Mivtsa Yonatan (1977)

User Rating:

6.3/10   

Director:

Menahem Golan

Writers:

Ken Globus (dialogue)
Menahem Golan (writer)

Release Date:

27 January 1978 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama

Tagline:

The world watched... The world waited... And then the world cheered

Plot:

In July 1976, an Air France flight from Tel-Aviv to Paris via Athens was hijacked and forced to land in Entebbe...

Plot Keywords:

Hostage | Uganda | Terrorist | Israel | Terrorism

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar.

Cast

Yehoram Gaon	...	Col. Yonatan Netanyahu
Gila Almagor	...	Nurit Aviv
Assi Dayan	...	Shuki (as Assaf Dayan)
Klaus Kinski	...	Wilfried Boese
Sybil Danning	...	Halima
Arik Lavie	...	Gen. Dan Shomron
Shmuel Rodensky	...	Family Representative
Shaike Ophir	...	Gadi Arnon (as Shai K. Ophir)
Reuven Bar-Yotam	...	Avraham Ben-David
Gabi Amrani	...	Maj. Gen. Benny Peled (as Gaby Amrani)
Mark Heath	...	Idi Amin Dada
Henry Czarniak	...	Michel Bacos (as Henri Czarniak)
Rolf Eden	...	Air France Co-Pilot
Shoshana Shani	...	Alma Raviv
Oded Teomi	...	Dan Zamir

Also Known As:

Entebbe: Operation Thunderbolt
Operation Thunderbolt

Runtime:

124 min

Country:

Israel

Language:

Hebrew | English | German | Arabic

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 | Sweden:15 | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Eilat, Israel

Trivia:

Col. Yonatan Netanyahu was the older brother of Benjamin Netanyahu, the future Israeli prime minister.

Goofs:

Continuity: Exterior shots of an actual Air France Airbus A300 are accurately used at the beginning of the movie. Once the plane lands in Benghazi and for the rest of the movie, a Boeing 707 in grossly inaccurate Air France colors is shown, supposedly depicting the same aircraft.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Medurat Hashevet (2004)

Soundtrack:

Eretz Tzvi

best darn Israeli action movie ever

Not that I've seen all that many Israeli action movies, but it's definitely the bets one I've seen. Yes, this movie is dated. It relies on stereotypes and is full of cliches like the "oh-no!" quick-zoom. The dialogue is sometimes silly and there are a variety of flubs, both in continuity and historical accuracy. But, it's fun! From the music (which is so wonderfully 70's) to the memorably cheesy lines, and of course the sheer audacity of the mission that gives the movie its title, it all makes for an exciting and surprisingly emotional film. It's also the only film I know of where most scenes were shot twice so it could be released in two different languages. There is a Hebrew version out there (recently released on DVD, but hard to find) and an English version (first released on VHS and Beta in 1984, after which there may or may not have been a subsequent 1991 VHS re-release). And neither version is dubbed! Gotta love it.