Operation Delta Force 4: Deep Fault (1999) User Reviews (17)

It's nigh-impossible to imagine someone renting this in a video store.

[tarbosh22000 · 3/10 · 31 May 2013]

"Mac" McKinney (Lara) leads his fellow Delta Force soldiers Sparks, Hutch and Vickers (Hudson, Williams and Messner, respectively) on many dangerous missions which mainly include going to depressed-looking eastern-European countries and shooting people. But they're going to face their toughest challenge yet in the form of megalomaniacal baddie Olivio Garcia (Laughlin), a man who's so demented he wants to use nuclear weapons to trigger massive earthquakes. Naturally he does all this from his underground command center (where to these baddies keep finding these things?) - so the soldiers bring along token female scientist Laurie Granger (DuMond) to try to use science to try and stop him, or something like that. Will our brave heroes stop this madman from earthquaking the world to death? Find out today! So let me get this straight: there's the Delta Force series, the Operation Delta Force series, the American Heroes series, and the U.S. Seals series, and they're all separate entities, all doing their own thing. Assuming I'm correct here, let's move on...Nu Image really knows how to churn out some serious crud. It's nigh-impossible to imagine someone renting this in a video store. Patrons who haven't seen the first three movies in the series will surely be scared away at the prospect of a fourth, and only die-hard fans are going to stick through four movies of this and beyond. So it all gets a bit confusing, but director Mark Roper doesn't help matters by giving us an unfocused, Gary Daniels-less movie that has plenty of very dumb moments. But, in an interesting twist, it's these little moments that keep this movie afloat - barely. There are enough tiny little instances of something funny or somewhat interesting happening that pop up every few minutes where you say, "oh, okay, this isn't so bad". Just check out what happens during the snowboard/snowmobile chase (which feels a lot like AIP's White Fury, 1990), the train shootout or one of the many scenes of gun-shooting. So while there are some glimpses of worthwhile-ness, this movie should have had more character development, explained what was going on just a bit more, and trimmed the constant battle sequences. If the movie had done this, it would have been a lot better.

If you are looking for a movie about breakaway seismologists, where characters wear T-shirts that proclaim "models suck" to the racquetball court, here you go. It also seems pretty influenced by The Soldier (1982). Thankfully there's no CGI, or the proceedings would have been horrendous. But for the main baddie, the casting department found a man so generic-looking for this type of role, perhaps they thought they could confuse viewers. This "I'm not Wings Hauser or Peter Bogdanovich or Bruce Boxleitner or Barry Bostwick or Warren Beatty or Bruce Davison or James Spader" baddie also has an evil scarf. So you know he's evil.

As far as the climax of the movie, it takes up far too much time. A climax is supposed to be exciting and somewhat brief. Here, it just goes on and on and on. That drains it of urgency and it just feels listless. So the climax should have been an actual CLIMAX and not an interminable time-filler. That just adds to the overlong feel of the whole movie. It kind of grinds to a screeching halt at that point.

Operation Delta Force 4: Deep Fault is yet more Nu Image filler. All their non-Isaac Florentine-directed movies are not that great, and this just isn't memorable. It doesn't stand out from the pack in any way. To quote one of the great Delta Force Soldiers (this was the 90's, don't forget), "PEACE!!!!"

"Fear is your armour, Mac. That is what's going to keep you alive"

[hwg1957-102-265704 · 5/10 · 20 February 2023]

The Delta Force team (Skip, Mac, Hutch, Vickers and Sparks!) are ordered to go after some rogue plutonium which villainous scientist Garcia wants so he can arm a missile and cause an earthquake to destroy California. (Hence the 'Deep Fault' of the title). The team come out on top in the end though they lose three of their comrades. The story is routine and not structured well and the dialogue mostly risible. I did like the real (that is non-CGI) explosions and the tank, tram and train scenes but the last third of the film where they get to the villain's obligatory hideout is too drawn out getting sillier and yawn-inducing as it proceeds along. The demise of some of the heroes make no impact as you don't warm to them although the actors do try their best. Not an awful actioner but mainly forgettable.

The character of Skip Lang is played by four different actors in the first four Operation Delta Force movies and none of them are like the others in any way. Similar to other characters in the series. Of all the four Skips though I prefer Jeff Fahey from the original film but then I'm biased having always liked Mr. Fahey in movies.

Clothes maketh not the man, but editing sure can break a movie

[rayxt · 3/10 · 5 May 2002]

Proof if ever more was needed, that an action movie, irregardless of its budget, can LOOK better with more setups (or cameras), closer shots, and many more cuts. The 'Martini' generation has moved on to John Woo. Deep Fault could be better for a work over in the cutting room. Ray

Informative. Utter crap, but informative.

