The Delta Force (1986) User Reviews

Delta Force commanded by Marvin and Norris is called into service to eliminate all terrorists on the jetliner

[ma-cortes · 6/10 · 16 July 2012]

¨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 .

"Please Don't Take My Daddy!"

[richardchatten · 5/10 · 13 December 2021]

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.

"Take 'Em Down"

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 3 May 2007]

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.

good for the first half, cheesy for the second

[shakey_jake53 · 26 June 2003]

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

Dumb action film – most of the enjoyment is purely unintentional.

[barnabyrudge · 4/10 · 31 August 2006]

Lee Marvin was one of the ultimate tough guys of the screen, but it rather sad to reflect upon his final film, The Delta Force. This patriotic, mind-numbing, unrealistic action flick is basically a wish-fulfilment fantasy – the kind of film that teenage boys just love, but people who value diplomacy and sensitivity find embarrassing to watch. The main problem is that this is not Marvin's film, but instead yet another in the sequence of Chuck Norris vehicles from the '80s. Norris might have been a martial arts master, but he is not a master of acting…. and in this one his wooden performance, coupled with the effortless manner with which he disposes of Middle Eastern terrorists, drags the film down to the level of gung-ho trash.

A plane from Athens to New York is hijacked by terrorists led by the fanatical Abdul (Robert Forster). The plane is diverted to Beirut, where its passengers find themselves at the mercy of their captors. The hijackers are unsettled when they learn that some of the passengers are Jews, and separate those with Jewish-sounding names from the other travellers. Meanwhile, politicians race to find a diplomatic solution to the hijacking but seem unable to come up with the answers. Eventually it becomes apparent that there is no hope of the situation being solved peacefully, so an anti-terrorist team known as the Delta Force are brought in to liberate the captives. The Delta Force is led by Major Scott McCoy (Norris) and Colonel Nick Alexander (Marvin). Their mission is two-fold – on one hand they must free those held on the plane, but they must also track down and rescue some other hostages who have been moved from the plane and are being held in secret locations around the city.

The first section of the film, in which the hijacking plot is covered, is quite intriguing. Some of it is a little overwrought, but at least the story progresses in a relatively believable, factual manner. When Norris and his Delta Force enter the story, things get significantly worse. The whole thing slips off into idiocy – culminating in a supremely silly finale in which Chuck wipes out bad guys with a missile-loaded motorbike. The film is underscored with Alan Silvestri's monotonous and irritating music, and directed with competence but indelicacy by Menahem Golan (half of the Golan-Globus production team who financed this, and countless other, inferior action flicks for Cannon in the '80s). The political angle of the film is not really worth mentioning – it doesn't do much for Middle Eastern-American relations, but the whole thing is so immature and simplistic that no-one could be seriously offended by it. Norris fans will probably like this, as they love to see their man kicking butt (and he does plenty of THAT in the film); Marvin fans will probably look on in disappointment as the man who redefined "tough" in films like Point Blank and The Dirty Dozen is reduced to cartoonish fantasy such as this.

This would never get made today.

[theskylabadventure · 6/10 · 4 March 2007]

As a product of the eighties (I had the misfortune to be born at the very beginning of them), I grew up on movies like this.

One has to wonder what went wrong. In the late sixties and seventies, America was putting out some of the best movies in the world. The reason for this, in my opinion, is that Americans (as a people) were suddenly not afraid of having faults. Vietnam and Nixon made America realise that it had a dark side, and this came through in its cinema. The results were some of the most palpable incarnations of the anti-hero ever put to film.

Alas, in the eighties, something changed. Suddenly, American heroes were not only invincible, but ethically flawless and totally righteous too. 'The Delta Force' is one of the pinnacles of the American hero movie.

In a nutshell, some evil Arab types take a plane full of innocent Jewish Americans and it's up to Chuck Norris and his crew of bad-ass GIs (all of whom sh*t stars and bleeds stripes, of course)to save the day. Watching it in the ultra-liberal, post-911 21st century, it's hard to believe this film even got made. It's so un-PC that it make Bill Hicks look like Porky Pig.

