Mivtsa Yonatan (1977)

In July 1976, an Air France flight from Tel-Aviv to Paris via Athens was hijacked and forced to land in Entebbe, Uganda. The Jewish passengers were separated and held hostage in demand to ... See full summary »

Director:

Menahem Golan

Writers:

Ken Globus (dialogue), Menahem Golan,

Stars:

Yehoram Gaon, Gila Almagor, Assi Dayan

Nominated for 1 Oscar.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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
Henri Czarniak	...	Michel Bacos
Rolf Eden	...	Air France Co-Pilot
Shoshana Shani	...	Alma Raviv
Oded Teomi	...	Dan Zamir

Storyline

In July 1976, an Air France flight from Tel-Aviv to Paris via Athens was hijacked and forced to land in Entebbe, Uganda. The Jewish passengers were separated and held hostage in demand to release many terrorists held in Israeli prisons. After much debate, the Israeli government sent an elite commando unit to raid the airfield and release the hostages. The film is based on the true facts and follows the events since the flight's takeoff and until the hostages' return to Israel.

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Plot Keywords:

hostage | israeli | uganda | terrorist | israel | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Action | Drama | History

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

Israel

Language:

Hebrew English German Arabic Spanish

Release Date:

27 January 1978 (USA)

Also Known As:

Operation Thunderbolt

Filming Locations:

Eilat, Israel

Box Office

Budget:

$2,500,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Technical Specs

Runtime:

124 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

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

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Goofs

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.

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Connections

Version of Victory at Entebbe (1976)

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Soundtracks

"Eretz Tzvi"
Lyrics by Telma Alyagon-Roz
Music by Dov Seltzer
Performed by Yehoram Gaon

User Reviews

Israeli commando raid releases hijacked hostages

The movie depicts the true operation to release hostages in Uganda by Israeli commandos. The movie focuses on the leader of the operation - who ends up as the only casualty - very much like a french movie.

The movie uses 4(!) different languages (Hebrew, English, German and Arabic) that lend to the credibility and authenticity of the movie. The plot has good pace and does not let you dose off for a second. The story is "classic" and powerful.