[wheels128 · 1/10 · 20 June 2005]

As a huge fan of the original Operation Delta Force, I thought I'd pick this film up. I figured it couldn't be too bad. However, here's a list of things I learnt from watching Operation Delta Force 4: Deep Fault.

• The Delta Force, despite being the elite in American armed forces, are mostly mildly-overweight men in their late 30s and early 40s.

• The Delta Force, despite being the elite in American armed forces, carry standard police issue pistols or AK-47s on their most important missions.

• The Delta Force, despite being the elite in American armed forces, haven't learnt that during stealth missions, wearing bright red ski jumpers and running around in open spaces aren't exactly going to keep you out of sight.

• When you drop a Molotov cocktail into a tank, it explodes externally like a grenade.

• When you get hit by tank fire, you can run away, although the smoke caused may present minor difficulties for breathing.

• You can die from one standard gun shot, but you can also live despite being hit multiple times by a sniper rifle, and a few times by an AK-47.

• In hand-to-hand combat, members of The Delta Force, despite being the elite in American armed forces, are regularly pummeled by railroad attendants.

• If bad guys are approaching you while on a slow-moving train, there's nothing to worry about - between the 4 of them, they can't manage to figure out how to get an automatic weapon to fire automatically, let alone hit anyone from 5 metres (16 feet) with at least 50 attempts between them.

• If you're short on actors, just recycle them - the bad guy from Operation Delta Force 1 plays a good guy called Mac in Operation Delta Force 4, and the guy who played Mac in Operation Delta Force 3 now plays Skip Lang, a different good guy.

• It's not OK for The Delta Force to shoot an unarmed terrorist, even if he's attempting to reload his weapon to kill you.

• Grenades explode on impact with the ground when thrown by members of The Delta Force. When thrown by non-Delta Force personnel, they explode at exactly the point where the Delta Force members have thrown the grenades back at the bad guys.

• Tanks can drive faster than standard trucks.

• Militias and personal armies use the exact same chopper that the UN used in Operation Delta Force 1.

• When a chopper arrives, a bad guy in that chopper cannot see you if you lie face-down.

• Shooting someone multiple times in the chest will cause minor damage. Stabbing that person in the knee will kill them inside 5 seconds.

• The Delta Force steal cars from old people to get around when in foreign countries, because the US Military do not provide them with any means of transport. This may also explain why they caught public transport.

As you can see, this is not really the finest moment in film-making, but it's good for a laugh.

Another Proper B-Movie!!

[Jonny Frost · 22 March 2002]

CONTAINS MINOR SPOILERS!!

I love my action films - don't get me wrong you can't beat a good drama but you can't watch The Killing Fields or The End Of The Affair everyday!!

After a couple of lacklustre efforts this series really picked up with this episode. Crazy action from the word go and a total no-brainer plotline - characters that disappear and reappear as the director wants and to facilitate the plot, chase scenes for no reason, a man who takes 2o minutes to cut a wire, and even a bizarre cameo by Keith Carradine!!! Yes I Love This Film!!

This film is properly violent as well and for once it seems that someone other than Spielberg is interested in showing that gunshots do hurt, aren't pretty and sticking knives in people usually does more than tickle. It's a shame that they couldn't do this all the way through as no doubt the American censors would have a fit.

These films all follow a B-Movie Special Forces Film formula and as it works why fix it/break it/ do something original. It's history dates back to the original Delta Force movie by the erstwhile talent that was Chuck Norris. It goes something like this;

1/ Meet the men on a mission that goes FUBAR 2/ They lose a man/ gain a new member 3/ They get new mission 4/ They get chased 5/ They think they get what they want 6/ They don't 7/ They go back in and kick the villain's arse 8/ Some may die (at least one must) 9/ The end.

Oh you may complain about the small things like why does a Special Forces team from the most sophisticated army in the world have a sniper using an old Italian bolt-action rifle? And why is he sighting it through the wrong eye? How is that tank still working didn't they just blow it up? And why is the camera so close in on Greg Collins face? If the world really is in that much danger why only send 5 blokes? Why does that attractive young lady only turn up in two scenes - and fully clothed?? Was that Keith Carradine?

Who cares, it IS stupid but made with such gusto and the performers really do try to believe in their situations that you can't help but love this film. Joe Lara even got rid of his ponytail! Someone give him a chance! One chance - even Gary Daniels has had that.