But here's the catch, it's so damn refreshing to see a piece of action cinema that serves no purpose but to entertain that 'The Delta Force' becomes a beautifully nostalgic piece of escapism that is hard to resist.

It is certainly a flawed film. The editor and director could sure have used a few lessons in pacing, notably around the totally extraneous character development scenes where we have it reinforced beyond any doubt that Jewish Americans are beyond reproach. However, one is more than willing to forgive this insult when presented with such testosterone-infested action sequences and cocksure pro-Americanism. It's one of those films that is so bad it's good.

'The Delta Force' is a movie that necessitates the disengagement of the brain and the full attention of the balls. If you have the capacity to do this, and overlook the fact that it is a disgraceful tool of American propaganda, you'll love it. I can just imagine this being George Bush's favourite movie...

Chuck Norris is, in many ways, the ultimate American hero; ruthless but virtuous, kind hearted yet bad-as-hell, the underdog yet the victor. After saving American soldiers from those nasty far-Easterners in the 'Missing in Action' series, Chuckie truly outdoes himself here. Taken with a large pinch of salt, or as a very shrewd satire (a la 'Team America'), 'The Delta Force' delivers in ways Bruckheimer and can only dream of.

America, F*ck Yeah!

[lee_a_scott · 3/10 · 21 July 2007]

I'm under the impression that this is one of Chuck Norris' better films – and if that's the case then I am in awe at how bad the bad ones must be! Anyway, ignoring the plot, acting, set pieces, etc I'd just like to focus on two things. First of all, the score for this film is outrageously awful in a great way. Tacky, intrusive, mood shattering and cack-handed, it really suits the film and is brilliantly rubbish. Secondly: a missile-firing motorbike doing needless wheelies all over the place, even when chasing after a plane, is clearly a work of genius and needs to be seen in more movies. Awesome. Chuck Norris…I salute you.

A very strong historical context

[haggar · 7/10 · 26 February 2005]

This movie should be seen for two reasons: it's one of the few action movies where the leading star does not "clean the table" all by him/herself. We see some teamwork, for a change. Sadly, Hollywood just can't stand that, for some reason, and so we will never see a movie such as this, everafter.

The second reason why it should be seen, is it describes quite accurately the horror that happened during the hijacking of the Trans World Airlines Flight 847 in June 1985. Jews divided by gentiles and torture and murder of a Navy diver, as well as the diversion to Beirout, Lebanon, are, sadly, all factual. I believe that it is important not to forget what terrorism is, important to whitewash history under a politically correct stream of demagogy.

Finally, I thought the pace of the movie was enjoyable, as well as seeing the terrorist's butt kicked.

Bhm Bhm Bhmmm Bhm Bhm Bhm (rest) Bhm Bhm Bhmmm Bhm Bhm Bhm Bhm Bhm Bhm

[Mr. OpEd · 4/10 · 5 August 2001]

Sorry, that's the best I could do to get Alan Silvestri's theme across. I saw the last part of this movie many moons ago and one of the reasons I thought it was soooooooooo bad was that insipid theme playing over and over and over again. It's a bright, peppy, we're-number-one theme, so it hardly works for all the death and destruction, but I'm sure Silvestri, one of Hollywood's most accomplished composers had nothing to do with this aural overkill; he composed a theme for one scene and the producers just kept placing the same theme EVERYWHERE in the movie where there's Delta Force action.

So last night, Delta Force comes on. In the mood for a bad movie, honey? Sure, she says. At first I'm surprised. It's not bad. In fact, it's quite promising. Robert Forster as an Arab terrorist? Enough character actors to make a disaster flick? Kim Delaney as a nun? Hanna Schygulla as a stewardess? The acting was good, the plotting tight, and there was actually some genuine tension.

Then the Delta Force arrives.

And so does that unstoppable theme music. Ah, this is the part where the movie gets bad. I was right! My memory hadn't been faulty. Phew. Open a window.

Poor Lee Marvin, looking tired, puffy, and letting his eyebrows do the acting in this, his last role. Norris isn't a bad actor, but come on man, get a hair cut and a shave. The clichés are so painful, I wished they'd shot this without anyone doing any talking at all. And even the most patriotic, flag-waving guy or gal will cringe at how noble and heroic and elite and superior our boys are compared to the sniveling, savage, sneaky Arabs; at the height of the action the Arabs come off as though they studied terrorism with the Ritz Brothers.

