Game for Vultures
| Game for Vultures | |
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American poster
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| Directed by | James Fargo |
| Produced by | Hazel Adair |
| Written by | Philip Baird |
| Based on | a novel by Michael Hartmann |
| Starring |
Richard Harris Richard Roundtree Denholm Elliott Joan Collins |
| Music by |
Tony Duhig Jon Field |
| Cinematography | Alex Thomson |
| Edited by | Peter Tanner |
| Distributed by |
Columbia Pictures Ster-Kinekor Film Distribution Co (South Africa) |
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Release date
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Running time
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113 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $5 million |
Game for Vultures is a 1979 British thriller film starring Richard Harris, Joan Collins and Richard Roundtree. It was directed by James Fargo and based on a novel by Michael Hartmann set during the Rhodesian Bush War.
It is the late 1970s, and smuggler David Swansey (Richard Harris) specialises in importing goods to war-torn Rhodesia, defying international sanctions imposed on the doomed nation. Swansey is eventually contracted by the Ian Smith administration to arrange an illicit purchase of American-made Iroquois helicopters for counter-insurgency operations against black African nationalists. However, word of his plan soon reaches the latter, who apply strong political pressure to kill the deal in its cradle – the aircraft shipment in question is impounded upon reaching neighbouring South-West Africa.
Meanwhile, one of the many indigenous guerrillas resisting the Rhodesian regime is Gideon Marunga (Roundtree), veteran combatant and reluctant participant in atrocities directed against unarmed civilians by his fellow insurgents. Marunga discovers that Swansey, with the aid of the Rhodesian Special Air Service and South African sympathizers, hopes to lead an armed raid on the airfield where the Iroquois are being temporarily held – with the intention of stealing them across the border into Rhodesia.
On the day of the assault, Marunga arrives at the airfield and stalls the attacking paratroops, while his accomplices succeed in destroying some of the helicopters. In the firefight which ensues he comes face to face with Swansey, and the two men subsequently share a weary moment of reflection on their stalemate. Both abruptly part ways; the smuggler permits his enemy to escape unarmed into the night.
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Wikipedia