Obviously shot in Eastern Europe the film benefits from the fact that the Bulgarian government obviously wants to entice film-makers back and even allowed them to throw a tram down a street and blow it up!

A quick word about Operation Delta Force 2 and 3. Now these are really bad films. Not even enjoyable, Number 2 suffers from Main-Villain-Won't Die-itis and number 3 suffers from How-The-Hell-Did-He-Survive-Oh-he's-A-Good-Guy-itis. Worse still is the fact that number 2 contains a performance by Captain Dale Dye who is the Hollywood Military Advisor No.1 and he always complains about the lack of realism and accuracy of the depiction of the military and he appears in that!!! Maybe he needed to pay a big bill. And don't even watch the film U.S. Seals - Turd of the highest order - it doesn't even have a lot of action. Although for us Brits it does have a cameo by the actor who played Michael in "Desmond's" (a performance he is really embarrassed about or so he told me!)

If I could make these type-films for the rest of my career I would be happy, probably bored after the first five but hey it beats not working.

As I said before watch it after a hard day and you won't care after a few beers. Hell I watch these things when I'm sober and I think they're grrrrrreat.

Laughably bad

[herceg · 1/10 · 29 April 2006]

This is an awful movie from just about every point of view. Since much has been already pointed out in previous reviews, let me just focus on "Serbs" and "Delta Force" guys in this movie.

1) The uniforms that "Serbs" wear are not Serbian. And helmets are wrong, too.

2) The actors who play "Serbs" are not speaking Serbian, not even a language close to Serbian, unlike in "Behind enemy lines" where the Czech actors did their best to speak the language and add at least a bit of credibility to the movie.

3) The gray-bearded "Serbian general" looks and acts like a moron, firing his gun whenever US soldiers call his name:

• US soldier: "Gravic! Give up!"

• Gray-bearded moronic general: (fires his AK47)

• US soldier: "Gravic! Come out!"

• GBMG: (fires his AK47)

• US soldier: "Gravic! You're surrounded"

• GBMG: (fires his AK47)

• Prop guy: "Excuse me, Mr. gray-bearded moronic general, see, we're out of blanks and I sent the boy to buy some more, but he's not back yet..."

• GBMG: (click)

4) Since when does the Army issue AK47s to the Delta Force? I guess they couldn't find enough working M4s in Bulgaria, but there were plenty of old AK47s and practice blanks ;) Maybe they should have went for some airsofts, they are cheaper and wouldn't have hurt the credibility of the movie anyway...

5) In the scene where a DF officer is hanging on a rope while talking to a rocket scientist, he is holding his finger on the trigger all the time. No sane person with any weapons training or just plain common sense would ever do that. I guess the actor figured that his coolness level increases the longer he holds the gun that way.

This movie is such an insult to common sense..

warning this film contains some really unrealistic moments

[owen-smith · 1/10 · 30 May 2002]

WARINING : reading this may spoil your enjoyment of this film

this just makes a mockery of the special forces every where in the world, i'm sure all special forces are much better than there amatures.

some really badly edited scenes are present, particularly the one with the tank. the scene would appear to be shown out of order, making it look like one guy was shot at by the tank, and then managed to avoid the blast by jumping away AFTER the explosion! this is unacceptable in a film that takes itself seriously, even one with a low budget like this film

Better Blow Your Brains Out

[hondaracer1998 · 1/10 · 20 July 2010]

This movie was horrible. Since when was Delta Force commanded by the Navy and when were captains in the Navy called Skipper? A cheesy plot with horrible acting. The guns were all Russian made or from the 50's where they are no longer used. The tanks were all Russian built as well, even the American tank at the end. This movie which was probably written by an 8 year old fat kid in a basement is a HUGE DISGRACE to the armed services. Save your money and your time by not watching this movie. Instead, write your local politician to remove the idiots that write these movies. Then, go out to thank your real service men and women for the great job they do. Finally, get everyone together and go beat the idiots that continue to make this bull.

Yuck!

[vlahov · 1/10 · 24 September 2005]

Since I am required to write minimum of 10 lines, and this garbage deserves not only a single one, I'll start with the following: 1. I voted AWFUL for this dreadful so called "movie".

