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

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.

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 actually filmmaking, having assembled an amazing 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 proved to be Lee Marvin's final motion picture and a timely one at that. Don't expect any answers to the complex geopolitical problems that are the Middle East, the film has just one answer in dealing with terrorists.

Marvin got second billed to Chuck Norris who was probably at his height as an action star when The Delta Force was made. Marvin is commander and Norris his executive officer of the United States Army's elite Delta Force called in to deal with problems like this hijacking when they arise.

Some Moslem terrorists hijack an American airliner leaving from Athens and do the things that terrorists are known to do. There are a large contingent of Jews on the plane and they look a lot like Hollywood celebrities such as Joey Bishop, Laine Kazan, Martin Balsam, Shelley Winters. One of the passengers is Catholic priest George Kennedy who plays, I kid you not, Father O'Malley. No, he doesn't sing Too-Ra-Loo- Ra-Loo-Ral, but he's a priest with the right stuff nonetheless. His is my favorite performance in the film.

The terrorists are led by Robert Forster and they do prove to be a resourceful group of fanatics, but still no match for The Delta Force.

Of course the film is simplistic, but sometimes the simple answers are the right ones. A lot of people have trouble wrapping their minds around the concept of evil. Make no mistake, the terrorists are evil and at a certain point there is only one thing to do with them.

Which The Delta Force does with zest and abandon.

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.