The Delta Force is an action film produced by The Cannon Group in 1986 and directed by Menahem Golan.
After a plane is hijacked by terrorists, the Delta Force lead by Col. Alexander (Lee Marvin in his final film role) and Maj. McCoy (Chuck Norris) are deployed to solve the crisis.
The film got two sequels; Delta Force 2: The Colombian Connection in 1990 and Delta Force 3: The Killing Game in 1991.
Fans of IndyCar racing know the theme from this film for its use in ABC's broadcasts of the Indianapolis 500 from 1988-98 and again in 2001.
Not to be confused with Delta Farce.
This film has the examples of:
- Action Prologue: The Delta Force retreating after the Epic Fail that was Operation Eagle Claw
. Also a Downer Beginning. - Affably Evil: Captain Abdul Rafai and The Dragon, while both are ruthless and anti-Semitic terrorists who brutalizes the hostages if they rebel or their demands are not met, but only out of fanatical devotion to their cause as freedom fighters (despite moments of hypocrisy) and it's so that they prove a point about how serious they are and not because they really find pleasure in it, both show some Even Evil Has Standards moments including kindness towards a child hostage, care towards a Pregnant Hostage, being each a Noble Bigot despite their anti-Semitism, releasing the women and children once they land and finally Abdul's Villain Respect towards the purser for being brave. As lowdown dirty they are shown at times, also are shown to perceive their cause as righteous and good as much as America, have loved ones and comrades they are fighting for, are capable of being just as brave as the Delta Force soldiers and that they are not merely just one note villains who do evil things for the sake of evil.
- Attack! Attack... Retreat! Retreat!: Hundred terrorists charge a schoolhouse thinking their opposition consists only of two Delta Force operators, only to turn tail and run when one operator sets off the explosives that they had planted in the building before the terrorists arrived.
- Badass Crew: The Delta Force themselves.
- Badass in a Nice Suit: The terrorists during the first half of the film.
- Bland-Name Product: The flight whose hijacking inspired the movie was TWA Flight 847, the movie's version is ATW (for American Travelways) Flight 282.
- Berserk Button: To the terrorists, Jewish people. The Dragon in particular loses his shit when he learns there are Jew folks in the plane. However, that doesn't stop them from being Noble Bigots however in several Pet the Dog moments. They don't like Christians, either—which becomes pretty tragic when the Delta Force's contact within Beirut, a Mossad deep-cover agent posing as a priest, gets exposed because his church was searched by the terrorists while he was communicating with his superiors (and thus was caught) for no good reason other than the terrorists' leader getting paranoid about having a Christian so close to his base. One of the hijackers even roughed up Father O'Malley, however, when the Irish Priest got up from his seat to join the Jewish American hostages, The Dragon couldn't pull the trigger despite having him at gunpoint to get him back to his seat as O'Malley ignored his threats, while the leader respects his decision to give himself up to be grouped amongst the Jewish hostages.
- Big Bad: Captain Abdul Rafai of the New World Revolutionary Organization.
- Bittersweet Ending: The movie ends in an Israeli airport, with the hostages celebrating their liberation with their families while the Delta Force solemnly carry Pete's body (their only casualty) to the transport plane back home.
- Bond One-Liner: After shooting a terrorist hiding under a bed, Scott tells him to "sleep tight."
- Brownface: Caucasian American Robert Forster as Lebanese Abdul Rafai.
- Catchphrase: Pete has a fondness is saying "see ya when I see ya" instead of "goodbye" or "over and out". He says it as his dying words.
- Colonel Badass: Colonel Nicholas Alexander, the man who gives Major Scott McCoy his orders.
- Cool Bike: Scott gets to ride on a dirt bike with dual rocket launchers, machineguns, and rear-facing grenade launchers. Twice.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: McCoy's final fight with Rafai is completely one-sided.
- Dark Reprise: A sad version of the Delta Force’s Leitmotif is playing in the background when Pete dies.
- Deadpan Snarker: Whenever Abdul speaks with an indoor voice, he's this, showing some sarcastic sense of wit when taunting his hostages, in particular the diver hostages whom he addresses them as "heroes."
- Ensemble Cast: Chuck Norris, Lee Marvin, George Kennedy, Robert Vaughn, Joey Bishop, Martin Balsam, and Bo Svenson, to name a few.
- Even Evil Has Standards: The Dragon has a Pet the Dog moment with a girl who reminds him of his own daughter even after finding out she and her father are Jewish Americans, and the terrorists allow the children and female passengers to leave once the plane lands. While this happens they find the woman whose ring started them looking for Jews, but allow her to leave with the others. Also, not to mention Abdul's Villain Respect for the German stewardess for being brave as he releases her too.
- Field Promotion: When McCoy rejoins Delta Force just in time for their latest mission, Col. Alexander promotes him to Major on the spot.
- Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy: The film could be used as an instructional video at said academy.
- Irish Priest: Father O'Malley. When terrorists are grouping their captives, he says that he should be grouped with the Jewish hostages, because he considers himself both a Jew and a Christian.
- Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique: Pete uses it on a terrorist commander to find out where they took some of the hostages. It was apparently effective.
