In 1980, Operation Eagle Claw is aborted after a fatal helicopter crash, with the U.S. Delta Force evacuating to their C-130 transports. Among them is Captain Scott McCoy, who, against orders, rescues his wounded comrade, Peterson, from the burning helicopter before the team finally evacuates. McCoy expresses his disgust for the politicians and the military hierarchy that forced the mission to launch despite the risks, and announces his resignation.
Five years later, in 1985, a group of Lebanese terrorists hijack American Travelways Airlines Flight 282, a Boeing 707 flying from Cairo to New York City via Athens and Rome. Taking all 144 passengers and crew hostage on the Athens-Rome leg, the New World Revolutionary Organization, led by two terrorists named Abdul Rafai and Mustafa, force Captain Roger Campbell and his crew to fly the 707 to Beirut, where they make demands to the United States government that, if not met, will result in the death of all the hostages. During the crisis, they segregate the Jewish passengers from the Americans by forcing a reluctant flight purser of German heritage named Ingrid Harding to identify them. Another passenger, Catholic priest William O'Malley, joins the Jews in solidarity. Unbeknownst to the authorities, the Jewish hostages and O'Malley are then taken off the plane and transported to a militant-controlled area of Beirut, while a dozen additional henchmen are brought on board.
The flight departs for Algiers, where the terrorists release the female hostages and children. Meanwhile, Delta Force, led by Colonel Nick Alexander and a recalled-to-duty and newly promoted-to-Major McCoy are deployed to resolve the crisis.With the female and children hostages evacuated, they launch their assault, only to discover too late that there are additional hijackers on board. When the Delta Force blow their cover, Abdul kills a U.S. Navy Diver named Tom Hale. He then forces the pilots to return to Beirut and takes the remaining male passengers with him.
Upon returning to Beirut, the terrorists transport the passengers to a separate location, while the pilots and two male flight attendants remain in the 707. Working with a sympathetic Greek Orthodox priest, Israeli Army Intelligence prepares an operation to free the hostages. McCoy and Peterson are able to enter into Lebanon disguised as a Canadian television crew. In a prolonged campaign against the terrorists, the Delta Force bide their time to identify the terrorist leaders and locate the hostages. Once the hostages are located, Delta Force assaults the terrorist holdouts, freeing the hostages and evacuating them to the airport. During the battle, McCoy, Peterson, and their team hunt for Abdul and the Jewish hostages. They kill most of the militants but Abdul gravely injures Peterson and flees. While the commandos tend to Peterson, McCoy chases Abdul and tracks him down to a nearby abandoned home. He then engages him in a vicious hand-to-hand fight, breaking Abdul's arm. As the terrorist leader prepares to shoot McCoy, he is killed when McCoy launches a rocket into his car.
With the hostages and rescue teams secured, the team seizes Flight 282 by secretly infiltrating the airfield through a cotton plantation. Using silenced weapons, Alexander and the Delta team kill the terrorist guards and save the crew. They board the 707 with all of the hostages, taking off to Israel just as McCoy storms the runway on his motorcycle; managing to board after destroying several terrorist jeeps. On board, the team tends to the wounded passengers and the dying Peterson. After having confirmed the hostages are safe and en route home, Peterson says his farewells to McCoy before succumbing to his wounds. In the main cabin the ex-hostages and Delta commandos join in a rousing rendition of "America The Beautiful", not knowing about Peterson's death, except for Alexander, Bobby, McCoy, and O'Malley. In Israel, the Boeing 707 lands safely and the hostages are greeted by their families, while Delta Force disembarks with Peterson's body in tow to their C-130. The team concludes their operation and departs for the United States amidst celebrations by the people.
In 1985, it was announced that The Delta Force would be made with Chuck Norris and Charles Bronson co-starring and Joseph Zito directing.[5] The budget was to be $12 million.[6]
"We look at Chuck as having the potential of a Clint Eastwood," said Menahem Golan. "His acting talent is getting better. He's in the right style, and he's very popular."[7]
In response to the hijacking of TWA flight 847, Norris said the United States is becoming a "paper tiger" in the Middle East. "What we're facing here is the fact that our passive approach to terrorism is going to instigate much more terrorism throughout the world," he said, adding, "I would have sent the Delta Force immediately."[8]
"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," added Norris. "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."[7]
Bronson dropped out of the film due to his commitment to a project named Act of Vengeance (1986). August 1, 1985, Lee Marvin signed on as Bronson replacement. Also producer Menahem Golan replaced Zito for directorial duties.[5] Marvin said the film "shows the American audience a larger view of terrorism than they're used to seeing on the small screen and the news. There you see a plane at the end of the runway. But what's it like to be on a plane as the facilities deterioriate? It's bad enough on a seven-hour flight – imagine what the bathrooms are like after three or four days."[9]
"It is the first time that Chuck works with an ensemble of first-class actors," said Golan.[11]
Before the film came out Cannon signed a seven-picture contract with Norris.[12]
Filming
Filming started in October 1985. The Delta Force was entirely shot in Israel.[13] Pentagon scenes were shot at the GG Israel Studios facility near Jerusalem, owned by Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus.
