The Delta Force (1986)

20% of critics liked it
(10 reviews)
53% of users liked it
(14,976 ratings)

Menahem Golan melds a Chuck Norris action spectacle with the disaster film genre in The Delta Force. The story is based upon the June, 1985 hijacking of a TWA jet, where passengers were held at gun-point by terrorists in Beirut, Lebanon. The film re-enacts various real life incidents from the crisis… More Menahem Golan melds a Chuck Norris action spectacle with the disaster film genre in The Delta Force. The story is based upon the June, 1985 hijacking of a TWA jet, where passengers were held at gun-point by terrorists in Beirut, Lebanon. The film re-enacts various real life incidents from the crisis -- an American serviceman is beaten to death, a terrorist holds a gun to the pilot's head as the pilot is being questioned by reporters -- while depicting the tension aboard the plane and the agony of the passengers, held under the threat of death by the terrorists. The Delta Force, a crack anti-terrorist commando group, is preparing to rescue the passengers. Colonel Nick Alexander (Lee Marvin) is the grizzled commander of the task force; his best soldier is Major Scott McCoy (Chuck Norris), who was planning to retire but is called back into action for one last heroic stand against terrorism. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: R, 2 hr. 5 min.
Directed By: Menahem Golan
Written By: James Bruner, Menahem Golan
Genres: Action & Adventure

In Theaters: Feb 14, 1986 Limited
On DVD: Aug 29, 2006
Studio: Media Home Entertainment

Critic Reviews

Chuck O'Leary, FulvueDrive-in.com
Works equally well as a tense, powerful hostage drama and a rousing action film. The Delta Force gets my vote as Chuck Norris' best movie.
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and Practice
One has to question the excessive carnage of the finale and its celebration of the eye-for-an-eye ethic.
Scott Weinberg, eFilmCritic.com
Half-disaster, half-action low-budget cheese that's still fairly entertaining in spots.

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Featured Audience Ratings

Dean M

What an explosive '80 action-thriller film to see the crack team of commandos including super-soldiers Chuck Norris and Lee Marvin can rescue the innocent people hostage taken from political extremists in this astounding mix of fact, fantasy and heavy-duty adventure. This is 130… More
What an explosive '80 action-thriller film to see the crack team of commandos including super-soldiers Chuck Norris and Lee Marvin can rescue the innocent people hostage taken from political extremists in this astounding mix of fact, fantasy and heavy-duty adventure. This is 130 non-stop minutes of explosive, wall-to-wall action! Of course, you get plenty of ass-kicking fight scenes thanks to Norris who has never seemed tougher in a film. Marvin is also perfect in his role. The action gets even better when Norris rides out on his motorcycle shooting missiles out the front and back! The cast is very good as well including Martin Balsam, Joey Bishop, Robert Forster, Lainie Kazan, George Kennedy, Hanna Schygulla, Susan Strasberg, Bo Svenson, Robert Vaughn and Shelley Winters. Marvin and Norris also have great chemistry together on the screen and among the most convincing tough guys in Hollywood.
Tim S

Ok, for an action flick, this is really, really long. As far as I'm concerned, over half an hour could have been hacked out of this movie to give it the pace that it needs. I'm not quite sure what to make of it really, but found it to be extremely mediocre due to the… More
Ok, for an action flick, this is really, really long. As far as I'm concerned, over half an hour could have been hacked out of this movie to give it the pace that it needs. I'm not quite sure what to make of it really, but found it to be extremely mediocre due to the slowness of it. There are some great scenes with the terrorists and the hostages that do have a bit of an emotional tug, but everything surrounding that is just bland and, well not very good. The action isn't even really that great. It's Chuck Norris, so you expect to see him kicking some ass, but to tell you the truth, he kicks very little ass and isn't a very big part of the film. That would be fine, but this has always been remembered as far back as I can remember as a 'Chuck Norris action classic', and it really isn't. I'm not quite sure what they were going for, but I wish they had spent more time in the editing room and trimmed out a lot of the fat.
Douglas W C

Another Awesome Chuck Norris Film. Osama isn't hiding from America, He's hiding from Chuck Norris!
danny d

chuck norris kicks people in the face!
Khris N

Classic! Chuck Norris and Lee Marvin kick some terrorist ass!!