The fight between Forster and Norris is perhaps the highlight, but ends stupidly (Mr. Forster's terrorist is killed by a motorcycle-to-Mercedes missile, just like all the special forces use).

Rack this one up for the good guys

[sol1218 · 7/10 · 17 April 2004]

****SPOILERS**** "Delta Force" begins in the darkness of the Iranian desert at "Desert One" on April 25, 1980 with the disastrous attempt to rescue the US hostages in Teheran. The movie then goes ahead to the summer of 1985 where a passenger plane with some 200 persons, mostly Americans, is skyjacked on a flight from Rome to Athens. It's there where the Delta Force redeems itself from what happened to it that dark April morning five years before.

Based loosely on the TWA 847 skyjacking and brutal beating and murder of Navy diver Robert Stethem "Delta Force" takes some liberties on the historical facts of that event. Like the movies of WWII that were made to uplift the American public "Delta Force" far more succeeds then fails in it's message that it's was trying the bring to those here in the USA and elsewhere on Americas, as well as the free worlds, "War on Terrorism" back then in 1986.

Admittedly over-the-top heroics by the Delta Force especially Maj. McCoy & Col. Alexender Chuck Norris & Lee Marvin. Who I think is the real hero, in the movie and in what really happened in real life on that plane, is the planes German stewardess Ingrid, Hanna Schygulia. Ingrid in real life showed more courage, as well as kindness and humanity, under pressure from the terrorists on the plane then the whole Delta Force combined showed in the make believe of the skyjacking and phony action scenes in the film.

High tension and terror in the sky as well as on land as a passenger plane is skyjacked by a gang of Arab terrorists. The Terrorists are led by their leader Abdul,Robert Foster, who threatens to blow up the plane and passengers inside unless the Israelis releases hundreds of terrorist that they have incarcerated.

Trying to get the terrorists to let at least the women and children go free the Delta Force tries to storm the plane when it lands in Algeria for re-fueling. At the same time there's a new group of terrorist entering the plane to reinforce those that are already there.

Navy diver Pete Peterson, William Wallace, who was brutally beaten to the point where he was almost dead is shot in the head and dumped on the tarmac in retaliation of the Delta Force attempted rescue. It's when the plane lands in Beirut that the real action begins and it's there where the Delta force, with the help of Israeli commandos, save the day and in the end rack this one up for the good guys.

Heart pounding and effective movie about the good guys giving it back to the terrorist in a movie that was made some 15 years ahead of it's time, September 11, 2001, that shows if you mess with Uncle Sam you'll only get burned in the end. Chuck Norris & Lee Marvin are great as the Delta Force team-leaders in some of the most enthusiastic action scenes you've ever seen in a war movie since WWII. Lee Marvin looks too old for the role of a hard as nails Delta Force soldier, he was 62 at the time and looked like he was about 80, but his reputation as a tough guy easily made you overlook that fact. "Delta Force" was Lee's last movie.

Chuck Norris was at the top of his game with his martial arts fighting chopping up the terrorists and his unbelievable motorbike that has machine guns mounted on it and rocket launched from it's front engines and back exhaust, do they really have something like that in the US military? Chuck & Lee made the terrorists see what real red-blooded American hero's can really do when they gets really p**sed off.

George Kennedy was very good as Father O'Malley, one of the passengers on the plane, who showed the terrorists that his faith can withstand anything that they believe in any day of the week. There was so much "Ham Acting" on the plane it made the movie in spite of most of it's subjects political and religious feelings, Arab and Israeli, look treyfe, un-Kosher in Yiddish.

You just can't dislike "Delta Force" despite it's over-the-top and unbelievable heroics on the part of the good guys because you just can't help rooting for them. As for the terrorists their so bad and vicious in what they do in the movie and so unlikeable that even their mothers would have a hard time finding anything good to say about them.