The Athens, Beirut, Algiers, and Tel Aviv airport scenes were filmed at Ben Gurion International Airport and its military portion, Lod Air Base, although one Athens airport scene where an accomplice of the hijackers exits a taxi, was filmed at the eastern terminal of Ellinikon International Airport while the Athens airport concourse (interior) scenes were filmed in Ben Gurion's present-day Terminal 1 (then the main terminal). However, the scenes of Algiers Airport where Colonel Alexander meets with the flight purser and the US ambassador to Algeria was filmed in Atarot Airport, with the terminal dressed and decorated with Arabic and French signs to resemble Algiers.
Jaffa was used for scenes of the siege and hostage rescue in the Beirut countryside including midnight oceanic scenes.[14] The film's budget was $9 million.[2]
Vehicles
The Lockheed C-130H Hercules in the film actually belonged to the Israeli Air Force, registered as 89–9106. It was lent to the Golan-Globus company for filming after it was given a false registration, 14X-FBB and U.S. Air Force designs. Its lease arrangement was similar to Iron Eagle, wherein the United States Air Force refused to participate due to a long-standing policy about not cooperating on any film involving the theft of an aircraft, causing the filmmakers to turn to the Israeli Air Force for the necessary aerial sequences. The army vehicles for the military and terrorists came from the U.S. Army and Israel Defense Forces.
The Boeing 707-139(B) with the registration N778PA, was operated by several airlines including Olympic Airways, Aer Lingus, Saudia, Turkish Airlines, Pan American World Airways, which operated it as Clipper Skylark from 1962 to 1976. Prior to filming in 1985, the aircraft had been operated by Israeli charter-operator MAOF Air and was retired from commercial service in December 1984. The aircraft was then leased to Golan-Globus Productions in late 1985 while in storage at Tel Aviv (just after the TWA-847 hijacking) and repainted with the fake airline name "American Transworld Airlines" while retaining the MAOF livery, but later changed to "American Travelways Airlines" to avoid confusion and legal action. Upon completion of the film, it was sold to Jet Avionic Systems Incorporated on May 28, 1985. Aerocar Aviation acquired it in January 1986 and sold it to Boeing Military Aircraft Company on March 20, 1986, to be used as a source of spares for the Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker program. The U.S. Air Force acquired it later on and parted its vertical stabilizer and engines for the Boeing KC-135E Stratotanker. N778PA was destroyed by fire in a welding accident while in storage at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in 1992. Portions of the airframe may still exist.
The 1985 Suzuki SP600 motorcycle used by Chuck Norris was designed by Suzuki specifically for the film. After modifying it and adding the weaponry, Suzuki America gave the bike to Golan-Globus production in Israel prior to filming.
Historical resemblances
The film, although fiction, draws inspiration from two real-life events; the flight 847 hijacking and Operation Entebbe. Below are a key elements from both real-life and film.
TWA Flight 847
The hijacked TWA 847 took off from Athens on 14 June 1985; the film's ATW likewise departed Athens, on 19 July 1985.
The movie airline, American Travelways Airlines, is abbreviated as ATW, an anagram of Trans World Airlines. While the plane used is a Boeing 707, TWA used a Boeing 727 for flight 847.
Both airlines originated from Cairo, with stops in Athens and Rome. Unlike TWA 847 which has two more stopovers in Boston and Los Angeles before ending in San Diego, the film's flight terminates in New York.
Two terrorists hijack the flight; the third is arrested in Athens in both real-life and film.
The flight is managed by a German American flight purser, who is forced by the hijackers to segregate Jewish passengers from the non-Jews by identifying them through collected passports. Real-life flight attendant Uli Derickson, who was the purser of TWA Flight 847, served as the basis for Ingrid Harding, the film's purser.
Three U.S. Navy members are onboard the flight and are held hostage; one is shot and dumped off the plane into the tarmac. While this incident happened at night in both real-life and film, the latter depicts the setting as Algiers as opposed to Beirut in the former.
