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Mivtsa Yonatan (1977) More at IMDbPro »

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4 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
Accurately historically, keeps the rhythm to the very end, 18 October 2005
10/10
Author: Adriana Tippman from Uruguay

Accurately historically, keeps the rhythm to the very end. Seems even better than the two other versions of it. I liked it very much. It was a good idea and implementation the usage of real video of Israeli leaders. The film describes the Operation Entebbe, which took place on the night of July 3 and early morning of July 4, 1976. Originally called Operation Thunderbolt by the Israeli military who planned it and carried it out, and it was subsequently renamed Operation Yonatan after the raid commander, Col. Yonatan "Yoni" Netanyahu, the only Israeli soldier to die in the raid. "Yoni" was the brother of the former Israeli primer minister Benjamin Netanyahu, of the Likud party. The Israeli singer and actor Yehoram Gaon played Col. Netanyahu and there is a good acting by the German actor Klaus Kinski as the leader of the terrorist gang. A good war film but more than that a must for those who like films on international affairs.

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4 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
The best action movie ever made in Israel, 30 April 2003
9/10
Author: Liran Lotker from Sweden

Mivtza Yehonatan (or as it is better known around the world, Entebbe Operation), in which the Israeli army managed to take over the Entebbe airport in Uganda, to free all hostages of the kidnapped Air France plane and to bring (almost) everybody home in one piece, is a story told a million times over, was made into a very bad Hollywood action movie and was used as the basis for countless B-movies. This version, however, is unique. To begin with, many of the key characters of the operation (Shimon Peres, Yitzhak Rabin and Yigal Alon, all of whom played key rolls in the decision making process of this operation) were acting as themselves. Secondly, the Israeli army actively participated in the making of the movie, thus making the level of realism higher than most other action movies ever made. Third, Yoram Globus, in his break-through movie (that opened the gates of big-time Hollywood for him) proves that he can direct a good action movie, based on a great story, and coming out on top of his game.

All in all, a great movie to watch.

9 out of 10 in my book-keeping.

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4 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
best darn Israeli action movie ever, 17 February 2003
7/10
Author: themicah from New York, NY

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.

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7 out of 13 people found the following comment useful :-
Amazing retelling of a great victory, 18 April 1999
10/10
Author: Bruce Wheelock from Covington, WA

This is an amazing retelling of Israel's great Entebbe victory. It doesn't sink into melodrama, but shows us how all the pieces were brought together for this singular achievement. Exciting, gripping, and with a sense of realism rarely seen.

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4 out of 8 people found the following comment useful :-
A story of heroism against all odds!, 3 May 2004
Author: rshay from Bellevue, Washington - USA

This 1977 Oscar nominated film in the category of "Best Foreign Film" is based on the true story of the rescue mission led by a young Israeli Army officer, Jonathan "Yoni" Netanyaho that astounded the world. Yoni's brother, Benjamin Netanyaho would go on to become the Prime Minister of Israel. This film still stands today with the other films about the Entebbe rescue as an inspiration of what can be accomplished when heroic people of honor and determination, the Israel Defense Forces, come face to face with the forces of evil, in this case German and Palestinian terrorists. There is no fluff in this movie, just an honest portrayal of heroism by the innocent civilian hostages, the Air France flight crew and the IDF soldiers, pilots and flight crews. To truly define this film I would like to quote in part a letter from Benjamin Netanyaho which come with each 25th Anniversary DVD. "........The story of Yoni and his comrades in Entebbe sheds light on the other heroes of Israel, known and unsung alike, who through their sacrifice and courage delivered our people time and again from the abyss of disaster, in the wars of Israel as at Entebbe. I can only hope that their great spirit, as captured in this film, will serve to meet the great challenges that still await us."

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4 out of 9 people found the following comment useful :-
Gotta hand it to the Israelis with this one, 2 November 2002
Author: Michael A. Martinez (aylmer666@juno.com) from Los Angeles, CA

While peace in the middle east seems as far away now as it did in 1949, you gotta hand it to em that they sure can still make a hell of a good movie.

