as Richard Ed O'Neill as Terry Shane Rimmer as Dr. Oaks George Harris as Colonel Bobi David Schofield as Endean's Man Terence Rigby as Hackett Olu Jacobs as Immigration officer Alan Beckwith as Mercenary Jim Broadbent as Film Crew Production United Artists bought rights to the novel in 1974. Don Siegel was going to direct but did not like the screenplay. Abbey Mann wrote a new screenplay. Then Michael Cimino wrote another draft. Norman Jewison became attached as producer-director and Gary Devore rewrote the script. Jewison decided to produce, not direct, and looked for another director. Initially Jewison hired Michael Cimino to direct with Clint Eastwood and Nick Nolte starring, but he dropped out of the film in order to work on Heaven's Gate. John Irvin became director. Principal photography began on February 18, 1980. The opening Central American scene was filmed at the Miami Glider Port southwest of Miami, Florida. Later African country scenes were filmed in Belize City, Belize, and the surrounding area, since Irwin decided shooting the scenes in Africa in real-life would be too risky. The manually-turned swinging bridge shown during the attack is one of the largest of its kind in the world. The film features several weapons that were prominent in popular culture during the 1980s. The Uzi submachine guns used in the film (changed from the German Second World War vintage Schmeissers of the novel) were a mix of real Uzis and set-dressed Ingram MAC-10s. Shannon's grenade launcher, depicted in the promotional poster, dubbed the "XM-18" in the film, is a Manville gun – a design later used by the MM-1 grenade launcher. Shooting also took place in New York City and London. This was only the second international feature for director John Irvin, who previously worked as a documentary maker during the Vietnam War. He went on to direct stars such as Arnold Schwarzenegger (Raw Deal), Don Cheadle (Hamburger Hill) and Michael Caine (Shiner). Cinematographer Jack Cardiff had previously directed an account of mercenaries in Africa entitled Dark of the Sun. Composer Geoffrey Burgon concludes the film with A. E. Housman's Epitaph for an Army of Mercenaries sung over the end titles. Release Home media The Dogs of War was released to DVD by MGM Home Video on 20 November 2001 as a Region 1 widescreen DVD and later on by Twilight Time (under license from MGM) as a multiregion widescreen Blu-ray