2. Let me explain why these turkeys Mr. David Varod produces are shot mainly in my beautiful homeland, Bulgaria (just in BTW, for the illiterate people around - this country is IN EUROPE, based north to Greece and has absolutely nothing to do with Mexico and Uruguay) Some years ago, NU Image has invaded our country and started making crappy mostly direct-to-video releases. Why here? Because here they pay derisively low fees to the Bulgarian crew and to the Bulgarian actors (most of them distinguished ones) which are, in many ways, better than most of their American colleagues. Personally I am ashamed of that fact. The reason is, of course, the greediness of the Americans involved and their wish to get most, if not all of the profit. Actually it would't be so bad if only the production wasn't so filthy and pale. There hasn't been a good picture shot here for years. At present NU image is being sued here over the very questionably purchasing of our national cinema production centre called Boyana Films. No doubt about it there has been corruption, there has been deceit, there has been a lies in this recent purchase. The Bulgarian cinema is dead. Long live the Bulgarian cinema!

For being a low budget film I thought it was pretty good.

[Striker777 · 6/10 · 15 October 2000]

If you are one of those people who loves watching Action Military movies then this would be one to check out. While it is a low budget film, it has some good qualities. One of which is non-stop action. Another thing I liked was the camera shots during the action scenes, they really give it a Special Forces feel to the movie. I did see a couple flaws in the plot but after all it is just a movie (I am talking about the end of the movie, but you need to watch it to see if you get what I'm talking about) Overall a good movie if you like Military Action type movies.

The best comedy ever?

[Foz90 · 10/10 · 23 August 2004]

Wow! I can honestly say I thoroughly enjoyed this movie, if only for the unintentional laughs that it creates such as the mayhem on the streets of Moscow. For those that need reminding, this is where some of the delta force team leave their machine guns behind (in favour of pistols) before diving head first of a moving tram. However, my personal favourite scene in the movie has to be the ski chase down a mountain where a villain (in bright yellow boiler suit) manages to fall off a skadoo for no reason, much to the delight of Greg Collins, who you may recognise from box office smashes 'Enemy of the State' and 'Bruce Almighty'.

Collins is but one of a number of talents on show, with other rubbish action movie legends, including Joe Lara who, incidentally died in the first Operation delta force movie, playing a villain, only to be resurrected here as the hero. The role had previously been occupied by Collins in 'Operation delta force 3'. Confused? You should be.

Credit must also go to director Mark Roper (give this guy a blockbuster now!) on this, his second comedy masterpiece. I say second, as he was also responsible for the equally comedic 'Operation delta force 3' where he so cleverly used bright pink fireworks in place of explosions and green crash mats for supposedly dead bad guys to fall onto.

'Operation delta force 4' also contains many comedic and acrobatic deaths, (performed by over-enthusiastic extras) that appear to be a Roper trademark.

All in all, this is an excellent comic caper, especially if what you're looking for is awful editing, cheesy acting and an implausible storyline. Buy this movie now!

WAY Above Average for Direct-To-Video

[ipkevin · 7/10 · 23 September 2001]

Operation Delta Force 4 is actually way above average in the areas where it most counts for direct-to-video action flicks: Production value, direction (camerawork/editing), and amount of action.

1) It looks good. The Eastern European locations are convincing because, well, it's set in Eastern Europe. The interior sets are well-lit, well-photographed and equally convincing. There are plenty of vehicles used (tanks, buses, trains, helicopters). Uniforms are believable. It seems they skimped a bit on the weaponry though. Why are the Delta members always using AK-47s in this film? Oh well, I guess you can pretend that they're using AKs because it matches the most common weaponry of the region which suits the covert nature of their operations. Yeah, that works for me. Anyway, bottomline is that while you wouldn't mistake it for a big studio picture, the production is miles ahead of most DTV crap.

2) There's one word for Mark Roper's direction here: ENTHUSIASTIC! Most DTV flicks have amateurish or disinterested direction featuring very static shots and compositions that can best be described as utilitarian. However, Roper's work shows some real flair. He tries a variety of angles and dramatic shots, mixes it up with slow-mo, and makes use of a lot of tracking shots. It's not all great, but more often than not it works. And it's all brought together by tight editing that keeps the pace way up. I was really surprised by his work on this film given that his last Operation Delta Force film seemed quite amateurish. He really kicks it up a notch here and gives the film true energy. Again, it still isn't up to the spring-loaded tension and awesome visuals of the best Hollywood action films, but it's way better than most.

3) The action is non-stop! The film is 96 minutes long and close to 60 minutes of it is action! The best is the second big action piece in the film which runs for at least 20 minutes. It goes from a chalet shootout to a ski chase to a city bus attack to a tank battle! Oh, and it's accompanied by an enthusiastic music score that's reminiscent of Hans Zimmer's synthetic score for The Rock.

