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Raid on Entebbe
Based on a true Military operation by Israeli commandos. An Air France flight is hijacked by the PFLP. The plane has about 100 Jewish passengers. The plane is grounded in Uganda. Israelis would not negotiate. The movie then shows how less than 500 soldiers actually flew so far and rescued the passengers in one of the most successful Military operations in history. The only casualty for Israeli soldiers was Lt. Col. Jonathan "Yoni" Netanyahu..
Release : | 1976 |
Rating : | 6.7 |
Studio : | NBC, 20th Century Fox Television, Edgar J. Scherick Associates, |
Crew : | Art Direction, Production Design, |
Cast : | Charles Bronson Peter Finch Yaphet Kotto Martin Balsam Horst Buchholz |
Genre : | Drama History Thriller TV Movie |
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Reviews
Am i the only one who thinks........Average?
This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.
There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes
By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.
For eight days in Israel everyone held their breath as Palestinian terrorists captured an Air France jet bound for Tel Aviv and added a new twist to hostage negotiation. No taking an El-Al flight which would have involved the Israelis directly, no taking it to an Arab country where the issue might have been joined. This time a foreign airliner that happened to be going to Israel with about 100 of its citizens returning from abroad. And where do they take it, but Entebbe capital of Uganda and ruled by a certified psycho.In his farewell performance Peter Finch leads an impressive cast as Israel's Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin who has to make a crucial decision as to response to the terrorists and has 8 days to do it. That's the deadline that the terrorists have placed with their demands on several European countries and Israel to release the Palestinian 'freedom fighters' from various prisons.A solid cast of players are giving some great performances in Raid On Entebbe. Most singled out is Yaphett Kotto as Idi Amin, Uganda's strutting dictator who was relishing the spotlight on himself on the world stage. I could also single out Charles Bronson as General Dan Sharon who led the ground troops in the rescue and in a very small role James Woods who is a reservist called up to serve on the rescue. His scene of farewell with his family is very touching.The only casualty among the passengers is Sylvia Sidney who took ill during the crisis and apparently had the effrontery to question the intentions of Idi Amin. Like Woods represents a young generation of Jews, Sylvia Sidney as Dora Bloch was the Holocaust generation who in her last hours was not allowed to die without terror. No one knows what happened to Dora Bloch after she was taken to the Ugandan hospital, but there is all kinds of speculation about the only really unanswered part of the Entebbe story.As for Rabin he met his own martyrdom in the Nineties by a fanatic Jewish terrorist who thought the man who rescued the Israelis in Entebbe wasn't doing enough to push perpetual war on the Arabs. And the man who played him died five days after this film was aired on television and got a posthumous Emmy nomination. That went with Peter Finch's posthumous Oscar for Network. Emmy nominations also went to Yaphett Kotto and Martin Balsam who played the passenger spokesperson.One of the best made for television films Raid On Entebbe should not be missed.
Raid on Entebbe (1976)*** (out of 4)An all-star cast highlights this made-for-TV flick about the July 4, 1976 raid on the Entebbe airport where seven terrorist hijacked a plane with over two-hundred people on it. After a few days nearly half the people were released but the terrorist kept the Jewish people and this caused the Israeli government to try and rescue them before they're assassinated. When you consider these events took place about six months before this film would be released you could argue that it was rushed into production and some of this is obvious in the movie. The terrific cast includes Peter Finch, Charles Bronson, Yaphet Kotto, Robert Loggia, Martin Balsam, Horst Buchholz, Jack Warden, Sylvia Sidney, Dinah Manoff, Tige Andrews and James Woods among others. With that many familiar names in the cast there's no question that they help keep this film moving even when one has to question some of the problems in the film. The non-theatrical version runs just under 150-minutes and I can't help but think you could have edited out forty-minutes and be left with pretty much the same film with the only difference being a tighter movie. There are a lot of details giving about the hijacking and if you've seen any disaster pictures from the 70s you know the running time is usually bloated with boring scenes of us getting to know the characters. That actually doesn't happen here as the hijacking starts within five-minutes and the rest of the film is dealing with it. I think it actually hurt the film that we never really got to connect with any of the people and the only one we get to really see in action is Balsam who plays one of those being held hostage who happens to be the one who speaks to the main terrorist. There's a lot of behind the scenes stuff where the Israeli government must debate on the risk to them if this operation was to fail and what message it would send to other terrorist groups. I'm sure most of this stuff could have been interesting but the problem is that director Irvin Kershner just doesn't seem to know how to handle the material. There's never any real drama, we never feel suspense for anything going on and things only come to life at the very end once the raid starts. With all the negative things I've said you'd think this was a bad movie but it really isn't. The thing remains entertaining from start to finish but at the same time you can't help but think there's a better movie here and that it would have worked better had some of the filler been cut out. Bronson turns in a very energetic performance and this would end up being the last film for Finch. Jack Warden is as entertaining as always but it's Yaphet Kotto who steals the film as President Idi Amin. This character would give Forrest Whitaker an Oscar years later in THE LAST KING OF Scotland and it's interesting to see the difference in the performances. The cast and story certainly make RAID ON ENTEBBE worth viewing but I just wouldn't go in with very high expectations.
I enjoyed the almost documentary-like depiction of this dramatic rescue, which was notable for its lack of over-sentimentality in the midst of a highly emotional crisis.The casting was effective yet unusual, as hostage-takers and passengers alike came from many nationalities, but no attempt was made to have verisimilitude at that level. It didn't matter much; nearly all the characters were believable.Surprisingly, striking elements of the real-life story and rescue were highly dramatic but left out of this film version for no discernible reason. For example, the Israelis' plane had to fly less than 100 feet above the Red Sea, under the radar of nearby enemy countries, on the approach to Uganda. The elderly woman taken to the hospital had in reality been traveling with her son, who had no choice but to poignantly abandon her there. And the rescuers simulated the approach of Amin in their creep-up to the terminal, to the point of bringing their own stretch limousine, in a plan that went haywire when a Ugandan soldier noticed something was awry.Despite such elements, the film worked for me. Its use of Hebrew songs and a painterly final frame were lovely details.In all, a pretty satisfying film experience about a hideous incident.
A film that is historically accurate, Raid on Entebbe is engrossing and exciting to watch. The actual raid on Entebbe was itself a very daring rescue, and it translates extremely well to film. Even though you know the outcome in advance, you will find yourself wanting to stay with the film until the end. The actors are all excellent, and the sets extremely realistic. Yaphet Kotto gives a great performance as Idi Amin, portraying the Ugandan president as mix of grandstander, egomaniac, and thinly disguised madman; the movie is worth watching for Kotto's performance alone. While made almost 25 years ago, Raid on Entebbe remains an exciting film that has aged well and is still very enjoyable to watch.