The Delta Force

THE DELTA FORCE is an odd movie. The first hour of the film is a well written and directed portrait of an airline highjacking. The music is tense and the performances are solid (especially Robert Forster as the head terrorist). Then, when Chuck and Lee show up, the film turns into a patriotic cheesefest where the delta force whips out the terrorists along to cheesy 80s patriotic pop music. The film definitely goes down from here. The director should've realized that the first half was tense and realistic and decided to keep it that way, even if they were going to have the delta force take out the terrorists. I really dont know why they changed the mood of the film so much, because if they had'nt, this could've been an excellent actioner. The second half is still somewhat enjoyable and very unintentionally funny, but those who think that the second half of the film would be as gripping as the first will be disappointed. 3/5

The second half of Lee Marvin's final film is given over to the stuntmen, special effects team and armourers.

Based on the 1985 hijacking of an American airliner, it's set mainly in Beirut but inevitably shot in Israel - described by Robert Vaughan as "America's best friend in the Middle East" - the dirty dozen this time round being twelve swarthy, sweaty, wild-eyed sadists and psychos under the command of a moustached Robert Forster during the career limbo from which Tarantino rescued him ten years later.

Although Marvin is billed below Chuck Norris it's basically an ensemble piece. Personally directed by Cannon's Menahim Golan himself, it's a triumph of his and Globus's organisation and showmanship rather than actual filmmaking; having assembled an extraordinary cast which includes George Kennedy as a priest called William O'Malley and Martin Balsam in a rare overtly Jewish role. As usual there's a glamorous blonde fraulein aboard, but as played by Hanna Schygulla in her only English-language role she's a stewardess rather than one of the hijackers.

The Delta Force is a fast-paced, enthralling action film featuring a top-notch cast, great action sequences, and a poignant story line. Chuck Norris and the immortal Lee Marvin headline as members of the elite Delta Force commando unit who are called in to rescue a hijacked airliner heading back to the U.S. from Israel. Cameos by such Hollywood legends as former Rat Packer Joey Bishop and Twelve Angry Men's Martin Balsam abound, as well as a good performance by Robert Forster as our megalomaniacal and stalwart Palestinian madman, Abdul.

Some, including a few on the IMDb, have labeled the villains stereotypical, but I would have to disagree. The terrorists' portrayals were right on target, and true to form. Palestinian terrorists obviously DO NOT like Israelis, or any Jewish people, for that matter. That's not stereotypical, that's the truth!

To see The Delta Force's inspiration, check out Irvin Kershner's Raid on Entebbe from 1977. Based on a true account of the Israeli special forces rescue of hostages at Entebbe Airport in Uganda, you will see eerie similarities.

Both films are highly recommended.

I have to admit I do love 'The Delta Force', perhaps because it was a favourite of mine as a child or maybe because it's sometimes relaxing to watch a flick which is very rigid in dividing people into black and white, good and evil, and the main focus is providing the audience with plenty of action.

Very loosely based on the true-life 1985 hijacking of TWA Flight 847, 'The Delta Force' sees an airliner bound for America being taken over by Palestinian terrorists, who demand the flight be diverted to Beirut. While the real life event led to the Israeli government being forced to release Islamic political prisoners to appease the hijackers, the hostages on this flight have Chuck Norris to sort everything out. As the hijackers are threatening to kill passengers, the US military send in the elite Delta Force, a team of highly-trained commando led by Colonel Alexander (Lee Marvin) and his second-in-command Major McCoy (Chuck), to retake the plane by force.

This is a film that won't win any prizes for being politically correct since the Islamic terrorists are blatantly depicted to have not one redeeming attribute and are instead nothing more than abusive, greedy thugs who think nothing of slapping around women and hitting old men. That said, surprisingly Hanna Schygulla and George Kennedy, in roles as an air hostess and priest respectively, do give good performances in portraying the idea that not all heroes show their might with guns and martial arts. And there is a saddening insight, until Chuck arrives on the scene, of what it is to be on a hijacked plane as loved ones are separated and people are left fearing for their life and the lives of their loved ones.

However, with Chuck Norris and Lee Marvin in the lead roles, it's obvious from the start that this will be a film primarily involving gung-ho behaviour and over-the-top action from the all-American heroes. Emotion is shoved to the side to make way for the guns, explosions and karate. My favourite example is a scene that sees two or three cars carrying terrorists armed to the teeth and ready for killing only to be stopped by Chuck, dressed in black on his motorbike with a brooding glare! That, and how our team are able to rescue one-hundred-forty-four people (some of whom are strewn across various areas of Buirut) with only two casualties lost on the good guys and Innocent's' team.

Overall though, this film can be quite enjoyable if not taking seriously and is instead treated like the Eighties action flick it is. And, in these post-September 11th times, there is something rather uplifting about the idea that there would be a crack team of specialists able to rescue hostages and shoot the bad guys without breaking a sweat. Certainly, it's almost haunting to reminisce of the days when hostages on-board hijacked planes only had to worry about was when they would get home for dinner rather than whether they panicking over the fear their plane is going to be rammed into a building, killing them and many others.

I used to watch THE DELTA FORCE all the time when I was a kid. Chuck Norris was my hero, the coolest guy in the world who could take on any threat single-handidly and come out out of the conflict without a drop of sweat. It isn't LAWRENCE OF ARABIA, but THE DELTA FORCE is a solid, well-made action film with a pretty standout cast of actors, with Robert Forster making a truely dispicable terrorist. The rapport between Norris and Lee Marvin, while not concentrated on that much, is good, and the action scenes deliver the kind of response people like to give when watching the good guys wipe out the bad guys with no mercy, the way it should be. It's all capped by an excellent climax in which Chuck unleashes revenge on Forster, which is both serious and funny at the same time because the guy never gets to lay a single blow on Chuck. (Maybe Osama Bin Laden will be meet a similar fate. :) ) Alan Silvestri's Synclavier score is fun, too, with a great main theme. It may not be a complete carbon copy of the 1985 TWA hijacking/standoff incident that inspired it, but it's incorporation of some of the real incidents from that event gives it some added realism. For anybody who wants to fantasize about scumbag terrorists getting what they deserve (especially after September 11th), THE DELTA FORCE is one for you.