encounter' exquisite love story (Celia got an Oscar nod). *Avoid '74 Burton-Loren remake🤢.*