So what's the downside? Well, the story doesn't make a helluva lot of sense. The villain was clearly intended to be a bit deep and emotionally complex, but they spend so little time building his story up that when his big emotional moments come they don't register much. That's true for the other characters, too. Big emotional scenes come out of nowhere and aren't impactful because they weren't developed enough beforehand. The acting is also uneven. The female lead has two big dramatic scenes. Her acting is laughably bad in one scene and quite convincing in the other. What gives? The same goes for most of the other actors. They're good in some scenes and awful in others. This is a direct-to-video actioner though, so what do you expect? It already delivers big-time where it counts which is rare enough these days. Recommended for hardcore interest fans and those with an interest in military action (though who aren't too big on accuracy). Just remember that it's a DTV movie and I think you'll be impressed.

Side-note: Mark Roper must be a huge fan of "The Rock". It has two actors from that film (John Laughlin, Greg Collins), features a copy-cat score, and has numerous small scenes or shots lifted from The Rock as well (eg, leader pausing to close the eyelids of a fallen soldier). His last Delta Force film was the same way.

Bad and unintentionally funny

[Ender-29 · 12 July 2001]

This film is probably the worst I've ever seen, but there are so many action cliches that it is exceedingly funny. Delta Force 4 features nearly the same cast as U.S. Seals, another very bad and very unintenionally funny action film. The plot is utter cr@p, the actings not much better. Worth renting, especially if you like heckling films MST3K s

Pretty good continuation of the series, leaves me hanging for the fifth.

[skylance-3 · 9/10 · 24 October 2000]

Well, I picked up part one a few years ago, and have been watching them since. In fact I own 1-4 and have preordered 5. So, I have my "picky" tastes in movies... I liked this one. the plot was pretty solid despite the budget. For anyone that has been paying attention to the ODF series so far, you'll notice the development of the men personally. Now, despite the fact that the cast has varied over the course of the 5 movies, the actual characters have remained the same. Lang, Vickers, Sparks, McKinney, and Hutch. The only thing I would have asked for would have been a little more cast consistency. Greg Collins played McKinney well in 3, and followed up in 4 by playing Cap Lang? Fortunately, he plays these roles well.

Anyways, I knew of pt 4 and 5 about the same time. After seeing 4, I am very anxious to see what happens in the next. Will it be a conclusion? Will it open up newer "sequels" It's amazing the things that can be done on a limited budget. These fellas did pretty good at it.

A low budget movie says nothing about the plot at all!!!

[Spookje · 8/10 · 30 June 2002]

The movie itself is a low budget as you know. So the special effects etc aren't that great. But this doesn't mean the plot sucks, to be precise, the plot wasn't bad at all.

I liked the plot and the movie in general, only the special effects made it boring some times.

Greetingzzz,

iKKe a.k.a. Spookje

Classic Disaster Flick

[sydneyswesternsuburbs · 10/10 · 20 June 2011]

Director Mark Roper who also created the classic flick, Marines 2003 has created another gem in Operation Delta Force 4: Deep Fault.

It stars Greg Collins who has also been in other classic flicks, Fast & Furious 2009, Eagle Eye 2008, Cellular 2004, Armageddon 1998, Con Air 1997, The Rock 1996 and Under Siege 2: Dark Territory 1995.

Also starring Joe Lara who was in other classic flicks, Steel Frontier 1995 and Hologram Man 1995.

I loved the shootouts, ski and tram scenes.

If you enjoyed this as much as I did then check out other classic disaster flicks, Firetrap 2001, Volcano 1997, Nature Unleased: Earthquake 2005, The Towering Inferno 1974, Scorched 2008, The Day of the Roses 2001, The Impossible 2012, The Tower 2012, Aftershock 2012, Greenland 2020, Thirteen Lives 2022, Fall 2022 and The Day After Tomorrow 2004.

The worst of the series

[Wizard-8 · 18 November 2011]

I've now seen all five films of the Nu Image studio's "Operation Delta Force" series, and I can say with full confidence that this entry is the absolute worst of the series. It's not just that the movie is badly made, but it makes the unforgivable sin of being BORING. I'm not just talking about the scenes between the action - the action scenes simply lack passion and excitement. You might think no one could screw up, for example, one group of armed men on snowboards chasing another armed group on skis... or a tank chasing a truck on a highway... but director Mark Roper seems absolutely helpless directing these and other action sequences.

The movie also suffers from poor character development (some of the good guys we don't even learn the names of!) plus a really cheap look to every scene. They shot this movie in Bulgaria to save some money, but the movie looks impoverished throughout - making me think the budget must have been VERY VERY low!

If you must watch one of the movies in this series, watch part 3. Although it's only an okay movie, you can see a lot of effort was made in making it, and it's an Oscar winner compared to part 4!