DELTA FORCE

US, 1986, 129 minutes, Colour.
Chuck Norris, Lee Marvin, Martin Balsam, Joey Bishop, Shelley Winters, Hanna Schygulla, Robert Forster, Lanie Kazan, Susan Strasberg, George Kennedy, Bo Svenson, Robert Vaughn.
Directed by Mehahem Golan.

Delta Force is a slam-bang action film. It was co-written by director Menahem Golan, the Israeli director co-founder of Canon Films and director of such films as Lepke, Over the Top and the successful film about the raid on Entebbe, Operation Thunderbolt. James Bruner, the other co-writer, wrote Chuck Norris's Missing in Action.

The film is something like Operation Thunderbolt Meets Airport. There are planeloads of Jewish and American tourists, taken prisoner in Beirut. The Delta Force, under the sturdy leadership of Chuck Norris and Lee Marvin, infiltrates Beirut and rescues the hostages - not without strikingly staged battles and deaths.

The film is part of the gung-ho tradition of film-making, especially strong in the later years of the Reagan administration - with the memory of the hostages in Teheran and Palestinian and Arab terrorism of the mid-'80s. There was a sequel with Norris (Lee Marvin having died in the meantime).

1. Action film? Based on historical happenings? Topical for the '80s? The gung-ho spirit of the film?

2. The work of Golan, his staging of action sequences, pace? Authentic, the Delta Force in action in Teheran, in Beirut? The plane flight, the hijack, action, airports? The Delta Force in Beirut? The rousing score? Effects and stunts?

3. The film as a piece of Americana, Reagan style? US assertiveness? The enemies of the US? Propaganda, patriotism? Action, commitment, the rescue of hostages? The Israeli perspective?

4. The Middle East in the mid-'80s, Israelis and Arabs? The situation, the film presenting or exploiting it? Diplomacy, action? The fate of hostages? Governments and terrorists?

5. The 1980 prologue, the Delta Force in action, Iran? Mc Coy and his heroism, the delay for Peterson (and the irony of Peterson's later death)? Nick Alexander and his command, abrasiveness? The suggestion of serious themes about military, terrorists, the American government?

6. The quick transition to 1985, the letting go of the serious themes and the focusing on the hostage situation? The rallying of the force, Mc Coy and Alexander working together? Training, skills?

7. The flight, the range of tourists (and the range of stars in their familiar roles)? The pilot, the crew? The hijacking? The experiencing of the hijacking? The fanatical terrorists? The women and children, their being held, released? The men, their being taken away and hidden in Beirut?

8. Espionage and surveillance? The plan, the attack, the American group of men still held, changes of plan, Alexander and Mc Coy working together?

9. The espionage and detective work? The orthodox priest, his help, information, the search - and the finding of the hostages?

10. The portrait of the hostages, the variety of personalities? The range of characters: Jewish, the Irish priest, the nun, the various Jewish people and their age? Interactions? The staff, their help?

11. The men, imprisoned, morale, their plans? The rescue?

12. Abdul as the fanatic villain? Political motivation, personal motivation? The infiltration of his group? Mc Coy and the convoy, Alexander and his going to Beirut? The pursuit of the plane?

13. The freeing of the hostages, going to the airport, Abdul's escape, the melodramatic action climax?

14. The success of the rescue? The Delta Force going back to base and preparing for further action?