Line #25 Film/NorthSeaHijack


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/northseahijack.jpg]]
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3	''North Sea Hijack'' is a 1979 British action thriller film directed by Andrew V. [=McLaglen=]. It is based on the novel ''Esther, Ruth and Jennifer'' by Jack Davies. The film has been re-issued under several other titles: ''North Sea Hijack'' was the original British title, but the film was issued internationally as ''ffolkes'' and later shown on TV as ''Assault Force''. Trailers for the original U.S. theatrical release included the tagline "He doesn't need a licence to kill", referring to Roger Moore's [[Film/JamesBond most famous role]], though the role he plays here is [[PlayingAgainstType vastly different]].
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5	Creator/RogerMoore portrays Rufus Excalibur ffolkes (yes, [[AllLowercaseLetters with two lower case f's]]; it's still pronounced "folks"), an eccentric veteran of the [[UsefulNotes/BritsWithBattleships Royal Navy]] turned freelance counter-terrorism consultant who specializes in amphibious missions and trains a commando of frogmen. When terrorists seize two oil platforms and a cargo in the North Sea, ffolkes and his team are recruited by Royal Navy Admiral Brindsen (Creator/JamesMason) to come up with an anti-terrorist assault plan. The terrorist group is led by a man calling himself Lou Kramer (Creator/AnthonyPerkins), who demands a ransom in exchange for not blowing up the platforms and the cargo within 24 hours. The rest of the film follows ffolkes's plan coming into fruition step by step.
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7	!!Tropes in the movie:
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9	* TheAlcoholic: ffolkes always has a bottle of scotch at hand and says it should only ever be drank "neat".
10	* AllLowercaseLetters: "ffolkes" doesn't start with a capital letter.
11	* ArcWords: When [[spoiler: ffolkes attempts to infiltrate the ship, Kramer sees him, tells him "I don't like your face," and orders him off. At the end, after ffolkes has thwarted his plan and mortally wounded Kramer he repeats the sentence almost verbatim to ffolkes.]]
12	-->'''Lou Kramer:''' I ''still'' don't like your face.
13	* AttemptedRape: One of Kramer's men attempts to rape Sanna, but is interrupted by Captain Olafsen.
14	* AxCrazy: Kramer. He seems to spend most of his time insulting people, killing them, or screaming.
15	* BadassCrew: ffolkes' frogmen might [[MenOfSherwood lack of personality]], but they're perfectly trained for the job.
16	* BatmanGambit: One of the steps of ffolkes' strategy to buy more time is to have a gigantic gasoline explosion go off and pretend the ''Ruth'' rig was destroyed by a failure to defuse the bombs attached to it (the rig is so far away and past the horizon that it can't be seen from the ''Esther'') and thus Kramer won't blow it up. Kramer buys the destruction but he still reaches for the detonator at the appointed time (he explicitly says "at this time I would have been doing this anyway") and it's only other things happening and drawing his attention that prevents things from becoming much worse.
17	* BigBad: Lou Kramer, the [[{{Jerkass}} obnoxious]], AxCrazy leader of the hijackers.
18	* BombWhistle: The usual inaccurate depiction, with the bomb falling towards the target but with the whistle ''decreasing'' in pitch rather than increasing.
19	* BondVillainStupidity: Surprisingly averted. ffolkes plans to infiltrate the hijackers commandeered ship and attack them within by flying over with Admiral Brindsen and posing as his aide. The instant Kramer sees ffolkes, he distrusts him and orders him off the ship, leaving ffolkes having to scramble for an alternate plan.
20	-->'''Lou Kramer:''' I don't like your face.
21	* BunnyEarsLawyer: Rufus Excalibur ffolkes is probably the most misogynist man alive in the whole of Great Britain (or pretty damn close) and full of BrutalHonesty, but he is a masterful [[TheStrategist strategist]] that has trained the best amphibious tactical assault team in the United Kingdom, if not the world.
22	* ButtMonkey: Harris, ffolkes' second-in-command, is the target of endless critisism and sarcastic comments throughout the film, and during the final confrontation gets tossed over the side of the boat.
23	* CigaretteOfAnxiety: King's secretary Sarah, with the adamantly non-smoking ffolkes.
24	-->'''ffolkes:''' Do you ''have'' to smoke?
25	-->'''Sarah:''' YES!
26	* CrazyPrepared: Lloyds of London, which insures the North Sea oil platforms, hires [[PrivateMilitaryContractors ffolkes and his team]] to prepare a contingency plan ''just in case'' some one hijacks an oil rig. And sure enough...
