MGM Studios DVD presents

Delta Force 2 (1990)

Ramon Cota : "Aaaaah, the eyes truly are windows to the soul. Yours reveal so much. They tell me that you do not fear death as I do not. So sad that we are on opposite sides. We would have been such a beautiful team."
Colonel Scot McCoy: "Not on your best day, pal. You're nothing but a chickensh** weasel who thrives on the misery of others. And when death calls, you'll be screaming like a baby."

Stars: Chuck Norris, Billy Drago
Other Stars: John P. Ryan, Richard Jaekel, Begonia Plaza
Director: Aaron Norris

Manufacturer: MGM Home Entertainment
MPAA Rating: R for Violence
Run Time: 01h:51m:00s
Release Date: 2000-09-19
Genre: action

Style Grade	Substance Grade	Image Transfer Grade	Audio Transfer Grade	Extras Grade
C+	C	B	B	D

 

DVD Review

Still in search of a movie with action that "moves along at a ferocious pace," I turned to Delta Force 2 with Chuck Norris returning to the Scot McCoy character of The Delta Force. Happily, this film takes the level of energy and havoc of the last part of The Delta Force and carries it through to provide a prime example of the action-hero-revenge genre.

Alternately subtitled "Operation Stranglehold" and "The Columbian Connection," this story onces again mixes quasi-facts with a whole lot of fantasy. Evil Columbian drug lord Ramon Cota is kidnapped by McCoy and his partner, Major Bobby Payne (Paul Perri), from the fictional Latin American dictatorship of San Carlos and brought to the United States for justice. The snatch is a great stunt as the intrepid pair of American commandos grab Cota aboard an aircraft and offer him a parachute for the jump into the ocean. Cota sneeringly refuses a parachute and McCoy, after refusing a bribe, pushes him out the door. As Cota freefalls, his briefcase flies open and millions of dollars stream out. McCoy coolly leaps out to catch up with Cota. He grabs him and opens his parachute just at the limit of safety. "Always the hard way!" exclaims General Taylor (John P. Ryan), invoking the movie's catchphrase.

At his trial, the judge gives Cota bail of only 10 million dollars and the gangster sneeringly walks out of the courtroom. Drago has mastered the art of the evil sneer in this role and gives a particularly, deliciously nasty performance as the drug lord. After being punched by Major Payne in the courtroom, Cota gets revenge by viciously killing Payne's wife and son. The Major goes on a mission of personal revenge and he and several DEA agents are captured by the drug gang. Cota brutally kills him in a gas chamber and sends a tape of the death back to the United States.

After viewing the tape, Norris goes out and kicks the hell out of the rest of the commando unit to work out his anger. This is the element that is missing from the first Delta Force movie: the personal involvement of the hero. It is one thing for Chuck and team to risk their lives for some hostages on a hijacked plane, but it is quite another to mount an operation to avenge the brutal death of a friend and colleague.

The President orders Delta Force to San Carlos and, with the cooperation of the local government, they begin a series of search and destroy sweeps of drug labs and coca fields. General Taylor is very funny as he merrily "cooperates" with the observer from the San Carlos government in the operation. This serves as a diversion for Colonel McCoy to infiltrate the headquarters of Cota in search of justice and satisfaction. A lot of bullets, rockets, knifes, bombs, fists and feet fly in the sedate little fiefdom of San Carlos.

Delta Force 2 is directed by Aaron Norris, brother of the star and he does a serviceable job. This film is really the last of Chuck Norris' run in the 80's as an action hero on the big screen. The movie has several scenes of explicit brutality and the drug gang suffers greatly at the hands of Delta Force. There is no doubt that this is a quintessential Chuck Norris action picture and delivers the goods.

Rating for Style: C+
Rating for Substance: C

 

Image Transfer

	One
Aspect Ratio	1.33:1 - Full Frame
Original Aspect Ratio	no
Anamorphic	no

Image Transfer Review: Although the image transfer features a standard screen format this film avoids the dreaded television-ish quality that marred the first Delta Force entry. Again the picture is very crisp and consistent with the quality of MGM DVDs I have viewed. Colors are very rich and details are very sharp. There is some great photography in the aerial scenes.

Image Transfer Grade: B
 

Audio Transfer

	Language	Remote Access
Dolby Digital 2.1	English	yes

Audio Transfer Review: The sound transfer is a very decent Dolby Digital Stereo Surround with excellent separation in the action sequences. The mix was very good, superior to the first Delta Force and the musical soundtrack in this film is far better.

Audio Transfer Grade: B 

Disc Extras

Static menu
Scene Access with 16 cues
Subtitles/Captions in French, Spanish with remote access
1 Original Trailer(s)
Packaging: Amaray
Picture Disc
1 Disc
1-Sided disc(s)
Layers: single

Extras Review: No extras to mention for this DVD release.

Extras Grade: D
 

Final Comments

Definitely a time capsule from when Reagan America had almost worked out the lessons of Viet Nam; the Cold War was ending and new villains needed to be found and, by golly, if we needed to go over there and kick some butt to keep those foreigners in line we just did it and counted up the bodies later. Recommended for fans of the genre.

Jesse Shanks 2000-09-17