Black Sunday (1977)

I read the book that the movie is based on a long time ago back in the times when books by definition where made out of paper. I honestly do not remember much from the book except that I thought it was a good enough book. I also generally like Robert Shaw as an actor so when I saw that this movie was given on Paramount Channel I decided to record it for a rainy day. Well, yesterday was not a rainy day but there was not really anything else on that I felt like watching so I put this one on.It is a fairly good movie. At least up until the end. It is a pretty much standard political thriller with the rather common basic story of a couple of terrorists planning a terrorist strike on US soil and a couple of good guys trying to stop them. Of course one of the good guys are a foreign operative with less restrained ideas about how to achieve the desired outcome. There is nothing hugely inventive about the story, although I guess it might have felt a bit more fresh in 1977 when the movie was produced, but it is mostly well implemented.I do like that the movie, as is all to often the case, does not try to "explain" the terrorists and justify their actions, at least not too much. Compared to many movie of this type (and that is why I generally do not like these movies) this one is rather neutral in terms of political sides. There are a few outbursts of "why" but in general the movie focuses on the preparations and the chase.As I wrote, in general the movie is well implemented. The acting of both Robert Shaw and Marthe Keller, who plays the female terrorist, is not at all bad. Maybe not Oscars material but definitely not bad and, as I also wrote before, I do like Robert Shaw. For most of the movie we get to follow the preparations of the terrorists and the work of the good guys trying to unravel the plot and stop it. A few sporadic outbursts of action breaks the otherwise not so fast pace of the movie. Classical thriller material and quite enjoyable to watch.Unfortunately by the time we come to the ending it appears like the classical Hollywood I-do-not-have-clue-but-lets-throw-in-some-action people took over and it drags down an otherwise fairly well-made movie. Once the plan is uncovered the movie turns into just another let's-spot-the-faults Hollywood B-movie. For instance, once it is clear that there is a severe threat, why is the stadium not evacuated? At least they should have gotten the president out. Given the situation why did they not have an officer or agent on the blimp in the first place? Why did Kobakov have to run all over the stadium to talk to the TV-guys, there should have been someone with communication in their hut already? And then we have the blimp chase. There was a potential threat to the president and all they could muster was a single police chopper that got shot down and another chopper that they hijacked? Kobakov laying on the blimp fumbling to get hold of the hook was also dragged out in absurdum.As I wrote I do not remember much details from the book but this ending sure dragged down the movie for me. It is at least a star off for the ending. Still, most of the movie was enjoyable.

Extraordinary Thriller that Obviously has become more Relevant in the Post 9-11 Atmosphere of Patriot Acts and Terrorist Motivations. In this Movie there is Substantial Screen Time to Backgrounds and Politics.Adding Also a Seventies Viet-Nam Veteran Angst Resulting from Government and Societal Betrayal this is one Mammoth Movie that is Ripe and Thrilling, Suspenseful and Edge of Your Seat Enjoyment. The Combination of Real Life Super Bowl Footage and Iconic Goodyear Blimp Familism the Film is Disturbing as well as Melodramatic.It may be a Tad too Long but it Never seems Stagnant or Boring with Bruce Dern and Robert Shaw Dueling it out in a Landscape of Americana. There is a Pulse-Pounding Score and the Production Looks Great, Except for a Few Dated SFX that are Noticeable but Forgivable, because the Movie is such a Fantastic Film that Really Resonates.Not the Best of John Frankenheimer Films but one Worthy of a Watch for those Seeking Action and Thrills in a Seventies kind of way. It will not Disappoint and Viewed Today is even more Affectious and Holds Up Quite Well, whereas others of its Ilk from the Time Period seem Cheesy and Dated.

