The Delta Force

[Intangible Skeleton]

See this movie for a rather ingenuitive solution to the threats of terrorism.

It mainly consists of some terrorists telling people nicely to sit down while waving guns aboard an aeroplane, and then some explosions. Chuck Norris's bike not only has missile launchers attached underneath the handlebars, but it also has a missile that shoots out of the exhaust pipe, reminding me very much of those cheesy action man toys that went missile heavy with radio controlled dolphins that had missiles attached to their heads, or one I saw that was a skiing set where Action Man could actually fire of his skis as missiles. Anyway, this is a suprise weapon that results in a hilarious demise for the main terrorist.

All of the weapons have infinite ammo.


I'm suprised more of these sort of movies (Chuck Norris, Segal, Cynthia Rothrock aren't listed on this site) as I'd definitely class the cheesy black and white politics action movies of the 80s as "bad movies".

[Andrew]

I am a little light on the silly action films, but have been trying to make sure more of them enter the mix (started that effort in the last year).  It has been a long time since I watched "The Delta Force" - probably around my senior year in HS.  Going to have to track it down, though I recently rewatched another Chuck Norris film from my HS years and it did not hold up well.

In defense of Chuck, the horrible film was "Firewalker."

[Intangible Skeleton]

They often tend to go over the top on the end bad guy, and try to make him seem as eccentric and evil as they possible can before killing him in the most over the top way possible.
And then the obligatory "add insult to injury" post-death remark.

The most ridiculous example of this is in the Segal movie: Marked for Death. After killing his drug-dealing voodoo samurai nemesis, by the name of "Screwface", and showing his decapitated head to his henchman, Seagal is set upon by his twin brother (who appears out of nowehere). Seagal inflicts the following damage to Screwface 2#: He slashes his face with a sword, crushes his eyeballs into the back of his head, smashes him through a wall, proceeds to lift him up and break his back, and finally throws him out of a boarded up maintenance window and into the elevator shaft... At the bottom is a large metal spike. Fatality.

Segal then remarks; "I hope they weren't triplets."

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=_hwNCfFZWSA

The BBFC cut that scene heavily for the UK version.


Often though, I think you end up feeling kind of sorry for the badguys, coz they are clearly up against a super-human all-american (whatever ethnic variant) hero who can't even be slowed slightly yet alone beaten. That kind of thing is where the whole Chuck Norris fad came from.

Delta Force actually does humanize the baddies though. It repeatedly states that they are revolutionaries trying to fight for their countries.   

[Neville]

Andrew, I'm serious, you should reconsider the no-silly-80s-action-movies rule, at least for the cases of "Invasion USA" and "Bulletproof".

As for this film, I have mixed feelings. The filmmakers seem to try hard to humanize the terrorists, but in the end what made the film legendary is the cheesefest of the second half, when the Delta Force attack the terrorists hideouts. This is my favourite part, and the motorcycle action is priceless, but all this makes the film too schizophrenic for my taste.

[Intangible Skeleton]

Of course some of these kind of movies are from the early 90s and later. I just tend to refer to them as "80's movies" because of the overthetop nature associated with that period. It's not a lost art, but it's so much more self aware these days that it kind of ruins it.


Above post ^

Invasion USA is incredible. A must see. At least, by my criteria.

[asimpson2006]

Delta Force is one of those movies that can be enjoyed but not all the time.  I though Delta Force was a good film, even though the second half of the film was for the most part unbelieveable.  The motorcycle with the missles was really awesome.

[RapscallionJones]

I am a huge, HUGE fan of Delta Force.

The sheer volume of balls it took to make a s**tty action movie based on the hijacking of TWA 847 are staggering!  It follows the story of the hijacking very closely, which was a real bummer in reality, but then adds these outrageous touches and military vehicles taken from the boneyard after the production of Megaforce was over. 

Arab and Isreali tensions in the mid-80's were seriously frightening and flag-waving action movies were all the rage at the time, but still...

I've heard that there was a connection between Cannon and the Regan Administration back in the day, but I've never found a source to back it up.  I have a hard time believe that Reagan and his cronies had anything to do with those Lambada movies, though.

[Yaddo 42]

I am a little light on the silly action films, but have been trying to make sure more of them enter the mix (started that effort in the last year).  It has been a long time since I watched "The Delta Force" - probably around my senior year in HS.  Going to have to track it down, though I recently rewatched another Chuck Norris film from my HS years and it did not hold up well.

In defense of Chuck, the horrible film was "Firewalker."

They "let" us watch Firewalker in high school one day when class was cancelled early due to a coming snowstorm and they were trying to round up the buses and drivers early. I still say we were being punished.

Of the Norris movies I tend to like Code of Silence and Lone Wolf McQuade. The second has a good final showdown between Norris and David Carradine, who has an interesting writeup about it in his autobiography.

Delta Force always annoyed me: the thinly veiled parallels to the real life hijacking already mentioned, the casting of lots of familiar faces as hostages like it was a disaster movie, the gadgets and weapons rather than more realistic portrayls of elite forces, Norris and his slabs of non-acting, and realizing that Lee Marvin was getting old and ill and wouldn't last much longer.

I can watch Invasion USA, but only to laugh at and mock it, a whole nation's police and armed forces are powerless to stop this invasion/insurgency but one guy can be everywhere.

Man the villains from that era could be one dimensional, over-the-top cartoons. Golan-Globus/Cannon sure did a lot for Middle East relations in the 80s.