Victory at Entebbe (1976) (TV)

Director:

Marvin J. Chomsky

Writer:

Ernest Kinoy (writer)

Release Date:

13 December 1976 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | History | Thriller

Plot:

An Air France airplane is hijacked by the PLO due the large number of Israeli and Jewish passengers...

Plot Keywords:

Airplane | Protest | Rescue | Prime Minister | Father

Awards:

Nominated for 4 Primetime Emmys. Another 1 nomination

Cast

Helmut Berger	...	German Terrorist
Theodore Bikel	...	Yakov Shlomo
Linda Blair	...	Chana Vilnofsky
Kirk Douglas	...	Hershel Vilnofsky
Richard Dreyfuss	...	Colonel Yonatan 'Yonni' Netanyahu
Stefan Gierasch	...	General Mordecai Gur
David Groh	...	Benjamin Wise
Julius Harris	...	President Idi Amin
Helen Hayes	...	Etta Grossman-Wise
Anthony Hopkins	...	Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin
Burt Lancaster	...	Shimon Peres
Christian Marquand	...	Captain Dukas
Elizabeth Taylor	...	Edra Vilnofsky
Jessica Walter	...	Nomi Haroun
Harris Yulin	...	General Dan Shomron

Runtime:

119 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

West Germany:12 (nf) | Iceland:12 | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 | Sweden:15 | USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Company:

David L. Wolper Productions

Trivia:

The commander of the Israeli paratroopers, Lt Col Yonatan Netanyahu (played by Richard Dreyfuss) was the brother of Israeli political leader Benjamin Netanyahu. Yonni, as friends knew him, was the only member of the platoon to die during the actual raid when he was struck in the back by a sniper's bullet.

Goofs:

Continuity: The aircraft is an Airbus A300, accurately depicted with the passenger cabin and exterior shots, but the flight deck is from a McDonnell Douglas DC-10, with its very distinctive autopilot console and flight engineer panel showing three engine switches (the A300 has two engines).

Quotes:

Etta Grossman-Wise: Where do you think, Mr. Olav? You've had an extensive military background. Where do you think we're going?
Aaron Olav: What?
Etta Grossman-Wise: My son says Khartoum. On the other hand, this gentleman...
Nathan Haroun: Haroun.
Etta Grossman-Wise: ...says Somalia. And as for me... I think India!
Aaron Olav: India?
Etta Grossman-Wise: Why not? I've never been to India! They have erotic temples there, I'm told. I've never seen an erotic temple.
Aaron Olav: That's ridiculous! India? Who ever heard of being hijacked to India?
Etta Grossman-Wise: Well, everybody has an opinion. Now, it's your turn.
Aaron Olav: I don't know!
[...]

Movie Connections:

Version of Mivtsa Yonatan (1977)

Under Cover Of Darkness

It is not surprising that something as utterly dramatic and swift as Israel's lightning raid at Entebbe against a planeload of Palestinian hijackers holding over one hundred of their own should make for a movie. Instead, however, there were three, of which this is the first.

This made-for-TV movie, which somehow bought together an all-star cast and was shot, edited, and aired within a mere five months of the Entebbe event, which happened under cover of darkness on July 4, 1976, shows some of the faults of being shot largely in a studio and on videotape (later transferred to film). But what we get, thanks to veteran TV director Marvin Chomsky and writer Ernest Kinoy, is a rather good account of perhaps the most dramatic anti-terrorist raid the world has ever seen. Burt Lancaster and Anthony Hopkins are matchless as Israeli leaders Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres, with Richard Dreyfuss contribuing his usual best as Colonel Yonni Netanyahu, the only casualty the Israeli military suffered during the raid.

The cast also includes Kirk Douglas, Linda Blair, Elizabeth Taylor, Helen Hayes, Christian Marquand (as the Air France pilot), and Harris Yulin, among others. The only performance that seems full of ham to me is Julius Harris' as the ultra-notorious Ugandan president Idi Amin; it is so over the top (though perhaps that is a bit harsh, as the real Amin was far, far worse).

This is a somewhat imperfect version of the story, but nevertheless worth the 7-out-of-10 rating it gets from me.