Delta Force 2: The Colombian Connection (also known as Delta Force 2: Operation Stranglehold or simply Delta Force 2) is a 1990 American action film directed by Aaron Norris and starring Chuck Norris as Colonel Scott McCoy. It is a sequel to the 1986 film The Delta Force and the second installment in the series.
The film follows McCoy and his Delta Force team as they attempt to stop drug lord Ramón Cota and dismantle his drug-trafficking operation in the fictional South American country of San Carlos.
The film was produced by The Cannon Group and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Although set primarily in South America, much of the film was shot in the Philippines, with additional filming taking place in Tennessee. Production was interrupted by a helicopter crash in the Philippines on May 16, 1989, which killed four members of the film crew and later resulted in the death of actor Geoff Brewer. Production subsequently resumed after a six-week hiatus.
Delta Force 2: The Colombian Connection was released in the United States on August 24, 1990. It received generally negative reviews from critics, who criticised its screenplay, clichés, acting and similarities to Norris's earlier films for Cannon.
The film grossed approximately $6.7 million in the United States against a reported budget of $16 million. It was followed by Delta Force 3: The Killing Game in 1991, which featured an entirely new cast.
Plot
Narcoterrorist and cartel boss Ramón Cota (Billy Drago) controls the cocaine industry with an iron fist. His drugs pour steadily into the United States, corrupting the country's youth and causing a feud between the DEA and San Carlos, Cota's country of origin.
During a carnival in Rio de Janeiro, an undercover task force led by several DEA agents conducts surveillance on a private party that Cota is attending. The surveillance team is ambushed and massacred by Cota's hitmen, who are masquerading as carnival performers. Following the Rio operation, the DEA enlists the support of the U.S. Army's Delta Force to infiltrate San Carlos. They are aided by an undercover agent within Cota's drug cartel.
General Taylor orders Colonel Scott McCoy (Chuck Norris) and his deputy, Major Bobby Chavez (Paul Perri), to bring Cota to justice. They pose as airline passengers while Cota is en route to Geneva to deposit his drug money in a Swiss bank account and capture him during a short interval in which the plane enters U.S. airspace. Their efforts are unsuccessful, however, as Cota is able to post bail and escape. Chavez confronts Cota in court, prompting Cota to retaliate by ordering the murder of Chavez's pregnant wife.
Seeking personal revenge, Chavez attempts to pursue Cota but is captured by Cota's forces and tortured and killed. When three DEA agents attempt to capture Cota, they are taken hostage and scheduled for execution. During a press conference, a DEA spokesman explains that San Carlos's president, Alcazar, fears a coup and is therefore reluctant to crack down on the cartels, while corrupt generals benefit from the drug trade and protect Cota from extradition.
McCoy is parachuted into San Carlos and sent to rescue the hostages in a stealth operation while Taylor and the rest of the Delta Force provide surveillance. Their mission is supervised by Ernesto Flores (Mateo Gómez), a delegate from the government of San Carlos, which has entered into an agreement with the U.S. government that severely limits the scope of the operation. McCoy proceeds to scale a tall cliff and infiltrates Cota's mansion.
The government of San Carlos subsequently attempts to cancel the U.S. intervention by staging a large drug raid intended to make the American mission unnecessary. Upon learning of the deception, Taylor breaks protocol and triggers Operation Stranglehold, heading south of his perimeter in a heavily armed gunship, prompting the San Carlos army to send its own helicopters in pursuit. The gunship lands at Cota's mansion and deploys troops to destroy cocaine storehouses and laboratories. McCoy releases the hostages but is captured by Cota and placed in a chamber filled with toxic gas, isolated from him by a glass pane. Before the gas can kill McCoy, a rocket from Taylor's gunship shatters the glass, allowing him to escape.
With the help of DEA Agent Page, McCoy captures Cota in his armored limousine and flees the mansion. Cota's bodyguards and a San Carlos attack chopper pursue the vehicle and eventually bring it to a halt, but Taylor's gunship rescues them. Cota flees on foot through the jungle during the fighting. After the drug lord kills a villager who wanted revenge for the murder of her family, McCoy arrives and beats him. Cota attempts to goad McCoy into killing him, knowing that he is wanted alive.
Taylor's gunship arrives to pick up McCoy and his prisoner with ropes as the last of Cota's men close in. One swings his machete but only partially cuts Cota's rope before the gunship heads out to sea to join the American carrier fleet. Hanging beneath the helicopter, Cota continues to goad McCoy about his invulnerability, saying that once in court he will walk free again. The rope, weakened by the machete cut, eventually snaps, causing Cota to fall thousands of feet to his death.
Cast
Chuck Norris as Colonel Scott McCoy, the commander of the Delta Force team. Billy Drago as Ramón Cota, a drug lord and the film's main antagonist. John P. Ryan as General Taylor, a senior military officer involved in the operation against Cota. Richard Jaeckel as DEA Agent John Page, a federal agent involved in the operation against Cota. Paul Perri as Major Bobby Chávez, McCoy's close friend and a member of the Delta Force team. Begoña Plaza as Quiquina Esquilinta, a villager caught up in the violence surrounding Cota and assisting McCoy. Héctor Mercado as Miguel, a mole inside Cota’s organisation. Mark Margolis as General Olmedo, a senior San Carlos military official supporting Cota’s drug operation.