This thriller begins slowly but builds up to a brilliant conclusion. Marthe Keller is brilliant as the Palestinian female terrorist who manipulates her boyfriend, a Vietnamese POW, brilliantly played by Bruce Dern. The relationship between Dahlia and Michael is quite believable. Dahlia is the brains and perhaps the only female in the film and she holds her own. Keller's performance is rare and exceptional. Her Dahlia could have been a caricature but she delivers a complex performance as an activist turned terrorist and killer in slow progression. The moment in their hotel before the Super Bowl displayed both their terror and fears about the diabolical plot. The Super Bowl is America's biggest event of the year. Filmed on one Super Bowl, you can't recreate it. The final scene ends too short. What happened after? Still a great film to watch repeatedly.

In a post 9/11 world, a movie such as this will never get made in fear of copycats or giving terrorists ideas. Even if it did, with all the political correctness and fear of Muslim threats, it would be a tough task to get it produce. The whole movie would be neutered to death. Pre-9/11 controversial movies such as this could be made. The film was created in 1976 no less than 4 years after the Munich massacre at the 1972 Olympics, where 11 members of the Israeli Olympic team were taken hostage and eventually killed, along with a German police officer, by the Palestinian group Black September. For a movie to come out just a few years later after such a tragedy, using similars to that event, it was very surprising that this was even made. Well, in the 1970s movies had more freedom to being made since the majority of the film back then was focus on gloom and violence. Before the Star Wars blockbuster, gloom movies such as this was popular. Today is Super Bowl Sunday, and I thought why not, let's talk about Black Sunday. Let's toss the pigskin around for a bit. Black Sunday was first a novel by Thomas Harris whom would later be known as the man who scare us all in a different way with Hannibal Lector in the book 'Silence of the Lambs'. The book was pick up and made by John Frankenheimer. The director was known for his works in political thriller such as 'The Manchurian Candidate' and 'Seven Days in May' and 'Black Sunday' was no different. Black Sunday is the story of a Black September terrorist group attempting to blow up a Goodyear blimp hovering over the Super Bowl stadium with 80,000 people and the President of the United States in attendance. David Kabakov (Robert Shaw) is an Israeli commando working for the Mossad hunting down members of the Black September terrorist group. Robert Shaw was great. Sort of a humorless Israeli James Bond who doesn't chase women. He is bad ass, but his character was kinda out there. I love the way he pulls no punches in his actions. He takes his actions to extreme. He discovers the Super Bowl plot, masterminded by Dahlia Iyad (Marthe Keller), a brutal female killer assassin. The assassination attempt scene where Dahlia dress as nurse was later pay homage in films like Kill Bill, and Dark Knight with Daryl Hanah and the Joker, by the way. It's clear that Dahlia Iyad is getting help from a deranged Vietnam veteran Michael Lander (Bruce Dern) who captain the blimps during the weekends. Bruce Dern is great at being chilling. The way he longs for suicide, and how he wants to kill the cheerful, carefree American civilians that he sees from his blimp each weekend is dark. In some scenes, even dark horse Dahlia is scare of him. Bruce Dern was everyone's favorite psychopath in the '70s. It's also great to see how author Thomas Harris has Michael Lander and David Kabakov perfectly opposed of each other, but so similar to each other: both men are dark for different reasons. David wants to revenge for Munich against all the Black September terrorists and willing to kill anybody to stop them. Michael is willing to kill others as well as himself just because of his unhappiness. It's nice to see director John Frankenheimer creates a chilling portrait of people obsessed with a cause for which they will die. In an incredible finale, Dern and Keller navigate the lethal airship into the terror-stricken stadium, pursued by Shaw in a helicopter, climaxing one of the most exciting and unusual chases in movie history. While the movie is interesting, it's the same old story between the two psychopaths. Boy finds girl, boy loses girl, girl finds boy, boy remembers girl, boy and girl try to kill people with blimp. Goodyear? No, probably their worst. I like how the movie was able to get real NFL logos and teams and the Goodyear just to makes it much more realistic. If they made this today, they'd probably use fake teams and blimp company. