Perhaps even more of a truthful vision of egotistical, death-tripping madness than Klaus Kinski in his unforgettable portrayals in Fitzcarraldo and Aguirre, The Wrath of God, because Walker is ultimately, despite his Oliver North good looks and ramrod-straight, all-American posture, a pathetic man who’s born to lose.
— Jeremiah Hpp and Budd Wilkins (Slant Magazine)
Because the movie is ultimately — and for good reason — more interested in the present than the past, its fidelity to history is in some respects beside the point. If the real Walker was so popular in his day that a Broadway show was written about him, it’s logical enough that the movie makes him Time’s man of the year in 1857, and puts him on the covers of People and Newsweek as well. The mocking use of contemporary Latin pop music and other anachronistic details makes perfect sense in this context, because Walker’s grim sincerity is every bit as up-to-date as Ollie North’s.
— Jonathan Rosenbaum (The Chicago Reader)
Synopsis: William Walker and his mercenary corps enter Nicaragua in the middle of the 19th century in order to install a new government by a coup d'etat.