The Delta Force (1986) Cannon/Action-Adventure RT: 128 minutes Rated R (language, strong violence, terrorism) Director: Menahem Golan Screenplay: Menahem Golan and James Bruner Music: Alan Silvestri Cinematography: David Gurfinkel Release date: February 14, 1986 (US) Cast: Chuck Norris, Lee Marvin, Martin Balsam, Joey Bishop, Robert Forster, Lainie Kazan, George Kennedy, Hanna Schygulla, Susan Strasberg, Bo Svenson, Robert Vaughn, Shelley Winters, William Wallace, Charles Floye, Steve James, Kim Delaney, Jerry Weinstock, Yehuda Efroni, Marvin Freedman, Bob Levit, Chelli Goldberg, Chris Ella, Jerry Lazarus, Natalie Roth, David Menahem, Jerry Hyman, Gael Lehrer, Hank Leininger, Howard Jackson, Eric Norris, Zipora Peled, Aaron Kaplan, Caroline Langford, Shai K. Ophir, Avi Loziah. Box Office: $17.7M (US)
Rating: ****
As I’m sure you can all tell, I’m a big fan of Chuck Norris’ action movies. I know he’s not the best actor, but he’s a dynamite martial artist. He kicks ass in a BIG way. If I had to choose my favorite Chuck movie, it would be Code of Silence. The Delta Force runs a very, VERY close second. It’s pure awesomeness. In it, Chuck takes on a group of Lebanese terrorists that have hijacked a plane. He’s a member of the Delta Force, an elite squad of Special Forces troops from the US Army. Directed by Cannon co-owner Menahem Golan (Enter the Ninja), he deftly combines tropes from action and disaster movies to create a truly exciting and entertaining popcorn movie. It could just as easily be called Airport ’85. George Kennedy is even along for the ride.
The Delta Force is a clear case of art imitating life. The events depicted in this actioner are based on real-life occurrences. It opens in April 1980 with the fatal aftermath of Operation Eagle Claw, a failed attempt to rescue the American hostages being held at the US Embassy in Tehran that ended with a helicopter crash in the desert. That’s where the factual ends and the fiction begins. After rescuing a fellow soldier from the burning wreckage against the orders of his commander Col. Nick Alexander (Marvin, The Dirty Dozen), Captain Scott McCoy (Norris, Missing in Action) resigns from the Delta Force in disgust. He’s had it with politicians and military brass launching ops that get his men killed.
Jump ahead five years to July ’85 when Lebanese terrorists hijack ATW Flight 282 out of Athens. This, of course, is based on the real-life hijacking of TWA Flight 847 out of Athens in July ’85. The terrorists led by Abdul Rifi (Forster, Jackie Brown) call themselves the New World Revolutionary Organization. They’re a pro-Khomeini group of extremists who aren’t afraid to die for their cause. He orders the pilot (Svenson, Heartbreak Ridge) to divert the plane to Beirut. He manages to alert ground control to their situation and they alert the authorities who contact the Pentagon. They call in the Delta Force to deal with the crisis. After seeing the news reports on TV, a retired McCoy rejoins the unit still under Alexander’s command. Newly promoted to major, McCoy hopes things turn out better this time.
The cast includes some pretty big names. The passenger manifest alone is a disaster movie lover’s dream come true. It includes Martin Balsam (Death Wish 3), Joey Bishop (Ocean’s 11), Shelley Winters (The Poseidon Adventure), Lainie Kazan (My Favorite Year), Susan Strasberg (Picnic) and, of course, Mr. Kennedy from all four Airport movies. This time, he plays a tough Catholic priest who stands up to the terrorists. The Delta Force also co-stars Robert Vaughn (The Magnificent Seven) as an Army general overseeing ops from the Pentagon, Hanna Schygulla (The Marriage of Maria Braun) as the flight purser, future NYPD star Kim Delaney as a nun and Steve James (American Ninja) as a member of the Delta Force.
Other true events depicted in The Delta Force are the murder of a US Navy diver by the terrorists, a press conference with the pilot while he has a gun pointed at his head and the purser (of German descent) being forced to go through all the passports and pick out the ones with Jewish-sounding names. All of this really happened. What didn’t happen was any of the stuff with Norris and Marvin. It’s pure revenge fantasy. Once the team arrives on the scene, The Delta Force kicks fully into action mode. Their dual objective, rescue the hostages and kill the terrorists. Sounds easy, doesn’t it? It is when you have bad asses like Norris, Marvin and James on the job.
In a movie like The Delta Force, the ending is a foregone conclusion. You know exactly who’s going to win in the end. However, the destination isn’t nearly as important as the journey itself. Oh boy, is it ever fun! Once it gets started, the movie retains a steady momentum and keeps the viewer interested even though it clocks in at slightly over two hours. Most entries in the action genre run about 90 minutes or so. Not all of them are as interesting as The Delta Force. The boys have really cool toys like motorcycles that fire rockets. How awesome is that?
Chuck delivers his usual performance, nothing new there. He gets off a good one-liner after shooting a terrorist that’s hiding under a bed- “Sleep tight, sucker.” Come on, you have to love that kind of macho dialogue. It’s a delight to see Marvin as the tough commanding officer. To me, it’s always great seeing old school action stars on the big screen. Sadly, this would be Marvin’s final film appearance; he died at 63 of a heart attack in August ’87.
Forster is an odd choice to play a Middle Eastern terrorist. The American actor is barely recognizable under all that dark makeup. Pro that he is, he pulls it off. Of course, Steve James is always a welcome presence. The late actor was always one of my favorite Cannon players. As for the all-star cast, I LOVE that aspect of The Delta Force. I love it because it reminds me of the disaster movies of the 70s. The poster even has small boxes containing the players’ face across the bottom.
As far as I’m concerned, The Delta Force is Cannon’s best movie. It was filmed in the director’s homeland of Israel, but you’d swear somebody snuck into Lebanon to get shots of the bombed-out ruins of what used to be “the Las Vegas of the Middle East”- i.e. Beirut. The action scenes are well-mounted, they ROCK HARD! Alan Silvestri’s electronic score gives them a nice boost. The Delta Force is the very definition of “kick-ass actioner”! I’ve heard some people complain it paints a negative portrait of Arabs. You know what, I’m not even going to dignify this by commenting on it. It’s an 80s action movie. Deal with it, PC Nazis!
The Delta Force works as grand entertainment in the tradition of classic actioners like The Guns of Navarone, The Dirty Dozen and Where Eagles Dare. The fact that Golan uses real life incidents as a springboard for the movie’s plot adds a dose of realism. Not only will it make you root for the good guys, it will make you appreciate the sacrifices our servicemen make in the name of freedom, democracy and the American way. Like every 80s action movie, The Delta Force is markedly jingoistic. I don’t mind; it’s a product of its time. It’s also FREAKING GREAT!
