Broken Makefile?

[Bjarne Wichmann Petersen]

I wanted to try out the VLC 0.2.73 on FreeBSD 4.3 but didn't get very far
though. Something is up with the Makefile.

$ make distclean
"Makefile", line 5: Need an operator
"Makefile", line 121: Missing dependency operator
"Makefile", line 123: Need an operator
"Makefile", line 125: Missing dependency operator
"Makefile", line 127: Need an operator
Error expanding embedded variable.

Removing eg. the '-' in line 5 just gives me another ton of errors:

$ make distclean
"Makefile.opts", line 92: Missing dependency operator
"Makefile.opts", line 95: Need an operator
"Makefile.opts", line 96: Missing dependency operator
"Makefile.opts", line 99: Need an operator
"Makefile.opts", line 100: Missing dependency operator
"Makefile.opts", line 103: Need an operator
"Makefile.opts", line 108: Missing dependency operator
"Makefile.opts", line 111: Need an operator
"Makefile.opts", line 113: Need an operator
"Makefile.opts", line 123: Missing dependency operator
"Makefile.opts", line 125: Need an operator
"Makefile.opts", line 143: Missing dependency operator
"Makefile.opts", line 145: Need an operator
"Makefile.opts", line 150: Missing dependency operator
"Makefile.opts", line 152: Need an operator
"Makefile.opts", line 164: Missing dependency operator
"Makefile.opts", line 166: Need an operator
"Makefile.opts", line 168: Missing dependency operator
"Makefile.opts", line 170: Need an operator
"Makefile.opts", line 173: Missing dependency operator
"Makefile.opts", line 176: Missing dependency operator
"Makefile.opts", line 178: Need an operator
"Makefile.opts", line 181: Missing dependency operator
"Makefile.opts", line 183: Missing dependency operator
"Makefile.opts", line 185: Need an operator
"Makefile.opts", line 187: Need an operator
"Makefile.opts", line 188: Need an operator
"Makefile.opts", line 191: Missing dependency operator
"Makefile.opts", line 193: Need an operator
"Makefile.opts", line 196: Missing dependency operator
"Makefile.opts", line 198: Need an operator
"Makefile.opts", line 201: Need an operator
"Makefile.opts", line 204: Missing dependency operator
"Makefile.opts", line 206: Need an operator
"Makefile.opts", line 221: Missing dependency operator
"Makefile.opts", line 223: Need an operator
"Makefile.opts", line 224: Missing dependency operator
"Makefile.opts", line 226: Need an operator
"Makefile.opts", line 227: Missing dependency operator
"Makefile.opts", line 229: Need an operator
"Makefile.opts", line 231: Need an operator
"Makefile.opts", line 232: Need an operator
"Makefile.opts", line 233: Need an operator
"Makefile.opts", line 238: Missing dependency operator
"Makefile.opts", line 240: Need an operator
"Makefile", line 121: Missing dependency operator
"Makefile", line 123: Need an operator
"Makefile", line 125: Missing dependency operator
"Makefile", line 127: Need an operator
"Makefile", line 129: Missing dependency operator
"Makefile", line 131: Need an operator
"Makefile", line 147: Missing dependency operator
"Makefile", line 149: Need an operator
"Makefile", line 150: Missing dependency operator
"Makefile", line 152: Need an operator
"Makefile", line 155: Need an operator
"Makefile", line 187: Missing dependency operator
"Makefile", line 189: Need an operator
"Makefile", line 191: Missing dependency operator
"Makefile", line 193: Need an operator
"Makefile", line 264: Missing dependency operator
"Makefile", line 273: Missing dependency operator
"Makefile", line 275: Need an operator
"Makefile", line 277: Need an operator
"Makefile", line 299: Missing dependency operator
"Makefile", line 305: Need an operator
"Makefile", line 308: Missing dependency operator
"Makefile", line 312: Need an operator
"Makefile", line 319: Missing dependency operator
"Makefile", line 322: Need an operator
"Makefile", line 324: Need an operator
Error expanding embedded variable.

Since I'm not really into C or programming I'm a "bit" in the dark here.
Any clues?

Bjarne