Raid sur Entebbe

This is an excellent made for TV movie which will cause even non-Jewish viewers to feel pride. The Isreali government assisted in the production of a similar movie, "Operation Thunderbolt" which is very accurate historically and should also be seen for comparison. That movie used actual Isreali soldiers and several survivors of the incident. "Raid on Entebbe" is a much smoother and more enjoyable production. The cast worked very well together. This was Peter Finch's last movie. Charles Bronson is at his best. An interesting blooper is that Yoni Netanyahu was a Lt. Colonel, but is shown in the uniform of a full Colonel. Don't let that ruin the movie for you, though, it should be in every historical and military collection.

An Air France flight is hijacked by the PFLP the plane has about 100 Jewish passengers. This is the true as well as exciting story of a daring Israeli commando assault on the Entebbe Airport in Uganda to free hostages of a terrorist hijacking . The plane is grounded in Uganda but Israelis would not negotiate . The movie then shows how less than 500 soldiers actually flew so far and rescued the passengers in one of the most successful Military operations in history. The implacable operation is executed by expert Israeli commandos , they carry out the rescue of passengers held hostage by terrorist at Uganda's Entebbe Airport in 1976 .

A compelling actioner all the more gripping because true . It is packed with thrills , action , drama , suspense and nice interpretations . All star cast gives fine acting as well as support cast , such as Martin Balsam , Horst Buchholz , John Saxon , Jack Warden , Sylvia Sidney , Robert Loggia , Eddie Constantine , David Opatoshu , Stephen Macht , and a young James Woods . Peter Finch's final acting role , he would receive a posthumous Emmy nomination just six months after winning his Oscar for Network . Special mention to actor Yaphet Kotto, he is awesome though overacting , he plays Ugandan President Idi Amin, Kotto is actually Jewish . As most of this film was shot at the Stockton Airport in California, it's very obvious that the production had the assistance of the California National Guard that has a facility there. The C-130's are all National Guard aircraft. their camouflage being very different from that of Israel. All of the vehicles were of national guard origin. The Flight Crew shown in the film, with the exception of the "pilot" -who was an extra- , were the actual 115th crew who flew the aircraft in the movie. The motion picture was professionally directed by Irvin Kershner.

The picture is well based on real events , they are the followings : Operation Entebbe was a mission carried out by commandos of the Israel Defense Forces (I(IDF) at Entebbe Airport in Uganda on 4 July 1976. A week earlier, on 27 June, an Air France plane with 248 passengers was hijacked, by members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the German Revolutionary Cells, and flown to Entebbe, the main airport of Uganda. The local government supported the hijackers and dictator Idi Amin personally welcomed them. The hijackers separated the Israelis and Jews from the larger group and forced them into another room. That afternoon, 47 non-Israeli hostages were released. The next day, 101 more non-Israeli hostages were allowed to leave on board an Air France aircraft. More than 100 Israeli and Jewish passengers, along with the non-Jewish pilot Captain Bacos, remained as hostages and were threatened with death .The IDF acted on intelligence provided by the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad. The hijackers threatened to kill the hostages if their prisoner release demands were not met. This threat led to the planning of the rescue operation. These plans included preparation for armed resistance from Ugandan military troops.The operation took place at night. Israeli transport planes carried 100 commandos over 2,500 miles (4,000 km) to Uganda for the rescue operation. The operation, which took a week of planning, lasted 90 minutes. 102 hostages were rescued. Five Israeli commandos were wounded and one, the unit commander, Lt. Col. Yonatan Netanyahu, was killed. All the hijackers, three hostages and 45 Ugandan soldiers were killed, and thirty Soviet-built MiG-17s and MiG-21s of Uganda's air force were destroyed. Kenyan sources supported Israel, and in the aftermath of the operation Idi Amin issued orders to retaliate and slaughter several hundred Kenyans present in Uganda. Operation Entebbe, which had the military codename Operation Thunderbolt, is sometimes referred to retroactively as Operation Jonathan in memory of the unit's leader, Yonatan Netanyahu. He was the older brother of Benjamin Netanyahu, the current Prime Minister of Israel. The narrator of the film states at the end of the film that it's unknown what happened to Dora Bloch -played by Sylvia Sidney-, who had been taken to the hospital. It was later learned that she was murdered in Kampala. Her remains were found outside of Kampala in 1979 and were flown to Israel for burial.

I watched the film last night and i would say it was a very good fact-based thriller. The story of a commando operation, to free hostages Built up the excitement and tension from start to finish, It was well acted and scripted, And being based on a true incident. Was very exciting.

Considering that this movie was made in 1977, surrounding events that happened not to long ago from then, I would certainly place it in a higher position than it currently is. With regards to authenticity, the Israeli and Mossad PR department seems to given full cooperation when it came to all the details surrounding the event because absolutely nothing seemed out of place in the sets. Every piece of equipment, uniform and aircraft were surprisingly authentic. All this would have been useless without a proper cast and the same is most certainly delivered. There isn't a lot of action until the climax but even the slower sequences will keep you gripped until that arrives. This movie is very detailed, realistic and authentic and would be classified as a must watch in my book.

Two made for television movies came out within a year of each other about this incident. Both were good films but this one seems a tad better due to the higher caliber of actors hired. The direction is also better as are the costumes and props used. However don't pass up the other "Victory at Entebbe."