The movie has a feel for that time, the 1980's, with the terrorist praising as well as having posters and pictures of the Ayatollah Khomeini who was the #1 enemy of America back in 1986, like Osama Bin-Laden is now. In fact it seems now after the tragic attacks of September 11, 2001 that the movie "Delta Force" has gotten re-discovered by thousands of movie fans who want to see the terrorists who engineered that assault on America get theirs even if it's only in the movies.

Big budget, ridiculous film

[revistajirafa · 2/10 · 8 February 2005]

There are many things about this film I don;t like, seems more like a right-wing propaganda vehicle than anything else.

While the photography is good, the script has terrible flaws....

No one would hijack a plane like these two Arabs....showing their weapons while still sitting down in their seats and then crossing the plane without watching their backs...

Mc Coy and company move around Beirut as if it were Malibu, one would expect a more guarded attitude....are the Americans moving around like this in Irak???? By the way, where are the people of Beirut?

Also, what are the chances of a terrorist group hiding hostages exactly across the street from where a spy has lived and worked all his life???

I could go on, but these samples show that little thought was put into this film.

Chuck loves Reader's Digest

[BandSAboutMovies · 8/10 · 17 March 2022]

Chuck Norris wasn't just a movie star by 1986. He wanted to shape foreign policy.

In an interview with the Sun Sentinel, he said, "What we're facing here is the fact that our passive approach to terrorism is going to instigate much more terrorism throughout the world. I would have sent the Delta Force immediately." He was responding to the hijacking of TWA Flight 847, which is directly referenced in this movie.

He was even more outspoken in an interview in the Toronto Star, stating: "I've been all over the world, and seeing the devastation that terrorism has done in Europe and the Middle East, I know eventually it's going to come here. It's just a matter of time. They're doing all this devastation in Europe now, and the next stepping stone is America and Canada. Being a free country, with the freedom of movement that we have, it's an open door policy for terrorism. It's like Khadafy said a few weeks ago. "If Reagan doesn't back off, I'm going to release my killer squads in America." And there's no doubt in my mind that he has them."

Woah, Chuck.

This was an attempt to make Norris the next Clint Eastwood - according to Cannon's Menahem Golan - and he was to be teamed with Cannon's other top star, Charles Bronson. The budget ended up being too high and we got Lee Marvin*, which isn't the worst substitution. I love that Cannon's pitch for this told theater owners to "START TO BUILD BIGGER THEATERS!!"

Operation Eagle Claw - a real life Delta Force mission, as well as the one that ruined Snake Eyes' face - is canceled after a fatal helicopter crash. As the Delta Force evacuates to their C-130 planes, Captain Scott McCoy (Norris) defies orders to rescue Peterson (William Wallace) from the wreckage of a burning copter. Safely on the transport out of Iran, McCoy speaks up, blaming politicians and the military top brass for forcing a mission that could never succeed onto his team and quits.

Five years later, Lebanese terrorists hijack American Travelways Airlines Flight 282, a flight filled with character actors like Bo Svenson, Shelley Winters, Joey Bishop, Martin Balsam, Lainie Kazan, George Kennedy and Kim Delaney. The scenes within the plane are harrowing as the terrorists - led by an Italian American Robert Forester as Abdul Rafai - split up the men from the women and children, as well as the Jewish people from other creeds. I kind of love that when thinking of this situation**, Lee Marvin's mind went scatological when he spoke to the Philadelphia Inquirer: "... imagine what the bathrooms are like after three or four days."

Of course, this time we get to win, as the Delta Force is made up of commander Colonel Nick Alexander (Marvin), Bobby (Steve James, moving up to the Cannon A squad!) and some of the finest fighting men that the U. S. government can plausibly deny.

Chuck would tell Newsday, "I felt better after that film was made. I did, I swear to God. I think it's a way for other people to release their tensions. I think it's good therapy."

Directed by Golan from a script that he co-wrote with James Bruner (Invasion U. S. A., P. O. W. The Escape), this film balances the jingoistic close where the passengers sing "God Bless America" while the Delta Force operatives solemnly mark the passing of several of their own. It's amazing that a movie in which Chuck Norris launches a missile off of his Suzuki SP600 can have such a moment of quiet reflection.

