10 Things You Didn’t Know About The Delta Force
1986’s The Delta Force will always hold a position of esteem here at Bulletproof Action. The Delta Force was the first film that was reviewed on the site back in 2014 and I jump at any opportunity to go back and revisit the Cannon classic.
So after recently enjoying the special features on the special edition Blu-ray release of The Delta Force from Scorpion Releasing, I felt it was high time that The Delta Force got the 10 Things treatment here on Bulletproof Action.
If you are a fan of the movie and have not picked up the Blu-ray, I suggest you do so at your earliest convenience. The brand new 2K scan looks fantastic and the special features include an exclusive interview with screenwriter James Bruner (who shares a writing credit with Director/Producer Menahem Golan), plus some archival interviews courtesy of Mark Hartley’s tremendous 2014 documentary, Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films with film editor Alain Jakubowicz and one of the stars of the film, Robert Forster.
And now here are 10 Things You Didn’t Know About The Delta Force…
1. Robert Forster, who played the main protagonist Abdul, praised Menahem Golan’s decision to bring him to Israel two weeks prior to the movie was scheduled to begin shooting so Forster could work with a dialect coach to help him deliver his lines in Arabic. As an aside, Forster shared a great story about Menahem agreeing to buy Hollywood Harry, a film that Forster financed himself but was only able to sell to a few smaller markets. The purchase of Hollywood Harry by Cannon basically saved Christmas for the Forster family that year.
2. The original cut of the film was 3.5 hours long and featured several scenes depicting the political machinations on both sides of the hostage crisis. They also shot the backstories of the Holocaust survivors that were being held hostage on the plane by Abdul and his men. Those scenes were cut once the decision was made that they were going to focus more on the action than on the politics.
3. None of the footage that was cut to get the film down to its 2 hour and 5 minute run time was saved, so don’t expect a Director’s Cut of The Delta Force to pop up on Amazon.
4. After the completion of The Delta Force, Lee Marvin expressed interest in reprising his role of Colonel Nick Alexander in Delta Force 2, but sadly Marvin would pass away on August 29, 1987 making The Delta Force his final film.
5. Charles Bronson was initially set to star with Chuck Norris in The Delta Force and in typical Cannon fashion, publicity material featuring both Bronson and Norris as the stars of movie were released well before production even started. But contrary to Internet folklore, Charles Bronson was NOT going to play the role of Colonel Nick Alexander. At the time Bronson was attached to the project, there was a different script and both Bronson and Norris would have played completely different characters than in the final version of the movie. Thanks to James Bruner for the correction and dispelling that longstanding Internet rumor.
6. The air conditioning had to be turned off when they were shooting the scenes in the airplane causing the temperature inside the cabin to reach over 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius). The extreme heat did add some authenticity to those scenes but made it nearly unbearable for the cast, crew and extras. Things were even worse for cinematographer David Gurfinkel, who was often jammed in the luggage compartments to get some of the shots on the plane.
7. There were plans to produce a line of Delta Force action figures and vehicles that unfortunately for toy collectors everywhere never made it past the prototype stage. But a board game based on the movie called “The Delta Force: America’s New Heroes” was released in 1986 by Fun Designs.
8. At one point due to the heavy and emotional subject matter, German actress Hanna Schygulla (who played Ingrid the flight’s purser) broke down on set after filming her scenes with Martin Balsam, who played Ben Kaplan one of the hostages/Holocaust survivors.
9. Steve James, who played Bobby, met his future wife Nava Halimi on the set of The Delta Force. Nava was an extra in the movie and would go on to have a small part opposite Steve in 1987’s American Ninja 2: The Confrontation, where she played a beautiful woman that James’ Curtis Jackson was trying to pick up at a cocktail party.
10. In a classic example of Cannon spin, Menahem Golan touted that the score for The Delta Force was a great example of what a great composer like Alan Silvestri could do with a synthesizer. While that statement is 100% truth… the fact of the matter is Silvestri didn’t have much of a choice in going full synth since his budget was only $15,000. There was no way that limited budge would cover hiring an orchestra and paying for recording time in a studio.
