North Sea Hijack (1979)

User Rating:

6.3/10   

Director:

Andrew V. McLaglen

Writers:

Jack Davies (novel)
Jack Davies (screenplay)

Release Date:

May 1980 (Austria)

Genre:

Adventure | Thriller

Tagline:

When the next 12 hours could cost you 1,000 million pounds and 600 lives you need a man who lives second by second. [UK Theatrical]

Plot:

When terrorists take over two oil rigs and threaten to explode them if their demands are not met, a unique commando unit is sent in to stop them.

Plot Keywords:

Terrorist | Oil Rig | North Sea | Oil | Commando

Cast

Roger Moore	...	Rufus Excalibur Ffolkes
James Mason	...	Admiral Sir Francis Brindsen
Anthony Perkins	...	Lou Kramer
Michael Parks	...	Harold Shulman
David Hedison	...	Robert King
Jack Watson	...	Captain Olafsen
George Baker	...	Fletcher
Jeremy Clyde	...	Lord Privy Seal Dennis Tipping
David Wood	...	Herring
Faith Brook	...	British Prime Minister
Lea Brodie	...	Sanna
Anthony Pullen Shaw	...	Robert F. Ackerman
Philip O'Brien	...	Art Webb
John Westbrook	...	Dawnay
Jennifer Hilary	...	Sarah

Also Known As:

Assault Force (USA) (TV title)
Esther, Ruth and Jennifer (UK) (working title)
ffolkes (USA)

Runtime:

West Germany:100 min | USA:95 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16 | USA:PG | South Korea:15 | West Germany:12 | Finland:K-16 | Norway:15 (re-rating) | Norway:16 (original rating) | UK:15 (video rating) (1987) | UK:A (original rating) (cut) | Australia:PG

Filming Locations:

Galway City, County Galway, Ireland

Company:

Cinema Seven Productions Ltd.

Trivia:

Rufus Excalibur Ffolkes has a black cat named Enoch. This is an obvious dig at the famous British anti-immigration politician -- Enoch Powell.

Goofs:

Continuity: Ffolkes uses military time couple of times, which is expected. But when on the rig and getting ready to go the ship, he has everyone sync their watches to 1114 rather than military time of 2314.

Quotes:

Lou Kramer: You'd better take that pussycat grin off your face or this guy's liable to carve it off.

Set your timer, can you measure up?

If you've seen Roger Moore as The Saint, as 007, as any other character, even if you haven't liked him, you'll enjoy him as "ffolkes," the cat-loving misogynist of this movie. Even though I'm very much a feminist I loved this character. I don't think that the casting of Anthony Perkins was too obvious, I think he brought complications to a simply drawn character. The supernumeraries on either side are just complicated enough to be slightly confusing and still enjoy their conflicts.

This is one of my favorite movies. Of course, so is "Eating Raoul."