Operation Delta Force III

THE STORY: I really expected this to be a bad movie...real bad. I expected pain. But it didn't really hurt. This third Operation Delta Force movie is even cheaper than the first two, but its slightly entertaining.

Dig this, in the land of Sudalia (is that a real place? I don't think so....sounds like the writers made up a country, but we all know its of course full of anti-American middle eastern terrorist types) the ruthless terrorist leader, Kadal hatches a plan. He wants the US to cease all interference and influence in the middle east or he'll detonate a bomb in the US. Well, he's already succeeded in ticking the Soviets off by having a suicide bomber kill some people in Moscow.

How do we stop such a terrible threat to life, liberty and the American way? Call Superman? Noooo, we call someone better! The Delta Force! General Wilson, who has the dinkiest office I've ever seen a general have, tasks Major Stewart and his Delta Force commandos to go get Kadal and bring him back alive. Kadal sends his follower Anwar Hussein to the US to detonate a nuclear bomb in an American city, namely Miami.

The Delta Force is joined on this mission by a team of Russian commandos. The soviets want Kadal too. the Russian commander, Sergei doesn't like Major Stewart very much. They are also joined by a Russian intelligence officer, Irenia. (who of course is a babe.) Thankfully there isn't one of those scenes where the Russians and Americans have a group hug at the end showing mutual respect. There's tension at first, but they seem to work well together.

The deltas go to Sudalia and have Irenia, dressed as an Arab woman, plant explosives all over Kadal's hideout. Unfortunately she's caught and Kadal puts her in a Bond-like death trap. He chains her up and puts a bomb on her forcing her to hold the detonator. If she lets it go, it'll explode.

Meanwhile in Miami, Hussein and some cronies fake a mugging of hussy's neighbor, Wendy Jackson, a news reporter. Hussein comes to her rescue and becomes her hero. The muggers break Wendy's leg, so she depends on Hussein to help take care of her. Hussein soon becomes close friends with her. This is part of an elaborate plan to nuke Miami. A needlessly elaborate plan, I might add.

In Sudalia, the Delta Force and the Russians quickly take out an armed camp of Sudalis. Then they head for Kadal's palace to capture him. Remember, they have to take him back alive. When they arrive, the find Irenia and free her. Then they start whacking guys and blowing [unwrite] up. Hey, that's what we wanted to see. Especially since this movie takes place when Arab terrorist were number one on the US [unwrite] list. (Actually they probably still are.) With little trouble the Deltas capture Kadal, kill a whole [unwrite]ing bunch of troops and make their escape in a truck. They are chased by Sudali soldiers and at the rendezvous point come under heavy fire. Still, even though a few of the Deltas and Russians get killed they make it out with Kadal. Aboard a C-130 heading for the US, the Deltas question Kadal about where the bomb is. But Kadal refuses to answer. Lt. O'Keefe, the Delta intelligence officer and Irenia have an idea though. They inject Kadal with "Truth Serum" and hook him up to a polygraph. Then they show him pictures of his family and all of the recent Sudali immigrants to the US. Figuring he'll recognize the one with the bomb they'll know it by his polygraph readings. This wafer thin plan works and they soon know Hussein is the one. They head directly for Miami.

In Miami, Hussein complicated plan goes ahead. He gets Wendy to invite him to sit in the audience with him at a newscast. Wendy is still in a wheelchair because of her injuries. Hussein switches wheelchairs on her before they leave, giving her one that has the nuke hidden in the back. At the newscast Hussein pulls out a gun and holds Wendy hostage on live TV. He demands that the President call the studio and announce that he is going to comply with Kadal's demands....in three minutes. Hussein has his foot on some sort of pedal on the back of Wendy's wheelchair. if he removes it, the nuke will go off and Miami will be blown to kingdom come. thus none of the security guys in the studio can fire on him.