*Chuck would tell Black Belt, "It was a privilege to work with Lee Marvin. He was an incredible guy, a real macho guy. He was known for criticizing everybody-all his co-stars-and he never said nice things. Then they interviewed him right after we did Delta Force and asked him about me. He said: "I liked him. He was a cool guy." So I thought, "Thank goodness.""

**It was not a fun movie to make for these character actors. Temperatures went over a hundred degrees Fahrenheit in the plane and Shelly Winters told Golan "I can't do this, I'll die." He replied, "Do it and then die."

Breaks too many Hollywood rules to have a chance with most critics

[paul_pooty · 7/10 · 8 April 2005]

Many here have called the Delta Force silly jingoistic propaganda, naive, mindless, one-sided, etc. Showing American soldiers beating the bad guys and freeing the oppressed is frowned upon in artsy filmloving circles, and I can appreciate that point of view. So why do the same people who call the Delta Force stupid garbage jump for joy at Tom Hanks or Dustin Hoffman drooling and babbling in Forrest Gump/Rain Man (which prefers insulting the mentally handicapped rather than illuminating their plight)? Or cheer endlessly at Hilary Swank dully portraying tomboys? Clint Eastwood was sneered at by the AMPAS and Hollywood Left for his adventurous westerns until he gradually weaned himself towards antiwar themes and finally, feminist euthanasia (???!!!) Some surprise that Chuck Norris karateying PLO hijackers with the help of Israeli commandos and Lee Marvin wasn't warmly received by the media and academia. To sum up, the key rules of the Limousine Liberals that the Delta Force violates is:

1. Movies about terrorists are perfectly acceptable as long as they're not from the Middle East. So that leaves the no less evil but somewhat rarer Tim McVeigh and Neo Nazi Skinheads breed.

2. If rule #1 is for any reason violated, at least communicate to viewers the legitimate grievances of the insurgents, rebels, guerillas, freedom fighters (never "terrorists"). See the episode of the West Wing immediately following 9/11--in which schoolchildren are told that the Arab street is basically a counterpart to American inner-city ghettos where teens are drawn to gangs because of the sense of pride and inclusion they provide amidst a place of poverty and racial injustice--for reference.

3. It will be a wonderful day when schools have all the money they need and the military has to hold a bake sale to buy motorcycles with hellfire missiles and rearward-firing mortars.

4. For every 2 minutes of martial arts action, at least 1/2 hour must be devoted to preaching nonviolence and respect for law and order. Or only 15 minutes if in the form of a Miyagi-style oriental wisdom scene. Norris finally got the message by Walker, Texas Ranger.

Not that this film is totally without appealing elements to those who didn't vote for Bush/Cheney or Ariel Sharon. An especially blue-state friendly cast was prominent in several of the passenger sequences, which one IMDb reviewer amusingly described as an episode of the Love Boat gone terribly wrong. I myself was waiting for Gopher to pop out at any moment! My girlfriend and I have a deal where for every 80s macho movie she sits through, I have to watch 1 hour of Lifetime, 1 episode of Gilmore Girls, and her Friday night movie pick, usually something with Meryl Streep or Sally Field. I'm still deciding which is worse, that or being hijacked by Abdul and Mustafa!

To bad you can't give less than a 1/10

[mehdimarechal · 1/10 · 29 March 2007]

This is probably one of the worst movies I have ever seen! Not only is it extremely unrealistic and stupid, it is blatantly racist. Never have I seen such a stereotyping, disgraceful and racist depiction of Arabs in a film. The story can be summarized as follows: "Ethical superior and righteous American heroes save peacefull and perpetual-victimized Israelis from totalitarian and terroristic Arabs". The dialogue in which an evil looking Arab terrorist argues that the Nazi's have not killed enough Jews is depressing, and it is surely one of the reasons why this film is cited in the book "Reel bad Arabs: How Hollywood vilifies a people". It is imperative to mention that this film was directed by a die-hard Zionist and hardliner who undoubtedly uses this film to evaporate his deeply rooted hatred for Arabs. As such this action-flick is nothing more than a vehicle for Right-wing Zionist propaganda. The sad thing however is that whole generations of American and European kids have watched this film, and that it has in a way surely formed their views on "Arabs" in the early stages of their lives. It that way the film has maybe reached it's goal. Another real sad thing for me was to see Fassbinder's muse Hanna Schygulla (who starred in some of his masterpieces like "Die ehe der Maria Braun" and "Lili Marleen") in a minor role in this film. I can only hope she needed the money to pay the rent of her villa...