Additional henchmen board the plane along with the released hijacker.
Women and children are released; among them is a pregnant passenger.
Operation Entebbe
The hostage rescue scene when the commandos raid the terrorist quarters
A pregnant woman is on the flight. Unlike flight 847, this passenger is the first to be released after pretending to either go into labor or suffer miscarriage.
A single casualty among the rescuers, near the end of the operation.
Music
Alan Silvestri's electronic score gained a new life when ABC Sports used it to intro their Indianapolis 500 broadcasts from 1988–1998 and again in 2001. It was also used for the intro of the Brickyard 400 until ABC lost the race rights to NBC Sports in 2001. According to famous Indianapolis 500 anchor Paul Page, he does not want any ESPN/ABC anchor to use this music in intros for the Indianapolis 500 and Brickyard 400 unless he narrates the intros himself. It is now used on the XM Satellite broadcasts of IndyCar racing events, of which Paul Page is the announcer.[citation needed]
The soundtrack album was initially released by Enigma Records, and later by Milan Records (minus "The Rescue") on an album paired with Jerry Goldsmith's King Solomon's Mines; in 2008 Intrada Records issued a limited edition CD with the entire score. Quartet Records released a two-disc set in 2013 featuring the Intrada album programme on disc one and the Enigma album listing on disc two; all are now out of production.
Rotten Tomatoes, a review aggregator, reports as of September 2022 that 15% of 13 surveyed critics gave the film a positive review; the average rating is 4.1/10.[19] On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 37 out of 100, based on 9 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[20]Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun Times, gave it three out of four stars and called it "a well-made action film that tantalizes us with its parallels to real life."[4]Vincent Canby of The New York Times wrote that it "will be the 1986 film all others will have to beat for sheer, unashamed, hilariously vulgar vaingloriousness."[21]Variety described it as "an exercise in wish fulfillment for those who favor using force instead of diplomacy."[22]Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times wrote in his review: " ...of so big a project, The Delta Force is drawn out and complicated."[23]Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune gave the film one star out of four and called it "a prime example" of "second-rate action pictures" and added, "The action in Beirut is more appropriate for a bad James Bond film than for a subject that has been all too real lately. Norris gets off shooting rocket launchers from his specially built motorcycle, and we sit there stunned at the movie industry's ability to make money off any tragedy."[24]Paul Attanasio of The Washington Post called the film "one of those disaster movies that Hollywood was churning out 10 years ago," which "doesn't even deliver on its own sordid level. There isn't any action till 70 minutes into the film—and that's a pallid car chase, immediately deflated by composer Alan Silvestri's idiotic disco fanfare. After the car chase, it's another 30 minutes till you can watch Chuck do any karate."[25]
"I felt better after that film was made," said Norris. "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.[26]
Marvin did publicity for the film, which was rare for him. He said the movie was "a good flick" and admitted "but I guess I might be protecting myself, keeping the doors open" with Cannon. "There aren't too many firm film offers these days that guarantee money up front." Marvin was considering doing a sequel where Delta Force would rescue hostages after a terrorist skyjacking of a luxury liner.[27]
Cannon announced they would make a TV series.[28] This did not eventuate. However the film led to two sequels; Delta Force 2: The Colombian Connection in 1990 and Delta Force 3: The Killing Game in 1991.
Novelization
A novelization based on the film by Joel Norst titled The Delta Force, was released in 1986. [ISBNmissing]
1985 (MCMLXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1985th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 985th year of the 2nd millennium, the 85th year of the 20th century, and the 6th year of the 1980s decade.
This is a list of aviation-related events from 1985.
Ellinikon International Airport, sometimes spelled Hellinikon, was an international airport that served Athens, Greece, for 63 years. Following its closure on 28 March 2001, it was replaced in service by the new Athens International Airport Eleftherios Venizelos. The airport was located 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) south of Athens, and just west of Glyfada. It was named after the village of Elliniko, now a suburb of Athens. The airport had an official capacity of 11 million passengers per year, but served 13.5 million passengers during its last year of operations. A large portion of the site was converted into a stadium and sports facilities for the 2004 Olympic Games.
Robert Dean Stethem was a United States Navy Seabee diver who was murdered by Hezbollah members during the hijacking of the commercial airliner he was aboard, TWA Flight 847. At the time of his death, his Navy rating was Steelworker Second Class (SW2). He was posthumously promoted to Master Chief Constructionman (CUCM).
