Raid on Entebbe was one of no fewer than three films rushed out in the aftermath of the audacious Israeli rescue of passengers hijacked by Palestinian terrorists on an Air France plane en route to Paris in 1976.
The mission, carried out by elite Israeli troops, was meticulously planned, well timed and brilliantly executed. This film is none of those things.
The terrorists (we know they are terrorists because they look shifty and most of them have moustaches) are not in the slightest bit scary, Peter Finch is ridiculously miscast as Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin (in fact the whole Cabinet looks as if it was chosen from regulars at a New York deli), Charles Bronson appears to be playing a pastiche of himself and don't even get me started on Idi Amin.
Still, the film is believed to be fairly accurate and it is possible to suspend disbelief just long enough to kvell at the courage and daring of the rescuers. We also get to come over all nostalgic about a time when Israeli soldiers were allowed to be the heroes of action movies.
