The Delta Force (1986)

When evil terrorists have hijacked a passenger plane flying through Europe filled with mostly Americans and they're headed towards Beirut...who are you gonna call?  The Delta Force! 

Yup smack in the middle of a now legendary run of B-Grade genre films (Missing In Action, Breakin', Cobra), Cannon Films decided to make a statement with this star-studded political action thriller starring Chuck Norris (The Way of the Dragon, Code of Silence, Walker Texas Ranger) and the late, great Lee Marvin (Cat Ballou, The Dirty Dozen) who lead this titular elite squad of warriors to the rescue.  Not only that but one half of the Israeli producing duo which ran Cannon - Menahem Golan (Over the Top, Enter the Ninja, The Apple) - actually decided to direct it himself. ;) When first released amidst a true glut of military-themed action films in '86, this was only a middling success but since then, it has garned a devoted cult following thanks to it likely overqualifed cast filled with former Oscar-winners (Marvin, Martin Balsam, George Kennedy, Shelly Winters) and an EXTREMELY catchy theme song created by Alan Silvestri!  Well that and we get to see Norris' McCoy dispatch bad guys with missiles from his motorcycle....

Host: Geoff Gershon
Edited By Ella Gershon
Producer: Marlene Gershon  

Transcript

THE DELTA FORCE - 1986

Directed by Menahem Golan

Starring Chuck Norris, Lee Marvin, Robert Forster, Martin Balsam, Joey Bishop, Lainie Kazan, Hanna Schygulla, Susan Strasberg, Bo Svenson, Robert Vaughn, Shelley Winters, David Menachem, Steve James, William Wallace, Shaike Ophir, Uri Gavriel, Kim Delaney, Assi Dayan, Charles Grant, and George Kennedy 

Genre: Action Thriller (Audio clip)

I'm not ashamed to say that I enjoy the hell out of this movie. Yes it's shamelessly manipulative (often wrong-headed) propaganda for much of its runtime but sorry man....when we see Chuck Norris doing doing wheelies on his motorcycle, launching missiles at terrorists....Alan Silvestri theme music just kicks in, it's just a PURE fist-pump moment!

This was Lee Marvin's last film and having recently seen The Dirty Dozen for the first time and REALLY liking it, I have a new appreciation for the gravitas he brought to films like these - he doesn't have much to do in this but that's ok because it's just gratifying to see him doing what he does best, fighting for America (!)...and he's part of a surprisingly stacked veteran cast for B-level Cannon Film at the time including Martin Balsam, George Kennedy, Shelley Winters, Lanie Kazan, Joey Bishop, and in sadly....a somewhat embarrassingly miscast role as the mustache-twirling lead Palestinian terrorist, the late great Robert Forster who....you guess it, is decidedly NOT remotely Palestinian nor even from that part of the world. :o But crazily enough that's FOUR (count-em) Oscar-winners plus one future Oscar-nominee (Forster) - talk about overqualified....

Since seeing this on cable frequently as pre-teen, I always found its structure a bit strange - pretty much the entire first hour focuses on the actual hijacking (based on true events) of American airliner leaving Greece, we get to know the folks taken hostage much better than our action protagonists, the titular Delta Force. In retrospect, that kinda makes sense as most of the more veteran cast plays those hostages resulting in several stirring moments including Balsam playing a former concentration camp survivor being summoned to the front of the plane based on his Jewish surname. 

The terrorists are played as cartoons so the decks are stacked but these scenes generally work as well as they do just based on the chops from guys like Kennedy, who sadly also recently passed. Clearly that's more compelling than just watching Chuck Norris and crew hang out right? And yeah when the action really kicks in during the second half, that's when Norris delivers - he was never much of a compelling actor but it helped when he stayed in this lane, he pulls off the action very well.

It all leads to a rousing climax with a slightly bittersweet ending which lands for the most part thanks to some unusually effective silent acting on Norris’ part. 

Best Needledrop (best song cue or score used throughout runtime of film): 

Now ABOUT that theme music – yes it comes to us from New York City’s own composing LEGEND Alan Silvestri's and he delivered it smack between two more well-known scores for Back to the Future in ’85 AND previous episode Predator in ’87.  But I just find THIS one even catchier even though it’s QUITE repetitive.  This was a relatively low budget movie and you can tell that UNLIKE some of those aforementioned bigger films, Silvestri very likely had limited time in the studio with mainly a synthesizer – there are basically just THREE different alternating themes throughout, there’s MAYBE about twenty minutes of music total spread out and repeated over a 130 minute long movie.  And for me it’s probably best used around 70 minutes in during what is likely THE first major action sequence….we’re in Beirut where McCoy and William Wallace’s Pete are doing recon.  They’re waiting for their key Mossad contact to radio out some information – he’s a Greek Orthodox priest and he’s been caught….but NOT before he runs out to alert them and sacrifices himself.  And they’re off in a van followed about three vehicles of terrorists behind them in hot pursuit through the streets of Beirut…..it’s becomes increasingly ridiculous as these guys just SPRAY them with bullets, never hitting the tires nor the passengers….but when McCoy hangs out the side with his uzi, he NEVER misses.  I’m SURE there’s a Chuck Norris joke in there somewhere….regardless what SELLS it is the music.  (Audio clip)  