The supporting cast also includes Mateo Gómez as Ernesto Flores, a San Carlos government liaison; Ruth de Sosa as Rita Chávez, Bobby's wife; Rick Prieto as Carlos, one of Cota's henchmen; and Kelly Wicker as a judge.
Pre-production
Writing
Early sequel concepts
Screenwriter James Bruner was tasked with developing a sequel to The Delta Force. He was sent to London to meet with filmmaker Michael Winner and develop a story, with the intention of having Chuck Norris and Lee Marvin reprise their roles as Scott McCoy and Nick Alexander, respectively. Some early promotional and concept posters for a potential sequel included references to Marvin's name and likeness. For example, a revised second-draft screenplay titled Delta Force II - dated May 15, 1986 - was offered at auction as part of material from Marvin's estate.
According to Bruner, Winner subsequently took control of the writing process, and the script became substantially different from Bruner's original work. Bruner recalled that "the script just got goofier and goofier" and said that although the final screenplay was submitted under his name, it was not the script he had written. The story department at Cannon Films was reportedly dissatisfied with the result.
The project later developed under the working title Delta Force 2: Spitfire, with Michael Dudikoff attached to star and Albert Pyun set to direct. Steve James was also expected to reprise his role as Bobby. The proposed story would have followed Dudikoff and James as they attempted to prevent terrorists from destroying a nuclear reactor in Florida. The project was ultimately abandoned.
Bruner was also involved with a proposed Delta Force television series while Missing in Action III was in production. According to Trunick, Menahem Golan was dissatisfied with the terms offered by CBS, and the project did not proceed.
Development of The Colombian Connection
The screenplay that became Delta Force 2: The Colombian Connection originated as a standalone project titled Stranglehold. Film historian Austin Trunick's account describes the screenplay as being adapted into a sequel to The Delta Force, with the characters, setting and premise being substantially changed during development.
The final film was also referred to as Delta Force 2: Operation Stranglehold in contemporary promotional material, including the U.S. theatrical release poster and home-video market.
The development of Stranglehold took place during a period of financial difficulty for Cannon Films. Contemporary reports described the company's growing debt and financial restructuring, including an agreement with Warner Communications in 1986 and subsequent efforts to reduce costs. Trunick places the development of The Colombian Connection within this period of increasingly constrained production budgets.
By the later stages of development, Golan had left Cannon Films. The screenplay was subsequently developed around Chuck Norris's interest in South American drug trafficking. Norris recalled in a 1990 interview reading about a powerful, unnamed South American drug lord and hiring writer Lee Reynolds to research the subject and develop a screenplay. Norris said that the research process took place over several years:
"Much of what I read convinced me that you're dealing with unconscionable, truly vicious individuals. It's true, there are some changes in Colombia, but the fighting is still going on, and these people are other places as well. And what you're fighting is billions of dollars. That much money means an enormous amount of power. That's why we portrayed our kingpin that vindictively. It happens. They feel they're above the law, and when you get in their way, they don't just go after you. They kill your wife, aunts, uncles, all relatives. They eliminate your lineage".
Norris also discussed revisions to the screenplay during its development. In December 1988, he said that the script was being rewritten and that he preferred to resolve problems during the writing stage rather than during production:
"It's better to straighten out the problems in the screenplay now, rather than later. I hate it when you start a movie with a script half done; chances are you'll end up with a mediocre movie. The first [installment] was well written".
Norris said that his research into drug trafficking influenced the depiction of the film's antagonist, Ramón Cota. He described major drug traffickers as possessing substantial wealth and power and said that these observations informed the character's violent behavior.
Casting Lee Marvin had reportedly maintained a good relationship with Golan during the production of The Delta Force and was interested in further projects with Cannon Films. Marvin, however, was in poor health during production of the first film and died in 1987, making his return to the sequel impossible.
Jean-Claude Van Damme was offered a role in the film but declined it in order to star in Cyborg.
Van Damme later recalled training with Norris three times a week and being employed by Norris during his early years in the United States.
Billy Drago was cast as the film's villain. It was his third collaboration with Norris, following Invasion U.S.A. (1985) and Hero and the Terror (1988).
Drago said that he viewed the character as a conventional villain and drew loosely on his knowledge of Pablo Escobar when approaching the role. Furthermore:
"It is, in a sense, a straight-ahead action picture and you're talking about Good vs. Evil", said Drago, "and it is pretty black and white. . . . It's not a matter of becoming someone else as it is really more a matter of finding that dark part of myself that everybody has someplace. I also approach it from an amoral point of view rather than immoral. He was not some cokehead going nuts. And in a sense, that made him scarier...."