What a waste of my time!!!

Stylish but barely mediocre overall

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

The 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta is an elite special mission unit of the United States Army, under operational control of the Joint Special Operations Command, formed after numerous, well-publicized terrorist incidents in the 1970s. And it is made famous by this mid 1980s hostage drama and its sequels. The unit is tasked with specialized missions primarily involving hostage rescue and counter-terrorism, as well as direct action and special reconnaissance against high-value targets. Its maritime equivalent being the Navy SEALS. So, the film sets up a typical situation in which this force can be celebrated by Americans and its allies. The writers draw on the real-life June, 1985, hijacking of the TWA airplane and the hostage crisis after the passengers were held captive in Beirut, Lebanon. Pity then, that a good, well constructed action film descended into long sequences of eye-for-an-eye gratuitous violence and national revenge fantasies and jingoism. The film sets up the story thoroughly as the hostages are all given personalities and the audience invests in them in for what is a long first act. The supporting cast is good with Shelley Winters and George Kennedy adding finesse to the piece. The film has conviction, especially borne out in its two stars, Lee Marvin and Chuck Norris, who present well but their character parts are somewhat anonymous and bolt on emotions at the end don't really match up. Robert Forster gives a frighteningly good performance as the lethal terrorist. All in all, an above average action film, but it steeps into vainglory, shamelessly so.

I watched this movie for the first time over 30 years after it was produced. Considering its age, the fact that it is essentially a Chuck Norris film (whom I really never liked), and the numerous clichées in the premise and story-line, this motion picture was a rather pleasant surprise. It was decently scripted, decently acted (except for Mr. Norris, of course) and well filmed. Even the cheesy special effects don't take away too much from the overall viewing experience.Do not misunderstand me, this is no masterpiece by a long shot, but it definitely makes for some decent escapist entertainment on an evening with nothing much better to do. Definitely above average.

This film is about as realistic as Yahoo Netanyahu's Spy vs. Spy bomb cartoon, and not only by depicting one of its "Delta Force" commando characters reading a book with the title Mad War, with a picture of Alfred E. Neuman on its cover. But what can we expect from a director whose name is Menaham Golan, Menachem Begin having been the Zionist terrorist who orchestrated the bombing of the King David Hotel killing 93 noncombatants before being Prime Minister of Israel, and the Golan Heights being Palestinian territory Israel occupies contrary to international law? We need to hope that United States Special Forces, who swear to support and defend the Constitution of the United States with its mandate for separation of church and state, are nonsectarian. HITRT

The sad thing is that this movie is based on a real-life event. The actors involved in the high jacking are great (and it's good to occasionally see some old familiar faces). The main facts are essentially accurate, and the writing/story-line goes well at the beginning. But it just seems to me that it all just goes down hill with the Delta Force component and the team's outrageously off the wall tactics, while they were truly successful in real life.Especially Chuck Norris's character. The movie seems to become another Chuck Norris grandstanding vehicle, where in scene after scene, he seemed to be shouting "Look at Me!!!!!! LOOK AT ME!!!!! LOOK At Meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!" And this really detracted from the historical event and the outstanding contribution made my the members of the Delta Force.