27	* CuteKitten: The UK government knows that medals don't impress ffolkes, so they award him with three kittens (named Ruth, Esther and Jennifer to commemorate the mission) instead. They give the desired impression.
28	* DangerousWindows: Kramer and Harold are shot with harpoons through windows.
29	* DeadlyEuphemism: After the battle is over, ffolkes orders his men to get rid of the last surviving hijacker. Given his "leave no survivors" approach, one can imagine what this means for the mook.
30	* DeathByChildbirth: Both ffolkes's parents died upon his birth. It is not elaborated further as to just how his father managed to die at the same time.
31	* DeathGlare: When ffolkes comes aboard ''Esther'' as Admiral Brinsden's Flag Lieutenant, he just cannot control himself in this regard; Kramer's reaction is to send him back to the ''Jennifer'' drilling platform, temporarily thwarting ffolkes' plans, and later (over the phone) telling him "That look in your eyes is still bothering me..."
32	* DemolitionsExpert: Kramer's NumberTwo, Harold Shulman, conceived the bombs they attached to Ruth and Jennifer.
33	* DieHardOnAnX: Seemingly a precursor to the genre, with terrorists hijacking an oil platform, beating ''Franchise/DieHard'' by nearly a decade. A variation in that a lot of the plot's run time goes into all sides trying to outsmart each other.
34	* DrillSergeantNasty: ffolkes' EstablishingCharacterMoment in the film is him giving his team a harsh dress-down for being inefficient on their training... and then making them run the same underwater course again ''while he's dropping grenades in the water to encourage them into swimming faster''.
35	* EiffelTowerEffect: A shot of the Victoria Tower, one of the Palace of Westminster's Clock Tower with its trademark chime then one of 10 Downing Street is all the viewer needs to figure the crisis cabinet of the [[UsefulNotes/TheMenOfDowningStreet Prime Minister]] takes place in UsefulNotes/{{London}}.
36	* EveryoneHasStandards:
37	** Even Lou Kramer jumps in shock at the (faked) explosion of the ''Ruth'' oil rig and when he tries to continue talking to the officer in charge on ''Jennifer'' (who hung up, on ffolkes' orders) he says that he understands why the man did that, and frankly can't blame him.
38	** ffolkes is a pretty big misogynist, but when he finds out that the "cabin boy" that just saved his ass is actually a woman, he doesn't takes back his gratitude.
39	** ffolkes also begrudgingly expresses a little respect for the (female) prime minister. On her end there is also no love lost with ffolkes and his rudeness, but when she is told that ffolks' GodzillaThreshold plan for taking out the terrorists if all else fails is to blow the whole ship up [[HeroicSacrifice with him still on it]], she wishes him Godspeed and admits that is a very brave act.
40	* EverythingsLouderWithBagpipes: A bagpiper is present when ffolkes is awarded for his deeds in the end.
41	* FreudianExcuse: The reason why ffolkes dislikes women so much? He was forced to wear girls clothes until he was ten. Among other things (ironically, [[spoiler:he later mistakes a female crew member, dressed in manly clothes, for a boy]]).
42	* HairTriggerTemper: Kramer easily snaps and screams at people.
43	* HarpoonGun: ffolkes and his men are armed with them to take down Kramer and his NumberTwo in the climax. Justified because of the needed stealth, and ffolkes is quick to mention that his men are well-trained in anatomy and will surely make the gun's one shot an InstantDeathBullet.
44	* HeManWomanHater: ffolkes. After he heard that the gentlemen club he is part of started taking female members, he resigned from it immediately. That being said, he recognizes the valor of some women like the Prime Minister and Sanna.
45	* HighlyVisibleNinja: During the final assault, while the rest of his team wear black diving outfits - the better to not be seen at night, ffolkes is saddled with a bright ''vermillion'' suit instead, making him stand out like a sore thumb to any mook with functional eyes (of course, most of the mooks in this film lack this, apparently).
46	** He was not originally part of the underwater assault team, so when plan A failed, he had to get a wetsuit from the oil platform's own stock. Vermillion was the only color available. [[note]]TruthInTelevision; dive suits for rescue operations or maintenance work are ''supposed'' to be highly visible for safety reasons.[[/note]]
47	** Possibly lampshaded when one of ffolkes' own men mistakes him for an enemy.
48	* ImpededCommunication: ffolkes' plan relies (in part) on carefully-timed radio communications with the hijackers. However, at one point the radio ''just doesn't work'' for several moments, temporarily throwing yet another wrench into the rescue plan.