I’m pretty sure that we hear the OFFICIAL Delta Force theme repeated at least half a dozen times, especially during the second half and I just never get tired of it.  And I’m not the only one apparently as over the past forty years, it has been also been used for for sports broadcasts on television…..especially NASCAR and Formula One racing. Honestly that theme is probably what has kept this film going for me so many years later - it remains one of the best hero themes in movies and I completely get why it has now been an apparent staple.  (Audio clip) 

Wasted Talent (most under-utilized talent involved with film):

Even rewatching this now, it feels VERY much like the set-up for a franchise – we’re introduced to a few key players, there’s distinct theme music, and at the very end it’s abundantly clear that the remaining crew are set to go on more dangerous adventures.  And there WAS a sequel….four years later….directed by Chuck Norris’ brother Aaron….and it SUCKED.  But here’s the thing: half of the runtime is spent with McCoy mostly going solo so there’s real TEAM, there are no other returning cast members, the mission itself feels much akin to something the DEA or CIA would have done at the time, AND…..most egregiously, they DON’T bring back the theme song.  WHY?? Now to be fair by the time the sequel came out – Delta Force 2: The Colombian Connection – Cannon Films was already slowly dying after a few higher priced flops so I’m sure that resources were much more limited this time around.  And they DID hire a promising actor to play the main villain this time around…..Billy Drago who played Frank Nitti a few years prior in previous episode The Untouchables.  But not only is his character just not given that much to do but he’s hardly menacing either.  I actually had not watched ‘The Colombian Connection until last year – I put it off all of these years because I just had a bad feeling – and needless to say that when I finally saw it, it actually met my justifiably low expectations. (Audio clip)   

Trailer Moment (scene or moment that best describes this movie):

For this category, I will narrow this down to one dramatic highlight and one ACTION highlight.  As for the dramatic highlight…..it’s already part of what is sometimes an overtly manipulative scene but it works thanks to the acting talent involved.  And that talent would be the late, great Oscar-winner George Kennedy playing an upright Catholic priest named Father O’Malley.  As the terrorists on-board are separating the Jewish passengers from the rest….the Father makes his OWN kind of religious statement and what’s even better is that he UNDER-plays it – just a stirring moment. (Audio clip) 

As for the action highlight….well it has a LOT of competition as pretty much the last forty minutes of this film just feels like a series of rousing moments designed to get the audience cheering….and maybe if I had the opportunity to see this in a theater, I might have been cheering too! (Audio clip)  

But the one which had me CHEERING at home as a kid watching this on TV – and STILL cheering watching it decades later – occurs about 95 minutes in.  Now you could mark this as a strong assist for both Lee Marvin and Silvestri’s theme kicking into overdrive….but the goal belongs to CHUCK.  Now Mr. Norris was already forty-five at the time of filming and after more than a decade of martial arts insanity on-screen – INCLUDING fighting Bruce Lee one-on-one back in the ‘70’s – he was kind of slowing down from a martial arts standpoint.  In fact he has only ONE real fight in the entire film HOWEVER…..how’s THIS for an iconic Chuck Norris moment?  Lee Marvin’s Colonel shouts him down from a roof at the school housing those hostages…..only there’s no stairs or ladder.  Well McCoy takes it upon himself to rapel one-handed down a power cable and with the OTHER hand……he dispatches some goons coming right up the hill with an Uzi.  I KNOW there’s a Chuck Norris joke in there somewhere…. (Audio clip) 

MVP (person most responsible for the success of this film):

At the end of the day, I HAVE to give props to the director for pulling this whole genre hybrid together despite itself.  There are no shortage of bad performances and awkward shots – Norris’ stunt double for one thing WOW – but when the film is going for those BIG moments, most of them just LAND.  He lets the camera linger on Martin Balsam’s arm, he gives Joey Bishop that goofy monologue about Beirut, and he understands that as inexplicable as it might seem….it DOES look cool for a motorcycle to be able to launch rockets from the rear exhaust.  For delivering unabashedly entertaining B-grade pulp, Menahem Golan is the MVP. (Audio clip) 

Final Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5 

Happy 40th Anniversary to my favorite Chuck Norris vehicle! 

Streaming on YouTube, hoopla, Vix, plex, & Fawesome

And that ends another – CHUCK NORRIS ONCE MADE A HAPPY MEAL CRY…. review!  I have just always found that one funny…..