The three minutes tick away slowly. Slowly enough for Delta to arrive in Miami and haul Kadal to the studio. When Hussein sees Kadal he can't believe it....Kadal tells him not to detonate the bomb, but Hussein is enraged! He basically says the he looked up to Kadal but now he finds he's all talk and no walk! He is ready to blow himself and Miami to radioactive dust! Just before he can do so, Major Stewart rushes towards him and slides along the floor. at the same time, Sergei throws a big [unwrite]ing knife to him. Stewart catches the knife as he slides and jams it into Hussein foot, nailing it to the pedal. Then Sergei pulls a gun out and nails Hussein in the forehead! His foot nailed to the pedal, the bomb doesn't go off as Hussein dies. The end.

This movie ain't nothin' to write home about but it was fun to watch. It was almost semi-realistic...at least as realistic as it was going to get. The only part that made me shout "No Way!" out loud was the end. You have to see it to believe it. I mean, it was kinda cool, the way Stewart and Sergei saved the day, but it was definitely in the realm of a comic book. One of these days I'm going to get a book of Russian names. why is there always a Sergei in a movie with Russians in it? (Well, there's usually a John in most movies I guess...not in this one though. Stewart's name is "Charlie")

One thing I find strange. When there's a movie with Arab terrorists in it, there's usually no Arabs in it that have any redeeming qualities. I mean, if it was movie about inner city black crime, there's usually a guy that's not bad in it to show that not all inner city blacks are crack snorting crooks. But not in an Arab terrorist movie. Its kind of unfair, methinks. I don't profess to really understand all of the Arab terrorist motivations, but its not real cool to make all of them look like anti American psychopaths in the movies.

No one that I really know of was in this movie.

Best Lines: "Best place for fighting men to get to know one another."General Wilson when he sees the Russians brawling with the Delta Force. What a dumbass.

"What did you do to my son, you stupid cur?!"- A Sudali woman (in subtitles) yells at the disguised Irenia when the delta's truck almost hits her son.

"Nice throw!"-The major to Sergei after they save the day in a completely impossible occurrence.

1.) For an elite team of Army guys these Delta Force shmucks have a lot of [unwrite]ing hair. Now, just judging by the overall quality of this movie it would be TOO easy to go into my usual rips on uniform violations. (Even though General Wilson has on a navy/marine style BDU cap and he's an ARMY general.) But the hair...oh, no. Special Forces guys are gung ho. They can't take a dump without doing it in a military manner. These guys would have high and tight haircuts if they had to cut it themselves. They wouldn't look like they're about to pose for a catalog on men's casual wear!

2.) During the training exercise the Russian team leader starts a fight with the Deltas for no discernible reason...well no better reason than except he's the Russian guy and this film is taking place while there was still a soviet union.Yet Gen. Wilson doesn't seem to concerned when he walks into a brawl in progress. Yeah, right. If these two teams are supposed to be working together the last thing you want is them fighting with each other. All the general says is "Best way for fighting men to get to know one another". What is this a WWII movie? Bull[unwrite]! That's the best way to [unwrite] up any teamwork between the two squads and possibly have a man injured in the fight.

3.) When the Delta Force hits the beach at the start of their mission one of the Russians gets his legs blown of by a land mine. Sergei, the Russian commander wants to kill the poor devil and take him out of his misery but the American commander won't let him. This leads to a mini showdown, but we know at this point the russkie isn't going to kill the major over this. Still, the Deltas put the guy on a stretcher and take him with them? What the [unwrite]? You don't carry a man that's going to [unwrite]ing bleed to death anyway with you on a covert operation like that. Even raw recruits in Basic Training learn that! You bandage the guy up as best you can and try to come back for him. (marking his head with a "T" for tourniquet....in Blood! Really!) Coming back for this guy is superfluous anyway 'cuz his injuries ARE going to kill him. But the one thing you learn in Basic and beyond is MISSION first! Its cold blooded, but that's the way it is. Mission first, personnel second. Carrying a bleeding, moaning guy into that situation is tantamount to suicide! Even more amazingly after their first firefight the Deltas take the time to bury the guy! I thought time was of the freaking essence!?