49	* InstantDeathBullet:
50	** The first crewman shot by the hijackers is dead before he hits the deck.
51	** ffolkes' men shoot two harpoons at Harold. He dies instantly after the second one as he was trying to push the explosives' button.
52	** Averted with Kramer, who's mortally wounded by ffolkes with a harpoon in the stomach but dies a few minutes later, attempting to activate the detonator (ffolkes spots him, pushes his hand away and disarms the detonator).
53	* {{Jerkass}}: Kramer's not AffablyEvil or FauxAffablyEvil in the slightest. He insults the captain, mocks his Norwegian accent, makes several bad jokes about his victims, and routinely screams at people. The only time he expresses any amount of humanity is when he is shocked when one of the oil platforms appears to explode and says he understands why the admiral hung up on him.
54	* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Even though ffolkes dislikes women, he still has some more polite moments towards them.
55	* KindheartedCatLover: ffolkes, minus the "Kindhearted" part.
56	* LineOfSightName: "Lou Kramer" is not the real name of the BigBad, he just lifted it out of a Manhattan phone book.
57	* MakeAnExampleOfThem: Herring loses his nerve and asks to leave, giving up his share; [[spoiler: Kramer shoots him instead.]]
58	* MenAreTheExpendableGender: Inverted twice.
59	** When the crew of ''Esther'' attempt to poison the hijackers, Kramer doesn't hesitate to have a woman thrown over the side.
60	** With an opportunity to evacuate a few of the civilians from ''Jennifer'' it is suggested that they take the women off first. ffolkes disagrees, noting that they sought the same pay as the men and should share the same risks, and orders that they evacuate the ''youngest'' first, regardless of sex.
61	* TheMole: Herring is taken captive with the crew of ''Esther'' and imprisoned with them but he's actually one of the hijackers.
62	* NameAndName: The original novel ''Esther, Ruth and Jennifer''. It refers to the names of the supply ship, oil rig and the oil platform. They're also the names of the kittens ffolkes is rewarded with at the end.
63	* NerdGlasses: Worn by Harold, the terrorists' bomb expert and Kramer's NumberTwo.
64	* NoNameGiven: We never learn Lou Kramer, Harold Schulman, or the rest of the hijackers real names. Kramer tells the interested parties immediately after the hijacking that he's operating under a name that he randomly chose from a phonebook.
65	* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: The Prime Minister is a woman. Not surprising, given [[UsefulNotes/MargaretThatcher who was Prime Minister]] at the time.
66	* NotQuiteDead: [[spoiler: After he's been shot, Kramer reveals he's still alive, albeit mortally wounded. He makes one last attempt to reach the detonator but ffolkes pulls it away from his fingers and Kramer then expires.]]
67	* PistolPose: ffolkes on one of the posters.
68	* PreppyName: Rufus Excalibur ffolkes, not to mention badass.
69	* PrivateMilitaryContractors: ffolkes and his commando. They are more of a private anti-terrorist force.
70	* ProtagonistTitle: The film was released as ''ffolkes'' outside the UK.
71	* RealMenWearPink: ffolkes does does needlepoint embroidery to pass away time. It has kittens on it, unsurprisingly.
72	** Nearly invoked via the red scuba suit ffolkes dons for the final assault.
73	* ReasonableAuthorityFigure:
74	** The Prime Minister. Even ffolkes recognizes she has guts.
75	** Admiral Brindsen follows every single advice of ffolkes in his handling of the crisis despite not being very keen on using "civilians" (rather PrivateMilitaryContractors -- and ex-Navy all of them) as commando to put a stop to Kramer's blackmail.
76	** Inverted with ffolkes himself, who seems to be quite harsh with his own men.
77	* ResentfulOutnumberedSibling: ffolkes grew up with five older sisters and had to wear their hand-me-downs. This, coupled with a marriage, contributed to his dislike of women.
78	* RetiredBadass: ffolkes was a Royal Navy commando being going [[PrivateMilitaryContractors freelance]] and becoming more of a consultant, although still very much involved in the field.
79	* RuleOfThree: The three named locations (the supply ship ''Esther,'' the drilling platform ''Jennifer,'' and the drilling rig ''Ruth'') are mentioned as a trio many times during the film.
80	* RuthlessModernPirates: Lou Kramer and his gang who commandeer the oil platform are essentially pirates, and very ruthless.
