I was wondering when all the action was going to start. After all, this film concentrates on a hijacking thriller and with the exception of one passenger who resisted, no violence whatsoever goes on during the 90 minutes of this film.Sean Connery plays a hard-nosed by the book chief assigned to end this situation where a British Ambassador, dying from heart disease, is held captive by terrorists and as they make their escape, they're warned of impending doom. Along comes some cohorts to hijack an airplane and threaten to blow it up with the 100 passengers and crew on board.Ian MacShane plays the devilish heavy here, but is really a heavy? Routine fanfare.

Recap: The British ambassador is kidnapped by a known and ruthless terrorist. He is responsible for many bombings with many civilian deaths. So the British government is willing to accept the demands. But, the problem is that they are not in England, but in Scandinavia. The Scandinavian government first regards it as a British matter, but when accomplices of the terrorist hi-jack a plane, it becomes their problem. In charge of security is Colonel Tahlvik, and he is not about to give in to any demands.Comments: The first thing I noticed, or got stuck on, is the concept of Scandinavia. It is clearly set and filmed in Norway, why not let it be Norway. Why create an error, when you don't have to? Well, disregarding that, it is still a rather average thriller. It has some twists and turns. Quite a solid story actually with some details revealed in hindsight. But it is slow. Connery is strong as the main character, the powerful and resourceful Tahlvik, but he is almost too alone. The supposed terrorist is not his main opponent. The terrorists friend, the hi-jacker must be regarded as the main opponent, but it is divided among several characters, those just being two of them. The intention is clearly to force Tahlvik to battle on many fronts. Unfortunately the result is a lack of focus. No real opponent gives no real fight, and no real dramatic climax.Some scenes, I think especially of the air-plane chase, is very beautifully filmed. However it doesn't add anything to the story. It seems the move provides one or the other. Story or picture. However, the really good movies provide both in the same scene.The movie seems a little forgotten, especially considering that Connery is the lead man. Not his best work, but good enough. Works well enough for an evening, but probably won't stick with you forever.5/10

This film is also called The ransom, not to be confused with the mild action film with Mel Gibson.The film set in the Scandinavian country (called Scandinavia in the movie, while it is shot in Norway), the snow atmosphere and the heavily dressed characters somehow dictated the slowness of the pace in the movie. Nevertheless, it's exciting. The whole look is not your conventional Hollywood actioner, while at the same time deserves the same class as that of the late sixties/early seventies crime/caper movies like Bullit, French Connection, Taking Pelham One, Two and Three and Dirty Harry. Connery is fun to watch. He really adds to the atmosphere of the movie and the relatively tame climax looks good with his presence. Good movie. 7/10

Strong performances by leads Sean Connery and Ian Mc Shane, backed good action segments, pacing and fine winter locations. Poor editing in some spots causes the film to seem a bit stiff as does some inferior dubbing. Nice twists. Connery's always a pleasure to watch, and Mc Shane's bad guy provides an interesting touch as the head terrorist.