The Delta Force (1986)

Cannon Films specialised in B-pictures, and this is what comprised the majority of action lead Chuck Norris' career. He never really got the same A-list treatment as Stallone, Willis, Lundgren, or Van Damme, for which we can be grateful if you ask me. He's good for a cheesy laugh, but I've always felt he lacks charisma, has poor quality control, and is a bit of an ass in real life. 1986s The Delta Force however is different! For me it's the exception that proves the rule in a way.

A routine flight takes a turn for the worse when it's seized by Arab terrorists. They take the plane to their base in Lebanon with these new hostages in tow, singling out the Jewish passengers. The US government quickly gets word of the hijacking and assembles the crack Delta Force to save the day. Can they succeed?...

The Delta Force is an action film, based on the real events of only a few years prior. It takes a...few liberties with the story, as can be imagined when a real event is turned into a popcorn flick. The film got mixed reception on its release, and is still enjoyed by some to this day, for much the same reason. It's regarded as jingoistic, and unbelievable. Those who enjoy it though love it for its cheesiness, and unapologetic 80s style! Where do I fit in? In the middle. This is a film with issues, especially in hindsight, but it makes for an enjoyably ridiculous time!

Delta Force is a patience-testing 125 minutes, and has an interesting structure and tone. The first half comprises of the plane hijacking (the ordeal, per the tagline), and gradually setting up the drama. While the second half (the rescue) showcases the titular Delta Force as they singlehandedly demolish an entire chunk of Beirut and kill every last terrorist.

The first half is the film at its best. It's tense, fairly realistic, and is a pretty good depiction of a hijacking, especially little touches like the pasts of certain passengers, and the Jewish selections. Some moments can be a little impactful, but it's also frequently overwrought.

The second half is where the film diverges. We cut away from the POV of the passengers so quickly it's a bit jarring, and they're never featured the same way again as they were. The focus is now on this crack team of commandos. The realism of the first half is lost as we now see some of the most ridiculous action this side of Commando! Dune buggies and motorbikes equipped with machine guns and front and rear bazookas. Our heroes blast their way through Lebanon with nary a scratch.

I've read some call Delta Force disrespectful to the real events, and in some ways I can see. But to me the film comes off more like wish fulfillment. And it's really only the second half with fighting the terrorists where things go wildly 'off-book'.

The action in Delta Force is a highlight! Some might say it's stupid, I say it's fun! While it takes far too long to get going (75 minutes before the first real action scene, in-case you're wondering!), there's a nice variety of punch-ups, chases, and gunfights. The fanciful vehicles feel straight out of Megaforce, a kooky action flick that didn't do well, but must've provided inspiration to this. The rear rocket launchers for Chuck's motorbike at the end though does make it look like he's farting! We also get some weird sounding guns. Not sure if is realistic or silly, but kinda cool anyway.

The final duel between Chuck and the head terrorist is ridiculous, with the 'professional soldier' toying with his food basically. He shows up from afar on a hill, but as soon as Abdul raises his gun...Chuck's gone. Then he plows his bike through a window and they brawl within an abandoned house, before Chuck disappears again! He keeps doing this, before finally blowing the guy up. Pretty easy death for such a strong main villain.

The climax is a mix of chases and explosions, at the end of which Chuck manages to catch up to and board a moving plane. During all the fighting, astonishingly only one good guy dies! On the face of it this is ridiculous, but I suppose it show show well-trained they are, and it does sell the impact of this one life lost. The ending is pretty good. A bit cheesy when everyone sings America the Beautiful, but not drawn out, and has some emotional weight, as well as leaving us on a positive note when the families reunite.

The passengers are a varied and likeable bunch, with some nice interactions, in different ways. The Jewish ones get some of the best moments, as does priest Father O'Malley, who's a tough fella. The pilot gets some nice moments, as does the stewardess, although apparently some real life heroics of theirs are cut for the film. Still, they come out pretty well.