81	* ShownTheirWork: The generally authentic feel of the setting is the result of Jack Davies, writer of the novel and the screenplay, spending ''two years'' researching the North Sea oil industry.
82	* SpannerInTheWorks:
83	** The plan to take out the terrorists originally included ffolkes being on board the ''Esther'' (disguised as an aide of the negotiating Admiral) with a concealed pistol (they would ask to use the ship's radio at a certain time, which would put ffolkes right on the ship's cabin at the time of the raid). The problem then became that Kramer caught HateAtFirstSight of ffolkes and ordered him off the boat immediately, necessitating ffolkes' swim back to the ''Esther'' with gear facilitated from the rig so he could be part of his team's assault.
84	** Unfortunately the gear included a bright vermilion diving suit, which results in one of ffolkes' own men mistaking him for an enemy. In order to save his own life, ffolkes has to throw the man overboard. Unfortunately, he was the one who was supposed to set off stun grenades at the last moment, so ffolkes has to shoot Kramer himself with a HarpoonGun.
85	* TheSpartanWay: The introductory scene has ffolkes using ''live hand grenades'' in a training exercise.
86	* SpellMyNameWithAnS: Kramer's first name is not given in the credits or on IMDB. It's "Lou" on most web pages, and "Lew" in the DVD subtitles. And at one point in the film (in-universe) his last name is incorrect on some paperwork.
87	* TheStrategist: ffolkes is an expert in counter-terrorism and knows exactly what kind of plan must be elaborated to stop Lou Kramer's blackmail operation.
88	* SuddenlyShouting: Kramer lapses into this more and more as the film progresses. An especially noteworthy example occurs when he figures out that the sailors on the ''Esther'' were trying to poison him and his gang.
89	-->'''Kramer''': What were you gonna do, sailor boy? Fill us full of poison and then laugh while we rolled around and died? Is that what you were gonna do? '''WAS IT!?'''
90	* TamperingWithFoodAndDrink: The crew of Esther attempts to poison the terrorists with tampered food and coffee using colchicine. Unfortunately, Kramer catches wise and force-pours the whole kettle of tainted coffee down the cook's throat then throws him overboard. Sanna manages to stay alive by [[FakingTheDead feigning to fall overboard]] and hiding in a lifeboat.
91	* TeamTitle: One of the many market-based titles the film was released as outside the UK was ''Assault Force''.
92	* ThanksForTheMammary: ffolkes mistakes Sanna for a boy when they initially meet. He later realizes that Sanna really is a woman when he grabs her chest while he is making her warm.
93	* ThisIsNoTimeForKnitting: Said almost word for word by ''Ruth'''s secretary when she sees ffolkes is doing his embroidery to pass the time. ffolkes explains that, considering that an important part of the plan is to drive Kramer crazy by pretending to be following his demands at a painfully slow pace, then yeah, it actually ''is'' a good time for knitting.
94	* ThrownFromTheZeppelin: Herring is killed after he decides to not to go with Kramer's plan.
95	* TrialByFriendlyFire: As a contingency, ffolkes orders an air strike, to be cancelled by a prearranged signal, that would defeat the hijacker's plans - knowing that he (as well as a British officer and the innocent hostages) would be on site as well. [[spoiler: Naturally, the cancellation signal appears just in the nick of time. ]]
96	* VillainousBreakdown: Kramer degenerates from a collected (if rude and obnoxious) criminal mastermind to a shrieking maniac as the film progresses. Of course, that was part of ffolkes' strategy all along.
97	* WeNeedADistraction: The bomb Kramer's crew put on both oil rigs and ''Esther'' have hefty counter-tampering measures and it's pretty obvious that they can't be disarmed in time -- so ffolkes' plan? Have the Royal Navy set off a '''massive''' explosion to make the terrorists believe that ''Ruth'' blew up sky-high because of some accident while trying to [[BombDisposal defuse the bomb]] and thus buy time for the specialists.
98	* WesternTerrorists: The hijackers. Their leader Lou Kramer doesn't like to be called as such, as he claims to do it for money rather than any ideology.
99	* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: Along with ThrownFromTheZeppelin, and perhaps mixed with HeKnowsTooMuch and YouHaveFailedMe. Herring (Kramer's [[TheMole mole]] who spied on the ''Esther'' crew and pretended to be on their side) wants to leave ''Esther'' on the same helicopter as ffolkes, both because he can't handle being seasick anymore and because he wants no more in the operation, even leaving his part of the ransom to the others. Harold shoots him for his trouble as the helicopter takes off.

Context Film / NorthSeaHijack