For a look at a famous hijacking and its aftermath, we examine 2018’s 7 Days in Entebbe. Set in summer 1976, terrorists who support Palestine commandeer an Air France flight as it travels from Israel to Paris.

The hijackers force the aircraft to land in Entebbe, Uganda and they use the Jewish passengers as bargaining chips to try to free fellow terrorists from Israeli prisons. As time passes and the situation intensifies, members of the Israeli Defense Force stage a raid to rescue the kidnapped passengers.

In the aftermath of 9/11, I think a semi-rose-colored-glasses view of pre-2001 hijackings took hold – and not without merit. The concept of hijacking was often used for comedic fodder, and a lot of the attempts tended to be ineffectual.

Obviously, 9/11 changed all that. It eradicated the notion of the dope who wants a flight to Cuba once and for all and added a radical, deadly tone to the topic.

While obviously not a world-changing event ala 9/11, the situation on the hijacked Air France flight reminds us that life/death circumstances impacted pre-2001 flights as well. Too bad the movie seems like a somewhat limp examination of events.

To be fair, I don’t view Days as a bad view of the hijacking and its aftermath, as it does just enough to keep the audience with it. However, it just lacks the drama and power that one would anticipate from a story of this sort.

Some of that comes from all the POVs it features. Days jumps across a mix of perspectives and never settles on anything in particular.

In a mini-series take on events, this might work, but with only 107 minutes at its disposal, Days feels rushed. It fails to invest in any of the sections well, so we get only a cursory view of the entire picture.

One surprise arises here: the biggest “name” actors involved – Rosamund Pike and Daniel Brühl – play terrorists. This seems like a conscious choice, as Days wants to give the nominal “villains” a certain level of humanity we don’t usually see.

In these post-9/11 days, I admit it becomes more difficult to swallow a sympathetic view of terrorists, but I do appreciate the movie’s desire to avoid a black and white perspective. The movie tries to add layers and nuance, and I think that’s a good choice.

I just wish the film managed more actual drama. At its heart, Days clearly comes with immense natural tension, but the end result feels somewhat flat and tepid.

That makes the end product fairly mediocre. Days gives us just enough intrigue to keep us with it for 107 minutes, but it feels like a lackluster drama.

7 Days in Entebbe appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.39:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. Overall, I felt pleased with the image.

Sharpness looked good. Some softness hit a few interior shots, but those instances remained mostly insubstantial, so the majority of the flick showed fine clarity and accuracy.

Shimmering failed to distract, and jaggies also stayed away from the image. Edge haloes remained absent, and the movie also lacked any source flaws.

In terms of colors, Days went with a mix of yellow/amber and teal. The film kept these strong but they didn’t seem obnoxious, and the Blu-ray reproduced them with good fidelity.

Blacks were pretty deep, and shadows were well-depicted. The image offered a solid “B+” presentation.

In addition, the movie’s DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack packed a pretty good sense of action, with active use of the various channels when necessary. Music filled the various channels in a satisfying manner, and effects fleshed out the spectrum in a logical way.

The film focused on airplane-related material as well as some military components, elements that managed to add immersion to the tale. These worked for the story and added punch to the proceedings.

Audio quality pleased. Speech was concise and natural, while effects remained vivid and full-bodied.

In addition, music was vibrant and dynamic. The audio suited the story.

A few extras appear here. The Entebbe Team goes for seven minutes, 24 seconds and provides notes from producers Kate Solomon and Tim Bevan, screenwriter Gregory Burke, director José Padilha, and actors Rosamund Pike, Eddie Marsan, Daniel Brühl, Angel Bonanni, Denis Menochet, and Lior Ashkenazi.

“Team” looks at story and development, Padilha’s approach to the material, cast and performances, and the use of the dance company. This becomes a passable but too brief overview.

Inside the Raid runs seven minutes, 45 seconds and features Brühl, Pike, Padilha, Menochet, Solomon, Bevan, production designer Kave Quinn, costume designer Bina Daigeler, producer Michelle Wright, pilot Captain Michel Bacos, flight engineer Jacques Lemoine, and military advisor Amir Ofer.

“Inside” examines the film’s attempts at realism. I like the comments from the real-life participants and this becomes a pretty good piece.

Finally, we locate the five-minute, 26-second Additional Dance Sequences. Occasionally during the film, dance bits illustrate/link to the rest of the story, and this reel gives us more of them. It does little for me.

The disc opens with ads for Darkest Hour, Beirut, Thoroughbreds, and Gringo. No trailer for Days appears here.

Based on an extremely dramatic real-life event, 7 Days in Entebbe crackles with potential. Unfortunately, it never quite taps that particular well, so it delivers a somewhat flat view of events. The Blu-ray provides very good picture and audio along with minor supplements. While Days keeps us with it, it doesn’t work as well as it should.