Raid on Entebbe (film)
| Raid on Entebbe | |
|---|---|
 original film poster by John Solie | |
| Directed by | Irvin Kershner |
| Produced by |
Daniel H. Blatt Edgar J. Scherick |
| Written by | Barry Beckerman |
| Starring |
Peter Finch Charles Bronson Yaphet Kotto James Woods Robert Loggia |
| Music by | David Shire |
| Cinematography | Bill Butler |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox Television |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 150 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language |
English German French |
| Budget | $3.5 million[1] |
Raid on Entebbe is a 1977 television film directed by Irvin Kershner. It is based on an actual event: Operation Entebbe and the freeing of hostages at Entebbe Airport in Entebbe, Uganda on 4 July 1976. The portrayal of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was Peter Finch's final performance; he died five days after the film's release.
Plot
The film focuses on the basic facts of the rescue of hostages held when hijackers belonging to a splinter group of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine under the orders of Wadie Haddad boarded and hijacked an Air France plane. It recounts the events and response of the Israeli government and the controversy that the rescue stirred.
This version shows the difficult deliberations held by the Cabinet of Israel to decide on a top-secret military raid on the Jewish Sabbath by commandos; a difficult and daring operation carried out over 2,500 miles (4 000 km) from home, and an unwillingness of the Israeli government to give in to terrorist demands. One commando was killed (the breach unit commander Yonatan Netanyahu, brother of future Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu), as were three of the hostages, and 45 soldiers under the then dictator of Uganda, Idi Amin. A fourth hostage, Dora Bloch, who had been taken to Mulago Hospital in Kampala, was murdered by the Ugandans on Idi Amin's orders.
Cast
- Peter Finch as Yitzhak Rabin
- Charles Bronson as Brig. Gen Dan Shomron
- Yaphet Kotto as Idi Amin
- Martin Balsam as Daniel Cooper
- Horst Buchholz as Wilfried Böse
- John Saxon as Maj. Gen. Peled
- Jack Warden as Lt. Gen. Mordechai Gur
- Meshach Richards as Maj. Gen. Allon
- Sylvia Sidney as Dora Bloch
- Robert Loggia as Yigal Allon
- Tige Andrews as Shimon Peres
- Eddie Constantine as Capt. Michel Bacos
- David Opatoshu as Menachem Begin
- Allan Arbus as Eli Melnick
- Stephen Macht as Lt. Col. Yonatan 'Yoni' Netanyahu
- James Woods as Capt. Sammy Berg
- Harvey Lembeck as Mr. Harvey
- Dinah Manoff as Rachel Sager
- Kim Richards as Alice
- Aharon Ipalé as Major David Grut
Music
The Jewish hymn sung on the plane by the commandos is "Hine ma tov."
Ban in Thailand
In May 1977, local authorities banned the film from public display in Thailand. They argued the film presented a one-sided image of the Middle East conflict and posed a risk to the nation's relations with Arab states.[2]