A Father's Revenge

Brian Dennehy comes to West Germany to rescue his Daughter from terrorists who have taken her hostage. Although short on action, the film moves at a rapid pace, as the desperate Dennehy enlists rather unorthodox methods for freeing his Daughter. Though not always logical, "Payback" a.k.a. "A Father's Revenge" is entertaining. The German locations add realism, and the acting is totally acceptable. Some of the accents are difficult to understand, but I guess that is the price for realism. The indifference of both the German and American Governments for dealing with terrorists is what eventually forces Dennehy to take action on his own. - MERK

Mr Pestalozzi, I gather you expected an exact copy of actual facts in a situation like this one. Guess what... it's a MOVIE. Entertainment. You give opinions about the roles, how well they are played, the story itself (what happens, not if in real life they are so, and the quality of the screenplay. Otherwise, keep reading History and watch documentaries. Not for you, definitely.

Like a great number of the more dutiful denizens of Dennehy county, I humbly consider his exciting 1988 offering from the charismatic, much loved character actor to be one of Dennehy's very best! This pacy, above average revenge thriller has angered patriarch, Paul Hobart (Brian Dennehy) desperately taking the law into his own hands when his only daughter, Karen (Helen Patton) is held hostage by increasingly murderous leftist terrorists in Frankfurt, Germany. Acting alongside the burly Dennehy is a juicy-looking, Joanna Cassidy, an oleaginous, Ron Silver, and, Anthony 'Callan' Valentine is on especially menacing, fleet-fisted form as stilleto cool, ex-SAS operative Vickers. Herzfeld's gritty, pulse-quickening drama 'A Father's Revenge' remains a compelling 80s Euro-thriller!!!! The darker than expected tone, moody cityscapes and sporadic brutality lend an additional gravitas to Herzfeld's gripping, far from humdrum 80s TV Movie! The agreeably synth heavy soundtrack is by notable German film composer, Klaus Doldinger.

A fundamentally dry political thriller TV movie programmer boasting fine performances and on-location (Germany) action. Nothing particularly gang-busters here, as it steers towards dramatic tension, verbose conversations and character pathos before going in all guns blazing for its climatic payoff.

Two American parents, Paul and Anne Hobart travel to Germany when their stewardess daughter is kidnapped by home grown terrorists. She along with other flight crew members are being used as bargaining tools for the release of two prisoners.

The script does go down a predictable path. The ins and outs of political red tape getting in the way. There's a good hour of built up frustration, hopelessness and ponderous talk which feels like it's going nowhere in spite of the urgency of situation. This kinda gave it a realistic and calculative approach, although not a exiting one. And the lack of progress and information eventually sees the father seek outside help (mercenaries) to rescue his daughter. This is when the script begins to question what lengths someone would go to see it through. To the point of pushing aside their own morals. Brian Dennehy is perfectly cast to bring that to the fold. But by this point, certain actions by high brass become questionable, especially the twist at the end although its sort of telegraphed in the early stages. Ron Silver and Joanna Cassidy provided solid support, yet Dennehy pretty much holds it together.

"You... are just means to an end".

I spent most of the film worrying that Brian Dennehy was about to drop dead from a heart attack. He's obviously a big man, but in this film he runs everywhere! Whether it be chasing terrorists through Frankfurt, or just running around outside while his wife discovers that their daughter has been kidnapped in Germany by a bunch of terrorists.

Don't get me wrong, Dennehy's a good actor and very convincing here, but this film spends a long long time getting around to tracking down the terrorist. Probably quite realistic in that sense, and I suppose the film does a good job of showing what a father would do in order to rescue his daughter, but I could have done with more rampaging and gunfights than folks standing around discussing the moral aspects of torture.

Quite frank(furt)ly, you might enjoy this film, but you'll have to condition yourself for a slow time, as most of the action happens in the last ten minutes. People rate this more highly than I do, and you might too, but I just needed a bit more morph to keep me going.