The terrorists make for ok villains, but lose their identity almost entirely during the back half, to the point where we can barely tell who being killed are random extras or main bad guys. There is one thing I noticed on my recent rewatch. Unless I'm mistaken, we see the terrorists hijack the plane and rattle off a lot of "Ve vill destroy ze Jews!"...but at no point do they ever make any demands! Pretty fundamental reason for hijacking a place to just leave out. Makes sense considering Israelis made this, and they couldn't explain the terrorists' motives without putting themselves in a terrible light.

The heroes are your typical US soldiers. Major McCoy retires in the prologue after seeing one too many pen-pushing bureaucrat screw up a mission by not letting the boys on the ground listen to their guts. He might do things his own way, but by god he gets them done, HOO-RAH! But events in the present lead to him saddling back up for duty...which was entirely expected by everyone else in the unit. It's led by Colonel Alexander. They're got a pretty cliched but nice relationship, with the Colonel acting as the gruff father figure to the perpetually late McCoy.

Now let's get into Delta Force's more...controversial side, if that's the right word-Its politics! On first glance this movie only seems political in the general way. Foreign terrorists threatening American liberty, etc. And in that regard it's honestly pretty inoffensive. Especially since this is based on true events, and little of what the hijackers do on the plane deviates from reality. We also get some humanisation from one (though this is forgotten entirely).

However, Cannon producers Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus are Israelis, and they took a much more hands-on role in the making of this film, directing and writing too. The film is even shot almost entirely on location in Israel. This immediately put a very biased slant of the film, and it's a little hard to overlook.

As for the treatment of Arabs, besides the aforementioned humanising, they're generically evil terrorists, ranting about Jews, Americans, infidels, etc. We never see any innocent civilians save for extras. What's really weird is something I only noticed on a rewatch-There are posters of the Ayatollah Khomeini everywhere! Ummm, ya getting countries mixed up there? ' Ah well, Persian, Arab, they're all brown aren't they?'. I'd say Delta Force just gets a pass just by the skin of its teeth. Little in the movie itself is outright bad, and only the behind-the-scenes info is a little suss.

The cast here is an impressive one. The passengers read like a Who's who of 60s-70s Hollywood royalty, and feels like one of the old all-star disaster films. An ageing Lee Marvin gets a juicy action role in what would be his last performance, going out on a high. He delivers his line with a positive gung-ho American flair.

The true lead is action 'star' and internet meme Chuck Norris, who acts as well as you could imagine. Looks the part, and gets some fun badass moments, though delivers some lines a little poorly. Usually I don't discuss an actor's political beliefs unless they're being a cunt. So let's dig in! Chuck Norris apparently butted heads with Marvin on set, and in promotion for the film sounds like a typical armchair general. If he was in charge he'd only need to 'send in the boys' and bing bang boom, problem solved! When in actuality if this b-list actor was somehow leading the Pentagon, he'd probably get every hostage and Delta Force member killed!

In a casting decision that might ruffle a few feathers these days, Robert Forster plays the lead terrorist, and he does a good job! I was surprised to learn it was him, because I had no idea the first time I saw this! The make-up team made him look convincingly Arabic. Not sure how he sounds though. I hear he had a language coach, but Hollywood actors say that a lot-It doesn't stop their accents from being shithouse. Much of the Arabs here are actually played by Israelis.

This is a great looking film, with Lebanese slums recreated decently. The cramped indoors of the plane are filmed well, and there are some pretty cotton fields in one scene (even if there apparently are no such fields in Lebanon).

And lastly, we come to the music. Prolific film composer Alan Silvestri does the score here, and it's a high point! Made with synthesisers, it's a silly but rousing tune. Even if it's not always played over the most appropriate of scenes, it's a great listen!...But there's a problem. This theme is played so many times! SO MANY! You will get so sick of it! In the climax alone it plays at least 3 times, then another over the credits. It must get around 20 replays? And as good a tune as it is there's really not a lot to it, which becomes more apparent on the 20th listen. The rest of the score is good, what little of it there is.

Overall, The Delta Force is a mixed bag of a movie, but it's worth at least one watch if you enjoy the old disaster ensembles, or cheesy 80s action. On either front this doesn't disappoint, and the film's messaging won't necessitate too much of a shower afterwards...

sit down, 1:01, pilot gun head, twin bazookas, 1:21, dawn motorbike