Operation Delta Force is a 1997 action film directed by Sam Firstenberg (of American Ninja fame), starring Ernie Hudson, Jeff Fahey, and Joe Lara.
Major Tipton (Ernie), a former Delta Force leader who had resigned in disgrace after inadvertently causing the deaths of his entire team, now works as a medic and consultant for the UN's Biochemicals Research Division. During a routine inspection in a South African UN Research Facility, terrorists led by Colonel Johann Nash (Joe Lara) hijack the facility's latest project, a strain of highly contagious Ebola virus and the sole sample of it's antidote, and kill everyone but Tipton. A team of Delta Force specialists are sent to stop the terrorist legion, but as luck would have it, their leader turns out to be Captain Skip Lang (Jeff),the grudge-holding brother of one of Tipton's dead teammates.
The movie spawned a short-lived franchise consisting of four sequels, including Operation Delta Force 2: Mayday (1998), Operation Delta Force 3: Clear Target (1999), Operation Delta Force 4: Deep Fault (1999) and Operation Delta Force 5: Random Fire (2000), but with a completely different cast and directors.
Operation Troper Force:
- Amoral Afrikaner: The main villains are fanatic South African terrorists who threatens the population with a dangerous virus.
- The Atoner: Tipton, who still have regrets about unintentionally leading his former team to their deaths, where he have since became a medic to redeem his past actions.
- Bait-and-Switch Gunshot: In the final shootout, a random terrorist is sneaking up on McKinney before Marie guns him down. McKinney hears the gunshots, turns around, and sees the terrorist collapsing while Marie salutes at him.
- Big Bad Duumvirate: Colonel Johann Nash, the terrorist leader and General Praetorian, a corrupt South African General who funds Nash's operations.
- Black Dude Dies First: Averted for Ernie Hudson's Tipton who survives the entire movie, but played straight with an unnamed, black Delta Force officer on Lang's team, who is one of the very first Delta Force members to die in the train shootout. Incidentally, he's shot by Nash, the White Supremacist Big Bad.
- Blood from the Mouth: Some characters visibly throws up blood as they succumbs, including Hutch and Nash.
- Combat Medic: Major Tipton, a former Delta Force commando who quit the force to become a doctor, but still retains his skills in kicking ass despite being out of action for years.
- Covers Always Lie: The film's official release poster depicts a jet airplane flying over a boatload of marines. The only time a jet appears in the film is during a random airstrike scene that lasts for five seconds, and at no point does the marines show up in the film at all!
- Dark Is Not Evil / Light Is Not Good: The main Delta members all wears grey and dark-looking outfits while Nash and the rest of the terrorists have more brightful ones.
- Dartboard of Hate: Referenced, but not shown onscreen. Lang states that his mother had a dartboard with a photo of Tipton's face clipped on, with plenty of holes on it, due to his family blaming Tipton over the death of Lang's brother.
- Decoy Protagonist: The film starts with an Action Prologue with the Delta Force, led by Lang, infiltrates a government building in Johannesburg captured by terrorists, and swiftly kills off all of the opposing side while suffering one casualty; before the entire scene is revealed to be a training exercise. Then, roughly ten minutes into the film, only did the true protagonist, Major Tipton, shows up.
- Dies Wide Open: Hutch, until Major Tipton closes it for him.
- Faux Action Girl: Marie, who's good at taking down faceless mooks but doesn't contribute much beyond getting momentarily used as a hostage by Nash in the finale.
- Fire-Forged Friends: Tipton initially had a hard time being accepted by Captain Lang, since a bad decision from Tipton years ago led to the death of Lang's brother, and their co-operation is more of an issue of necessity to stop Nash and the terrorists. But after surviving one shootout after another they've become considerably closer and by the end of the film, Lang and Tipton are willing to part ways on amicable terms.
- Fire Hose Cannon: In the final shootout, one of the main villains, Praetorian, tried making his escape carrying a sample of the Ebola viral antidote, and the Delta team are unable to gun him down for concerns about accidentally damaging the antidote's container. Cue Captain Lang grabbing a nearby firehose, turning it to full blast, and using the impact to knock Praetorian off his feet and subduing the villain long enough for the antidote's retrieval.
- Foreshadowing: In the film's opening training exercise, Hutch, the Delta Force's heart ends up being shot by rubber bullets. He ends up being the sole named character to die in the village shootout later in the movie.
- Hate Sink: Johann Nash, who is not just a terrorist leader, but also a White Supremacist terrorist leader. Much of his dialogue consists of racial slurs and deragatory terms at non-whites, and at one point he even had the gall to make a bold claim about how Ernie Hudson's Tipton is inferior to an ape. It's quite blatant that the film doesn't want to portray him in a positive light.
- Hostage Situation: Three in the film, the Office Building in Johannesburg (although that one was merely a training exercise performed with blanks), the train standoff and the village situation.
- Leave No Survivors: After capturing the viral samples from the UN facility, Nash personally guns down all the scientists and staff to cover his tracks.
- The Plague: The newly-developed viral strain ends up leaking when the vial containing the virus gets hit by a stray bullet, infecting several villages and everyone exposed to the virus, including the Delta Force as well as the terrorists. Unfortunately, the antidote is in Nash's hands, and Nash intends to take advantage of the situation by sending his men to countries all over the world to spread the virus across the globe.
- Politically Incorrect Hero: McKinney appears to be quite sexist and he firmly disagrees in having a woman like Marie in the team. He softens up a little, though, after she saves his life.
- Politically Incorrect Villain: Colonel Johann Nash, besides being a terrorist leader, is also a White Supremacist villain, who repeatedly taunts the African American Tipton.
- Pre-Mortem One-Liner: Major Tipton delivers a really badass one while executing Nash, who earlier on makes a racist remark towards the African-American Tipton.Tipton: "I've had just about enough of that kafir shit!"
- Redshirt Army: The Delta Force members which aren't part of the Five-Man Band above. They do not have any names, and doesn't live past the second act of the film.
- Rewarded as a Traitor Deserves: Dr. Wells is the informant who leaks information regarding the viral samples being researched in the UN Facility to Nash and Praetorian, leading to Nash and his terrorists launching an invasion on the facility right at the start of the film. After Nash had captured the base, however, he simply shoots Wells who is awaiting his reward.
- Slashed Throat: The first terrorist in the train infiltration gets his throat cut, courtesy of Lang.
- Smoky Voice: Captain Lang's voice is quite guttural and raucous courtesy of Jeff Fahey.
- Smurfette Principle: Marie is the only female member in Captain Lang's team much to McKinney's annoyance at first.
-
Spiritual Successor: To The Delta Force, Delta Force 2: The Colombian Connection, and Delta Force 3: The Killing Game, the last of which is also from the same director of the first Operation Delta Force movie. - Stab the Scorpion: At the end of the final shootout, after Tipton had subdued Praetorian and retrieved the virus antidote, Lang, from a tall balcony, fires a shot at Tipton's direction… and kills Praetorian, who is Playing Possum and about to ambush Tipton. It was from here on Tipton realized Lang no longer holds a grudge regarding his brother's death.
- Terrorists Without a Cause: Nash's organization is a terrorist legion whose reason in creating chaos across the world is to simply "cleanse the world in their own image".
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Nash kills his mole scientist after he gives him the vault's code where the virus is hidden since he has no more use for him.
- Unkempt Beauty: Marie in the later half of the film, after getting roughed up during several shootouts and having a nasty scratch on her cheek that remains for the entirety of her screentime.