- Just Plane Wrong: Toward the end of the rescue, a Boeing 707 is shown practically bulletproof in that it takes fire from Kalashnikov rifles as it is taking off only to have the bullets apparently glance off its metal skin. In real life, such a plane's relatively thin aluminum skin would be perforated and the plane rendered unsafe or unable to fly. There's also the issue of supposedly USAF C-130s having Israeli Air Force numbers (since the C-130s were leased from the Israeli military for the film), but that issue is quite minor and easily overlooked compared to the Bulletproof Boeing.
- Majorly Awesome: Scott McCoy. No surprise, being played by Chuck Norris.
- Mandatory Unretirement: Scott resigns his commission after Operation Eagle Claw fails, but is reinstated with a promotion for this crisis.
- Middle Eastern Terrorists: The New World Revolutionary Organization.
- Never Bring a Knife to a Fist Fight: Captain Rafai tries to defend himself from McCoy with pistol, knife and AK-47. None of them save him.
- No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: McCoy delivers one to Captain Rafai at the end of the movie.
- Noble Bigot: The Arab hijackers absolutely hates Jews and even one exclaims the Nazis did not kill enough Jews, but they are at least humane enough to either show some kindness towards a little girl of Jewish American descent who reminds The Dragon of his daughter, releasing one woman whose Hebrew ring that began their Jew hunt from their captivity and The Dragon seemingly reassuring a couple of Jewish hostages that despite their anti-semitism, they don't hate them, but their American government which was before jingoistically gloating to drive a truck filled with explosives into the White House.
- Noble Demon: The hijackers, they are maybe ruthless terrorists, but not without Even Evil Has Standards scruples and genuine loyalty to one another and belief in their cause.
- Novelization: By Pat Hilton. An audiobook was released as well, read by co-star George Kennedy.
- Oh, Crap!: Colonel Alexander is debriefing the hostages who have been released, and finds out that the terrorists have received reinforcements during a previous landing. This is just when Delta Force is about to attempt a hostage rescue, and they've just cut off radio communications. Alexander has to drive onto the airfield to stop them, alerting the terrorists to their presence.
- Pocket Rocket Launcher: The Deltas’ motorcycles are heavily armed and include a pair of missiles about the size of a dry marker on their handles. They see use blowing up enemy vehicles in the climactic raid.
- Politically Incorrect Villain: The Arab hijackers absolutely hates Jews. One of them even pooh-poohs the Holocaust, because it didn't killed enough Jewish people.
- Pregnant Hostage: An Arab hijacker who swears the Germans didn't kill enough Jews in World War II, pummels a sailor nearly to death with a chair's armrest, swears that he (or one of his allies) will drive a truck full of explosives straight to the White House one day, and flies off the handle when he sees an abandoned ring with Hebrew script on it, yet orders some hostages to vacate their seats so a pregnant hostage can recline. He even has the other hostages give up their pillows for her.
- Rated M for Manly: The theme music alone and the fact that it stars Chuck Norris and Lee Marvin is what sells it.
- Ripped from the Headlines: The plane hijacking is very similar to the TWA Flight 847 incident, which had happened in the previous year. The story's Action Prologue also happens during the botched Delta operation to save hostages from Iran.
- The Something Force: The eponymous Delta Force.
- Soundtrack Dissonance:
- "Ya Natir" plays on a TV in the background as McCoy beats the crap out of Abdul.
- The return of the hostages in Israel, where they receive a heroes' welcome from their families, who seem utterly oblivious to the Delta Force operators who ferry Pete's body, their sole fatality in the operation aboard the plane back home.
- "Ya Natir"
- Storming the Castle: The Delta Force assault the school the terrorists are using to keep the hostages, freeing them. Shortly after, the terrorists attempt to retake it... less successfully.
- Stuff Blowing Up:
- Delta Force's motorcycles come equipped with dual mini-mortars behind the seat and a pair of mini-missiles under the handlebars. Major McCoy and other Delta Force members put all this explosive firepower to good use.
- The very first shot of the film is of a helicopter exploding at Desert One.
- 10-Minute Retirement: McCoy resigns his commission after Desert One, only to return when Delta Force is tasked with rescuing the American Travelways hostages. Col. Alexander even delays the unit's departure for him.
- Theme Music Power-Up: Count on Alan Silvestri's theme music to appear whenever the Delta Force are on screen.
- There Is No Kill Like Overkill: After the aforementioned No-Holds-Barred Beatdown McCoy could easily have finished Rafai then and there with his bare hands, or with the assault rifle laying nearby. Instead he goes and gets on his motorcycle, and uses it's dual grenade launchers to blow up not only the terrorist but the car he was sitting in.
- Very Loosely Based on a True Story: See "Ripped from the Headlines" above. Some scenes (like the terrorists asking a stewardess to check the passengers' passports to see which ones were Jewish) actually happened on the Real Life event. What is pure fiction is the titular Delta Force charging in to kick ass and take names (the hostages were eventually released, after a great many days).
- Villain Respect: Abdul commends the German stewardess for being a brave woman as he releases her from his captivity along with the women and children.
- Wish Fulfillment: It's said The Delta Force is actually two movies, the first part showing what happened when the plane was hijacked and the second showing what Americans wish had happened in response.
- Wouldn't Hurt a Child: The Dragon is more kind to the little girl on board, even if she was of Jewish descent in spite of his fervent anti-Semitism.
- Your Terrorists Are Our Freedom Fighters: Captain Abdul Rafai of the New World Revolutionary Organization states his group are freedom fighters rather then terrorists.