Opération Thunderbolt : L'Esprit d'Entébbé

Not that I've seen all that many Israeli action movies, but it's definitely the bets one I've seen. Yes, this movie is dated. It relies on stereotypes and is full of cliches like the "oh-no!" quick-zoom. The dialogue is sometimes silly and there are a variety of flubs, both in continuity and historical accuracy. But, it's fun! From the music (which is so wonderfully 70's) to the memorably cheesy lines, and of course the sheer audacity of the mission that gives the movie its title, it all makes for an exciting and surprisingly emotional film. It's also the only film I know of where most scenes were shot twice so it could be released in two different languages. There is a Hebrew version out there (recently released on DVD, but hard to find) and an English version (first released on VHS and Beta in 1984, after which there may or may not have been a subsequent 1991 VHS re-release). And neither version is dubbed! Gotta love it.

Accurately historically, keeps the rhythm to the very end. Seems even better than the two other versions of it. I liked it very much. It was a good idea and implementation the usage of real video of Israeli leaders. The film describes the Operation Entebbe, which took place on the night of July 3 and early morning of July 4, 1976. Originally called Operation Thunderbolt by the Israeli military who planned it and carried it out, and it was subsequently renamed Operation Yonatan after the raid commander, Col. Yonatan "Yoni" Netanyahu, the only Israeli soldier to die in the raid. "Yoni" was the brother of the former Israeli primer minister Benjamin Netanyahu, of the Likud party. The Israeli singer and actor Yehoram Gaon played Col. Netanyahu and there is a good acting by the German actor Klaus Kinski as the leader of the terrorist gang. A good war film but more than that a must for those who like films on international affairs.

Mivtza Yehonatan (or as it is better known around the world, Entebbe Operation), in which the Israeli army managed to take over the Entebbe airport in Uganda, to free all hostages of the kidnapped Air France plane and to bring (almost) everybody home in one piece, is a story told a million times over, was made into a very bad Hollywood action movie and was used as the basis for countless B-movies. This version, however, is unique. To begin with, many of the key characters of the operation (Shimon Peres, Yitzhak Rabin and Yigal Alon, all of whom played key rolls in the decision making process of this operation) were acting as themselves. Secondly, the Israeli army actively participated in the making of the movie, thus making the level of realism higher than most other action movies ever made. Third, Yoram Globus, in his break-through movie (that opened the gates of big-time Hollywood for him) proves that he can direct a good action movie, based on a great story, and coming out on top of his game.

All in all, a great movie to watch.

9 out of 10 in my book-keeping.

While peace in the middle east seems as far away now as it did in 1949, you gotta hand it to em that they sure can still make a hell of a good movie.

While the actual operation of the 1976 rescue of the 100+ hostages held at Entebbe airport is not probed into as much with this film as with RAID ON ENTEBBE, this is the infinitely more fun one of the two to watch. Dov Seltzer's music is really the star with this film, particularly with the really cool opening theme which plays in many variations whenever Yoni is onscreen and the theme that plays at Entebbe airport whenever it shows the guards standing around, etc. The music works best during Yoni's death scene (this is no spoiler since the events of the film are historically accurate, and pretty well-known too) where it really takes his usual theme but drags it out to sound all tragic. Gotta love the ultra-70's style filming and editing. Lots of zoom-ins and odd use of models, stock footage, and stand-ins which is sometimes cheesy, but always entertaining in some way. It's all pretty standard stuff until the ending battle, which is handled in a very high-octane way as opposed to RAID ON ENTEBBE, where they did a lot of standing around and things tended to work out better (It would be more interesting to know which of the two is more historically accurate).

Klaus Kinski and Sybil Danning are the other stars here. Their problem though is that they are underused. Klaus doesn't act quite crazy enough (though he does a lot of running around and has a really cool death scene), and Sybil Danning's stunning unearthly beauty is not exploited enough, hidden behind poofy hair, bulky dress, and a large pair of sunglasses. One might be angry at watching this and not getting their full Kinski or Danning's-worth, but it's better than not having them here at all.

The authenticity involved in much of the rest of the film is amazing, with Rabin and Peres doing some acting (though they never speak, on-camera and the scenes where people are talking to them look suspiciously like they used doubles) and supposedly 12 of the original hostages returned to reprise their roles in this film. However, it goes out of its way to demonize the PLO, Che Guevaranians, and Idi Amin (though with him that's another story). Everything with the villains is a lot darker and more mean-spirited than in RAID ON ENTEBBE, but it all works to make this film more fun. Just take it as entertainment and not as fact, because of course it was the winners that made this. Just a fun and fast-paced little forgotten movie. Where's the DVD?

A decade before the infamous Cannon Group millions dollars craps of the eighties, hiring SylvesterStallone or the last Charles Bronson's movies, this movie speakS of the amazing performance of Sayaret Maktal ( Israeli special forces, the equivalent of SEALS or SAS) on Entebbe airport in 1976. Israeli movie industry could not ignore, neglect to make such a film, and Menahem Golan was the most bankable Israeli director on the international market at this time. It is efficient, never boring but nothing to do with what a director like Paul Greengrass could have done with this topic; remember his UNITED 93 or even CAPTAIN PHILIPS. And I also prefer Jose Padilla's feature made in 2017, showing the events from another angle. With also a unusual aesthetics approach, though the opening scene of OPERATION THUNDERBOLT is not bad either and could have inspired Padilla's film opening sequence too. Klaus Kinski is excellent here as one of the terrorists.