Norris' best Golan-Globus effort

[Wizard-8 · 30 May 2004]

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.

Generally a mess

[dangkoen · 2/10 · 25 October 2014]

This film... It is difficult to describe it. It starts out fairly well, despite some hokey acting (which continues throughout the movie). Based on a true story, a Boeing 707 is hijacked by Lebanese terrorists.

The first act features interactions between the terrorists & their hostages. It is actually quite tense, and some of the uneven acting already mentioned earlier wasn't really distracting.

In the second half however, the film falls apart. After the terrorists take the hostages away from the plane to a secure location, the Delta Force tracks the terrorists down. At this point the film turns into an overly patriotic fantasy, which bares no resemblance to the actual outcome of the events the film is loosely based on. I personally really cringed when members of the Delta Force put the US logos on their uniforms & the filmmakers made sure we saw a nice close-up of the emblems.

No real surprise a lot of people are very offended how this movie twisted a lot of the events just for the sake of entertainment and to make some bucks. Some movies can be forgiven for taking liberties with historical context, but in this case it's just not excusable.

"Delta Force" is a film that shouldn't have been made & is not recommendable. Avoid at all costs.

Since Norris is on his motorcycle, the action is intense, sweaty, and fast..

[Nazi_Fighter_David · 7/10 · 25 January 2004]

Few countries in the world have not suffered from terrorist violence over the past three decades... Domestic and international terrorism is now at the top of the agenda for most nations...

Experts agree that there is almost always a strategy behind terrorist actions... Whether it takes the form of bombings, shootings, hijackings, or assassinations... Terrorism is neither random, spontaneous, nor blind; it is a deliberate use of violence against civilians for political or religious ends...

Terrorist acts are often deliberately spectacular, designed to rattle and influence a wide audience, beyond the victims of the violence itself... The point is as Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said at the Pentagon one day: "Terrorism must be vigorously opposed and soundly defeated wherever it exists."

The Delta Force was secretly created in October 1977 by US Army colonel Charles Beckwith in direct response to numerous, well-publicized terrorist incidents that occurred in the 1970s.

The number of terrorism attacks was at its highest in mid-1980s... Palestinians have long been associated with terrorism, including suicide bombings against Western targets and kidnappings in war-torn Lebanon during the 1980s...

Menahem Golan's 'The Delta Force' is inspired by the 1985 hijacking of TWA, which featured the famous footage of the plane's pilot leaning out of the cockpit with a gun to his head... The film opens with two fanatic terrorists taking over an American airliner bound from Athens to Rome and New York, diverting it to Beirut...

With no other option, the Pentagon decides to send the 'Delta Force' into the area for an emergency rescue operation...

Colonel Alexander (Marvin) is given the go ahead, and his elite team - specialized in rapid infantry assault, night fighting and airfield seizure - led by Major McCoy (Norris) energetically meets the terrorists...

Since Chuck Norris is on his motorcycle, the action is intense, sweaty, and fast...

Good action movie

[wlmlbl · 5/10 · 17 October 2002]

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.

For all you propaganda theorists....

[mmjd01 · 7/10 · 29 March 2011]

yes, its based on the TWA Flight 847 was an international Trans World Airlines flight which was hijacked by Lebanese Shia Extremists, later identified as members of Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad, on Friday morning, June 14, 1985, after originally taking off from Cairo, Egypt. The flight was en route from Athens, Greece to Rome, Italy, from where it was scheduled to travel on to London. The aircraft with its passengers and crew endured a three-day intercontinental ordeal during which passengers were threatened and some beaten. Passengers with Jewish-sounding names were moved apart from the others, and another passenger, U.S. Navy diver Robert Dean Stethem, was tortured and murdered, his body unceremoniously thrown onto the tarmac. Dozens of passengers were held hostage over the next two weeks, until released by their captors after some of their demands were met.

