The Terrorists (1974)

In a Scandinavian country, national security chief Colonel Tahlvik is tasked to rescue the passengers of a high-jacked British airliner while the British Ambassador is being held hostage at his residence by another terrorist team.

Director:

Casper Wrede

Writer:

Paul Wheeler

Stars:

Sean Connery, Ian McShane, Jeffry Wickham

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sean Connery	...	Tahlvik
Ian McShane	...	Petrie
Jeffry Wickham	...	Barnes
Isabel Dean	...	Mrs. Palmer
John Quentin	...	Shepherd
Robert Harris	...	Palmer
James Maxwell	...	Bernhard
William Fox	...	Ferris
Harry Landis	...	Lookout Pilot
Norman Bristow	...	Denver
John Cording	...	Bert
Christopher Ellison	...	Pete
Richard Hampton	...	Joe
Preston Lockwood	...	Hislop
Karen Maxwell	...	Eva

Storyline

A gang of hijackers led by Ray Petrie (Ian McShane) seize a British plane as it is landing in Scandinavia. Ruthless Military Police Chief Colonel Tahlvik (Sir Sean Connery) is assigned to rescue the plane and its passengers. But he must also deal with the problem of the British Ambassador, whose residence has been seized by a second group of terrorists.

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Plot Keywords:

hijacking | british | british ambassador | scandinavia | terrorist | 

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Taglines:

Connery Won't Pay Ransom

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

The airplane used in the filming was loaned out by Hans Otto Meyer, a Norwegian finance man and shipping magnate. The cast was invited home to his villa for a party and McShane and Connery was given a tour of what turned out to be a secret weapons cache for the Norwegian Stay Behind army. A few years later Meyer was arrested, and the government was alerted to the existence of a secret army that only a few officials were aware of.

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Quotes

Nils Tahlvik: National security becomes a farce if we throw away the rule of law.

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Crazy Credits

Opening credits prologue: SCANDINAVIA DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

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Connections

Referenced in Casper och den förbjudna filmen (2009)

User Reviews

Hijack thriller which doesn't stick in the mind for very long

Many critics have called the Sean Connery thriller Ransom a stinker. It's not all that good, but to label it as bottom-of-the-barrel rubbish is possibly a bit harsh.

The story is old hat. It concerns a plane hijacking in Scandinavia, carried out by a gang of suit-clad Englismhmen led by the charismatic Ian McShane. Connery is introduced as a Scandinavian police chief (still with the familiar Scottish accent, however) who is hired to end the siege. His mission is complicated further when a second hostage situation arises at the nearby residence of the British Ambassador.

The snowy landscapes fit nicely with the cold, cynical plot. There are infrequent tense sequences, such as the bit where a team of counter-terrorist soldiers make a bungled attempt to seize the aircraft. Connery and McShane have a few well played scenes in which they taunt and torment each other over the readio transmitter. The reason that the film fails to take off is that it is too low key, and suffers from a bad twist ending which renders the entire film a bit pointless. Too many of the scenes are flat, and Caspar Wrede (the director) doesn't get interesting performances out of any of the secondary characters.

Not a full-on catastrophe, then, but not a great film either.

Details

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

27 February 1975 (UK)

Also Known As:

The Terrorists

Filming Locations:

Oslo, Norway

Box Office

Budget:

$1,500,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Lion International, Twentieth Century Fox, Rawley Film & Theatre

Technical Specs

Runtime:

89 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor) (uncredited)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1