Raid on Entebbe (1977)

 

                “Raid on Entebbe” did not manage to be the first movie about the Raid on Entebbe.  It was beaten by a month by “Victory at Entebbe”.  Even though it was a little late, it still managed to come out within a year of the event.  It was made for ABC as a special movie presentation.  Director Irving Kershner was given an all-star cast that included Peter Finch in his last role.  The movie was well-received, winning Golden Globes for Best TV Movie.  It won Emmies for Cinematography and Sound Editing.  Kershner was nominated, as was Finch for Best Lead Actor.  Yaphet Kotto and Martin Balsam got Supporting Actor nods.  The film was also nominated for Special Presentation, Music Composition, Film Editing, and Original Teleplay.  The movie is a straight-forward retelling of the commando raid that rescued Jewish airline passengers taken by terrorists and held at Entebbe Airport in Uganda. 

                The movie starts with the hijacking of an airliner by members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.  The leaders of the terrorists are Wilfried Bose (Horst Buchholz) and Dora Bloch (Sylvia Sidney).  The movie is going to follow three threads.  Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin (Peter Finch) runs the government response.  These scenes feature debates among cabinet members.  Another thread follows the terrorists and hostages.  Some of the hostages are developed.  And we have Idi Amin (Kotto) showing up to “negotiate”.  The third thread follows Gen. Shomron (Charles Bronson) as he plans and leads the rescue.  The movie builds to the reenactment of the raid. 

                “Raid on Entebbe” is the best of four movies on the Entebbe Raid.  It is even superior to the more recent theatrical release “7 Days in Entebbe”.  The cast is good, with Bronson being the straw that stirred the drink.  It’s a good, but not great, TV movie from back in the days when those types of things were pretty common.  In other words, there was a lot more competition for those Emmies than made-for-TV movies today.  The teleplay breaks no new ground in this type of historical drama.  It is linear with intercutting between the threads.  The big payoff is worth sitting through all the political discussions and the terrorist rantings.  Bose and company really believe they are going to get their terrorist buddies released from prison!  Even in 1976 it should have been apparent how a future movie about their hijacking would end.  And if they had known Charles Bronson would be playing an Israeli commando leader, they never would have gotten on that plane. 

                It’s been more than 40 years since the Entebbe Raid, so most Americans are probably not familiar with this spectacular achievement by the Israelis.   The movie is a good education for the ill-informed.  It is as accurate as you could expect.  The raid is not enhanced into combat porn.  This was a made-for-TV movie, after all.  It’s specifically an American made-for-TV movie, so don’t look for a sympathetic portrayal of the terrorists.  Not that they deserved it. 

GRADE  =  B