The initial demands of the hijackers included: the release of the "Kuwait 17," those involved in the bombing of the U.S. embassy in Kuwait. the release of all 766 mainly Lebanese Shias transferred to Israel in conjunction with Israel's immediate withdrawal from Lebanon;(a pullout had been underway since January and was already virtually complete) international condemnation of Israel and the United States. and condemnation of the March 8, 1985, car bombing in the Beirut suburb of Bir al Abed earlier that year.The Greek government released the accomplice Ali Atwa and in exchange the hijackers released eight Greek citizens, including Greek pop singer Demis Roussos.

The iconic image of this hijacking was a photograph showing a gun being held to the pilot's head (sticking out of the cockpit window) as the pilot is being questioned by reporters, but it was actually an unloaded gun held by a teenaged security guard who wanted to be on television.

Flight attendant Uli Derickson was widely credited with calming the hijackers and saving the lives of many passengers. Because her German was the only common language with the hijackers, who spoke poor English, she acted as translator and liaison for most of the ordeal.Notably, she defused a tense situation in Algiers when airport officials refused to refuel the plane without payment by offering her own Shell Oil credit card, which was used to charge about $5,500 for 6,000 gallons of jet fuel, for which she later was reimbursed.She also hid the passports of Jewish passengers so they could not be singled out. This was taken directly from the FAQ section of The Delta Force.

My take on this movie is: hey it's a Chuck Norris film. With the addition of a great cast, I thought it nicely done with the exception of some action sequences that looked fake. The story line moved along, retelling of this historical event. If you like Chuck Norris and Lee Marvin, then you will not be disappointed.

A strong contender for "most embarrassing action film ever made"

[Dan-56 · 1/10 · 21 April 1999]

Starts off as a rather awkwardly earnest documentary-style re-creation of a hijacking and switches half way through into low-budget Bondery. Full of big 80s style explosions (with lots of petrol), bad 70s hair styles (five years too late) and small-minded stereotypes of Muslims. Chuck Norris runs the gamut of acting skills from A to A and Lee Marvin proves he can be a hack actor in the 80s as well as the 70s.

Another reviewer wrote that "Chuck Norris paved the way for Stephen Seagal". Perhaps if you view that as a recommendation you'll like this - otherwise steer well clear.

Norris More Subdued With All-Star Cast

[CitizenCaine · 6/10 · 21 February 2004]

Menahem Golan directs this terrorist thriller with an all-star cast that surely has seen better days: Martin Balsam, Joey Bishop, Lainie Kazan, George Kennedy, Susan Strasberg, Bo Svenson, Robert Vaughn, Shelley Winters, and a young Kim Delaney as a nun. A big surprise is finding the German actress Hanna Schygulla in this film, but she does have a pivotal role as the head stewardess. Chuck Norris is the man that gets the job done, opening up a can of W.A. for those nasty terrorists. Norris does a lot better when he's a part of a larger cast like this; because, his acting talent is not enough to carry a film by itself. The first half of the film is an exciting account of a terrorist hijacking aboard a plane, characters being introduced, and the illustration of the surrounding tension that would exist during such an encounter. Robert Forster effectively plays the menacing terrorist leader. The film deteriorates a bit in the second half when Norris, along with his commander Lee Marvin (in his very last film role), enter the scene. Marvin lends an aura of credibility to whatever role he plays and there's no exception here. He balances Norris' bravado nicely, limiting Norris' usual one man army routine to a few scenes. The action is good, but turns cartoon-like somewhat with Norris so that any tension the film establishes in the first half dissipates in the second half. The soundtrack is annoying with the repetitive synthesizer, typical of 1980's television. Still the film is consistently entertaining, and it is one of Chuck Norris' better films. **1/2 of 4 stars.

Amer-Israeli propaganda

[cutter-12 · 3/10 · 21 March 1999]

A somewhat authentic opening depicting a terrorist hijacking of a passenger jet that gets more and more incredulous with each subsequent frame. Typical American Jingoism (with a lil help from Israel) and Norris action fantasy with really no redeeming value. Fun to see Lee Marvin still kicking butt in a movie made near the end of his career though.

