Delta Force

¨Delta Force I¨ is based on a hijacking TWA plane and starred by an all-star-cast as Chuck Norris , Lee Marvin , George Kennedy , being professionally produced and directed by Menahen Golan from Cannon Productions along with Yoran Globus . Aircraft jetliner on its way from Athens to Rome and then to New York City is hijacked by Lebanese bad guys . But authorities don't negotiate with terrorists , they blow them away! as an America's special squadron led by Colonel Alexander (Lee Marvin's last film , role was originally intended for Charles Bronson) and Major Scott McCoy (Chuck Norris) take on terrorists . Delta force is charged with saving the passengers of a hijacked airliner who are transported from Greece to Middle East .

Standard action-packed picture , plenty of blow-up , derring-do and fast moving . The film has frenetic action , shoot'em up and spectacular set pieces and for that reason is fun . This is a straight-forward Action|Adventure|Drama|Thriller|War movie which is best described as Dirty Dozen in airport and based on the real-life hijacking of TWA Flight 847 on 14 June 1985 . It is tense and exciting , at time bemusing and with quite budget . Uneven picture , however being entertaining , amusing and never tiring . Extraordinary plethora of secondary actors such as Martin Balsam , Lainie Kazan , Joey Bishop , Shelley Winters , Robert Forster , Susan Strasberg , Bo Svenson , Robert Vaughan and Eric Norris ,Chuck Norris' real-life son, is seen as one of the U.S. Navy divers taken hostage . Exciting rescue climax but realized in cartoon style , to say the least , with spectacular but silly action scenes . The film was originally to be produced with the cooperation of Delta Force's real-life founder and original commanding officer, Col. Charles Beckwith ; the producers wanted to tell the story of Operation Eagle Claw, the failed attempt to rescue the American hostages from Iran in 1979, but they wanted to change the story so that Delta Force completed their mission successfully and Colonel Beckwith left the project in disgust . Atmospheric and functional cinematography by David Gurfinkel filmed in Ben-Gurion International Airport, Tel Aviv, West Bank ,Israel , Ellinikon Airport, Athens, Greece , GG Israel Studios, Jerusalem, Haifa, Israel , Washington, District of Columbia, Pentagon Exteriors . Commercial and catching musical score composed by means of synthesizer by Alan Silvestri including lively leitmotif whose theme was later used by ABC Sports for the opening of the Indy 500.

This Actioner movie with great loads of gun-play and explosion is followed by several sequels in comic-book similar style ; as it posteriorly continues with ¨Delta Force II operation stranglehold or Colombian connection ¨ in which Delta leader leads the brigade into Latin America to snuff out an elusive drug lord and starred by Chuck Norris, Richard Jaeckel, John P Ryan , Billy Drago and directed by his brother Aaron Norris . ¨Delta Force III the killing game¨ with the sons Hollywood's bigger stars : Eric Douglas , Nick Cassavetes , Mike Norris and directed by Sam Firstemberg ; ¨Delta Force : operation Ebola ¨ (1997) by Sam Firstemberg with Joe Lara , Jeff Fahey , Ernie Hudson , Frank Zagarino, Rob Stewart , Natasha Sutherland and many others . Furthermore , ¨Delta Force one : The lost patrol¨ by Joseph Zito with Gary Daniels , Mike Norris and Bentley Mitcum , ¨Operation Delta Force 2 Mayday¨ with Michael McGrady and directed by Yossi Wein , ¨Operation Delta Force 3: Clear Target¨ by Mark Roper with Jim Fitzpatrick , Bryan Genesse and Greg Collins ; plus ¨Operation Delta Force 4 : Deep Fault¨ with Gary Hudson , Johnny Messner , Greg Collins and Joe Lara , among others .

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.

This was an excellent action movie, and Chuck Norris does a great performance. This movie is based on a real hijacking that happened. The movie seemed to follow what actually happened aboard that TWA flight. The hijackers attempted to hold a press conference with the flight crew as hostages, with disasterous results. Yes, Lebanon at first refused to allow the hijacked plane to land at Beirut, and eventually permission was givin. The hijacked plane was refueled and flew on to Algiers. The only difference between the movie and what actually happened was the rescue. In actuality, the hostages were taken to Damascus, Syria, and released. It would have been great if it had happened the way the movie showed it, where a crack team of commandos were flown in to totally wipe out the terrorists. Still, the movie had great action, especially where Scott (Norris) beats up Abdul (Forster) and eventually blow him up in his limosine. Robert Forster did a great job acting as well.

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

Lee Marvin was already very ill when he appeared in this movie, and his grave condition sometimes shows onscreen. Still, he's able to give it all that he's got like in his previous films, and it's nice seeing that he went down still a tough guy. The rest of the movie proves to be just as surprisingly enjoyable. It does go on too long (125 minutes!), and there is not as much action as you may be expecting. But the drama portion of the movie proves to be compelling, and the few action scenes there are turn out to be exceedingly well done. Certainly no masterpiece, but it is entertaining. Fans of Norris and/or Marvin, however, should be warned that the two of them don't appear in as much of the movie as they may be expecting.