TWA Flight 847 was a regularly scheduled Trans World Airlines flight from Cairo to San Diego with en route stops in Athens, Rome, Boston, and Los Angeles. On the morning of June 14, 1985, Flight 847 was hijacked soon after take off from Athens. The hijackers demanded the release of 700 Shia Muslims from Israeli custody and took the plane repeatedly to Beirut and Algiers. Later Western analysis considered them members of the Hezbollah group, an allegation Hezbollah rejects.
In September 1970, members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) hijacked four airliners bound for New York City and one for London. Three aircraft were forced to land at Dawson's Field, a remote desert airstrip near Zarqa, Jordan, formerly Royal Air Force Station Zarqa, which then became PFLP's "Revolutionary Airport". By the end of the incident, one hijacker had been killed and one injury reported. This was the second instance of mass aircraft hijacking, after an escape from communist Czechoslovakia in 1950.
In December 1973, Fatah, a Palestinian military organization executed series of attacks originating at Rome-Fiumicino Airport in Italy which resulted in the deaths of 34 people. The attacks began with an airport-terminal invasion and hostage-taking, followed by the firebombing of a Pan Am aircraft and the hijacking of a Lufthansa flight.
Uli Derickson was a German American flight attendant best known for her role in helping protect 152 passengers and crew members during the June 14, 1985, hijacking of TWA Flight 847 by militants with alleged links to Hezbollah.
Sabena Flight 571 was a scheduled passenger flight from Brussels to Tel Aviv via Vienna, operated by the Belgian national airline, Sabena. On 8 May 1972, a Boeing 707 passenger aircraft operating that service, captained by British pilot Reginald Levy, DFC, was hijacked by four members of the Black September Organization, a Palestinian terrorist group. Following their instructions, Captain Levy landed the plane at Lod Airport. The hijackers demanded that Israel release Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the hostages. The standoff was ended by an Israeli commando raid in which all of the hijackers were killed or captured.
TWA Flight 840 was a Trans World Airlines flight from Leonardo da Vinci International Airport in Rome, Italy, to Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv, Israel, that was hijacked on 29 August 1969. There were no fatalities although at least two passengers were lightly wounded and the aircraft was significantly damaged. Two hostages were held for two months.
On September 8, 1974, a Boeing 707-331B operating as TWA Flight 841 from Tel Aviv to New York City via Athens and Rome crashed into the Ionian Sea, killing all aboard. The National Transportation Safety Board determined that the plane had been destroyed by a bomb hidden in the cargo hold. The detonation of the bomb destroyed the systems responsible for operating the plane's control surfaces, causing the plane to pitch up until it stalled and dove into the sea.
The Taking of Flight 847: The Uli Derickson Story is a 1988 American made-for-television drama film based on the actual hijacking of TWA Flight 847 as seen through the eyes of flight purser Uli Derickson, the chief flight attendant. Derickson herself acted as a consultant for the film. The film was directed by Paul Wendkos and showcases the first 48 hours of the hijacking until Derickson's liberation. The film premiered on NBC on May 2, 1988.
Events in the year 1969 in Israel.
Events in the year 1968 in Israel.
The hijacking of Lufthansa Flight 649 was an aircraft hijacking that took place between 22 and 23 February 1972. Eventually, all hostages on board the seized Boeing 747-230B were released when the West German government paid a ransom of US$5 million.
Benjamin Christian Zimmermann is an American pastor, former politician, retired United States Air Force pilot, and commercial pilot from Idaho. Zimmermann was a Republican member of the Idaho House of Representatives.
The 1973 Hellinikon International Airport attack was an attack at the Hellinikon International Airport at Athens, Greece. The two attackers were members of the Palestinian militant organization Black September. The militants used sub-machine guns and grenades against the passengers waiting in the passenger lounge. The attackers took hostages before they finally surrendered to the Greek police. It is believed that the gunmen wanted to hijack a plane, but they decided to attack when they were about to be searched by a Greek security inspector before boarding.
↑ Chuck Norris: A Hero Hazards Comedy: [ALL EDITIONS] By Mike McGrady. Newsday, Combined editions; Long Island, N.Y. [Long Island, N.Y]30 Nov 1986: 09.
↑ LEE MARVIN: THE 'FORCE' IS WITH HIM Beck, Marilyn. Philadelphia Daily News ]11 Feb 1986: 45.
↑ FOR CANNON FILMS, A MOVE INTO TELEVISION-SERIES LAND Ryan, Desmond. Philadelphia Inquirer; Philadelphia, Pa. [Philadelphia, Pa]06 Apr 1986: I.1.
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