While the actual operation of the 1976 rescue of the 100+ hostages held at Entebbe airport is not probed into as much with this film as with RAID ON ENTEBBE, this is the infinitely more fun one of the two to watch. Dov Seltzer's music is really the star with this film, particularly with the really cool opening theme which plays in many variations whenever Yoni is onscreen and the theme that plays at Entebbe airport whenever it shows the guards standing around, etc. The music works best during Yoni's death scene (this is no spoiler since the events of the film are historically accurate, and pretty well-known too) where it really takes his usual theme but drags it out to sound all tragic. Gotta love the ultra-70's style filming and editing. Lots of zoom-ins and odd use of models, stock footage, and stand-ins which is sometimes cheesy, but always entertaining in some way. It's all pretty standard stuff until the ending battle, which is handled in a very high-octane way as opposed to RAID ON ENTEBBE, where they did a lot of standing around and things tended to work out better (It would be more interesting to know which of the two is more historically accurate).

Klaus Kinski and Sybil Danning are the other stars here. Their problem though is that they are underused. Klaus doesn't act quite crazy enough (though he does a lot of running around and has a really cool death scene), and Sybil Danning's stunning unearthly beauty is not exploited enough, hidden behind poofy hair, bulky dress, and a large pair of sunglasses. One might be angry at watching this and not getting their full Kinski or Danning's-worth, but it's better than not having them here at all.

The authenticity involved in much of the rest of the film is amazing, with Rabin and Peres doing some acting (though they never speak, on-camera and the scenes where people are talking to them look suspiciously like they used doubles) and supposedly 12 of the original hostages returned to reprise their roles in this film. However, it goes out of its way to demonize the PLO, Che Guevaranians, and Idi Amin (though with him that's another story). Everything with the villains is a lot darker and more mean-spirited than in RAID ON ENTEBBE, but it all works to make this film more fun. Just take it as entertainment and not as fact, because of course it was the winners that made this. Just a fun and fast-paced little forgotten movie. Where's the DVD?

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2 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
Israeli commando raid releases hijacked hostages, 3 January 2004
10/10
Author: Motty Anavi from Paramus, NJ

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.

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3 out of 15 people found the following comment useful :-
Mediocre P.O.S., 11 June 2003
Author: BKinzeys from Hollywood, CA

Golan & Globus at their best, which is to say it's a mediocre movie. A one and a half hour movie crammed into two hours.

I was surprised they didn't have an epilogue, since it's history it would have been nice. Not nearly as good or as historic as "Raid on Entebbe."

It's only bad enough to be entertaining in a few spots. Klaus Kinski is wasted and Sybil Danning is dressed with HUGE sunglasses and a potato sack for a dress.

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0 out of 10 people found the following comment useful :-
Just another Entebbe movie, 15 April 2007
3/10
Author: dreamdemon-1 from Romania

It seems that just after the events, the subject was so hot that is went on to be over exploited in both small and wide screen movies. Unfortunately, all movies are near-sighted and tell the story from a single point of view, the Israeli one, which seems to be deemed equivalent to the entire world's point of view. When a movie recounts historical events, I would like that movie to exploit the subject to a reasonable depth and keep the circumstances realistic. I have held the same problem against the more recent '300' movie, as well as others and this happened with most movies that have one side against another: simply telling the world "we're better than the others" isn't enough, this has to be shown from a fair and direct comparison that the spectator can relate to.

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6 out of 24 people found the following comment useful :-
Simplistic flag-waving propaganda piece, 10 April 2001
4/10
Author: John Seal from Oakland CA

It's entertaining, based on fact, and has aged about as well as most American WWII films---which means not particularly well. Klaus Kinski doesn't have enough to do as the chief baddie and the other baddies are cardboard 70s radicals who also manage to encompass Nazi tendencies. All the Israelis are heros and/or victims: the standard party line that has kept the mideast conflict percolating along all these years (albeit with a decent helping hand from Hamas and Hezbollah).

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