OPERATION THUNDERBOLT: INSIDE ISRAEL'S DARING HOSTAGE RESCUE MISSION

Cinemavixion Review

This documentary plunges viewers into the heart of the 1976 hijacking of Air France Flight 139, a harrowing event that set the stage for one of modern history's most daring hostage rescue missions. The film meticulously recounts the terrifying ordeal of 248 passengers and crew diverted to Uganda by four armed hijackers, with the complicity of Ugandan dictator Idi Amin. As the situation intensified with the separation of Jewish and Israeli hostages and a brutal execution deadline, Israel, against its established policy, embarked on a covert military solution. The documentary sheds light on the clandestine planning and mobilization of Israel's elite counterterrorism unit, detailing a brilliant deception involving a fake presidential motorcade to ensure complete surprise. Viewers are taken on the commandos' perilous 2,000-mile journey, witnessing the tense moments their cover was compromised and the swift, brutal two-minute firefight that neutralized the terrorists and liberated the hostages. The narrative does not shy away from the profound cost of this success, acknowledging the tragic loss of the unit's commander and the subsequent brutal retaliation by the dictator.