The old familiar faces playing the hostages give the film an "Airport'86" feeling too which kind of detracts from the drama of the moment. Robert Forster does a pretty good turn as the head terrorist though and the music has it's moments albeit it's a little repetitive. Watchable but nowhere near credible.

Classic

[mattcarey10 · 10/10 · 12 February 2006]

A classic 80's action film, with a mind blowing cast. Definitely Chuck Norris's best film, and maybe his best performance. I think the fact that he was working with such a big cast, his performance was rather inspired, the actors probably would've given him tips to make his acting better maybe. Lee Marvin's last film, but a film u will always remember him by. Good to see other famous old timers like martin balsam, Shelley winters, George Kennedy and Robert Vaughn. Robert Forster is suburb as the villain of the film. Steve James is also one of the greats, who sadly died, 7 years after the film. Its got a great background score, that although at times is repetitive, is never annoying and always raises spirits. In a way a think the film is a tribute to Lee Marvin, he is a class act at playing tough guys, and his final performance of his life, shows that. The final seen where they arrive back in Israel, is very emotional and when u see the friendship between Norris and Marvin as they take off, and then u have the classic music to go with it. An All time classic.

Realistic and Tense Beginning Followed by Clichés

[claudio_carvalho · 6/10 · 6 September 2016]

When the terrorists Abdul Rafai (Robert Foster) and Mustafa (David Menahem) hijack a Boeing 707 in Athenas with 144 passengers and crew, they use a grenade to force Captain Campbell (Bo Svenson) to fly to Beirut, Lebanon, instead of to Rome and New York. Meanwhile the Delta Force commanded by Colonel Nick Alexander (Lee Marvin) and Major McCoy (Chuck Norris) are assigned to resolve the situation. Abdul and Mustafa separate the Jewish and Marine passengers and they are transported to Beirut, while twelve other terrorists embark on board. Then they fly to Algiers, where the women and children are released. McCoy and the Delta Force team are prepared to attack the plane when Alexander learns that there are now fourteen terrorists on board and not only two, and he aborts the mission. Abdul kills a Marine and returns to Beirut with the male passengers on board. Now the Delta Force needs to act in two locations crowded of terrorists to release the hostages. Will they succeed?

"The Delta Force" is an action film with great cast with a realistic and tense beginning, with the terrorist action to take the airplane. Unfortunately when the Delta Force arrives, the film turns to a collection of clichés with overoptimistic patriotic attitudes and annoying music score and funny like "The Expendables" franchise. Menahem Golan lost the chance of making a great film, preferring the propaganda and a cheesy "dramatic" conclusion. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Commando Delta" ("Delta Commando")

A fast-moving action flick. Cheesy and Americanized.

[vip_ebriega · 4/10 · 6 February 2007]

My Take: Cheesy, mindless and entertaining in a laughable manner.

After reading a couple of reviews and seeing it's neat-looking video cover, I decided to watch "The Delta Force".After watching, I didn't get all that I expected. Well, it does have the hard-hitting action, but it lacks the drama from the all-star supporting cast, including Martin Balsam, Shelley Winters, George Kennedy, Lainie Kazan and Susan Strasberg. I expected that since the film has an stellar supporting cast (like a disaster film), I expected it to have a dramatic turn. But since this is Hollywood, and it has Chuck Norris on top-billing, it just has to end with good ol' Chuck kicking some Lebanese terrorists' butt!

But as it turned out,"The Delta Force" is corny, cheesy 80's action entry with lots of cheese poured over it. Chuck Norris is not the one-army he usually is. He teams up with Lee Marvin, and the results are really compelling. The formula of two, although not always as effective as the Gibson-Glover partnership in "Lethal Weapon", is fun to look at. The first half is the only real thing you can take seriously as some of the depictions of hijacking, one-minded as it is, is actually frighteningly realistic. The second-half was all-out cheesy that it should come with crackers. Alan Silvestri completes the lunacy with his cheesy 80's score that you might find yourself humming after you see it. Don't be so surprised.

Rating: ** out of 5.