4.) When Sam the explosives expert's little Russian buddy Pietro (or something like that)  gets whacked Sam does what most movie soldiers do. He starts screaming "You Bastards!" like he was on South Park and charges a horde of enemy troops. He gets shot several times but manages to make it in the middle of the attackers and set of a huge explosive charge, killing himself and a bunch of them. WHY? I can understand trying to kill a gaggle[unwrite] of them, but why sacrifice yourself 'cuz one guy got smoked? Funk Dat! The only way I'd even think about doing something like that was if escape was impossible, but the choppers are only minutes away from picking the team up. Its not like he knew this Russian guy all that long. 

5.) Kadal's whole plan to nuke Miami is needlessly elaborate. Why go through the whole ordeal of smuggling the nuke into the news broadcast when you could just set it off anywhere....Hussein could have planted it in the alley behind a liquor store and it would have had the same effect. Its not like nobody is going to notice a nuclear explosion in Florida!

6.) Man, if I was that newscaster lady my hair would have turned grey immediately after I found out I was literally sitting on an armed nuclear device! As a matter of fact, if I was living in Miami and I saw the broadcast when Hussein says he has a nuke in the middle of the city I'd have thrown my wife and cats in the car and drove to Atlanta lickety-[unwrite]ing-split!

7.) I have nothing else to say about the ending of this movie except....GET THE [unwrite] OUTTA HERE!

NUDITY AND SEX: None

HUH?: The Russian commander, Sergei Whatever-the-[unwrite] has to take out a guard. How's he do it? He throws a knife and hits the guy right square in the back, killing him instantly. Uh, was it a poison knife? 'Cuz it damn sure was a dinky one. How the hell do these guys in movies manage to silently kill guys with one knife throw? I mean, wouldn't the reaction of most people be to scream? If I was on guard duty and a knife hit me in the back I'm certain he would hurt like all bejeezus, but I doubt it would kill me before my body even hit the ground. Instead of dying quietly I think I'd be yelling "OW! OH Sweet Jesus! [unwrite]! AAAARGH! someone Help! I've been knifed! Oh Lord in Heaven this [unwrite]ing hurts! God save me! Yowtch!" Thus bringing everyone within earshot to alert.

While riding to Kadal's base in the back of a truck one of the russians pulls out a bottle of Vodka nad he and the deltas share a drink. In the middle of highly dangerous mission!!!? Man, my ass would be canned if I had a beer on duty and my biggest danger is eye fatigue from staring at a monitor all freakin' day! I should have joined the Delta Force!

Irenia is nearly caught planting the explosives. When the guards get hip to her she jacks another woman in the place and exchanges clothes, but seconds later the woman is screaming "A woman stole my clothes!" Up until this point I thought Irenia was going to make it out. Why didn't she kill the woman or at least knock her out? I would have. Did she think the woman would not start screaming bloody murder? I mean after all, stealth is the only thing she's got going for her. Without absolute stealth it ain't to hard to pick out a pale skinned Russian woman in the middle of the middle east!

Speaking of Irenia, Kadal has this James-Bond-Villain-type plot to kill her when he could have just shot her. Of course this plot gives the Delta Force a chance to rescue her. Of course I expected Irenia to say "Do you expect me to talk?" and Kadal say "No, Irenia, I expect you to die!"

When the chopper comes to pick the team up its in the middle of a firefight with the bad guys. Why doesn't that chopper have any support craft? Why isn't there a few blackhawks there to start mowing down the ground troops? The unarmed helicopter is a sitting target! One or two attack copters could have wiped out all of the bad guys in a few minutes. Just ask the Iraqis.

THE TALLY: For a cheap military action flick this ain't too bad. You get what you pay for. I mean you can't see this in the store and expect it to be anther "Apocalypse Now" or "Platoon". But its okay. Silly at times, but okay. I think the action scenes were a little lacking. There was never really any fear that the Good Guys would lose, but then again in these kinds of movies you don't really expect them to. I still can't get over the ending though.