Runtime: An overlong 129 minutes
Directed by: Menahem Golan
Starring: Chuck Norris, Lee Marvin, many others
From: Cannon
Alan Silvestri’s all-timer of a score makes me want to run through a brick wall, it’s so epic & rousing!
There was no better time than now to revisit The Delta Force for the first time since long before I joined Letterboxd 13 (!) years ago. This is still one of the most famous films Chuck Norris ever did, it has the most distinguished cast, and is amazingly 80’s as only Cannon could deliver. That includes the topic of plane hijackings; the plot is loosely based on the 1985 hijacking of TWA Flight 847, along with a few details of Operation Entebbe.
I will NOT spend time discussing how the terrorists were Palestinians or how they segregated the Jewish passengers on the plane, or the numerous photos seen of the Ayatollah, or the line “Israel is America’s best friend in the Middle East” or other details for MANY blatant reasons. I can note that some now won’t like that the villains were Arabs (despite all the turmoil in the Middle East I recall as a kid in the 80’s and 90’s) or that their leader was non-Arabic Robert Forster, who at least did a swell job in making the role not as stereotypical as was probably on page. Plenty of time is spent on that sweaty airplane; while not everything the villains did was vile, most of their behavior was. The drama on the airplane is best described as “histrionics.”
The cast of familiar faces does help: Chuck, Forster, Lee Marvin, Joey Bishop, George Kennedy, Bo Svenson, Robert Vaughn, Shelley Winters, Lainie Kazan, Kim Delaney, Susan Strasberg, and Martin Balsam. There’s also Hanna Schygulla of Fassbinder and Bela Tarr fame who elevated a standard “heroic flight attendant” role. Heck, the titular Delta Force is so badass, Steve James is a key member (although as I always say, there needed to be more of his character) and three of the random background players in the group are Liam Neeson, Kevin Dillon, & Mykelti Williamson.
Most of the action is saved for the back half; those action beats thankfully delivered. Some moments are so OOT you might be reminded of Team America: World Police. Politics aside, a few times I giggled at the silliness on screen, whether it was s--- blowing up on screen or absurdly awesome deaths. To reiterate, the Alan Silvestri score-especially the motif-is tremendous and is an asset for the film. Heck, if the Marvel movies he scored had music like this, I’d actually want to watch those silly pictures!
The Delta Force was another nice way for me to tip my cap to the late Chuck Norris. The pushback on a Variety article concerning his politics was so strong, I shouldn’t have worried that much about that detail. Many people have noted him as a good, honorable dude (including a Letterboxd mutual that got to briefly meet him personally) so I was happy to finally discuss The Delta Force here. If I had any Budweiser on hand, at least one would have been cracked open during viewing…
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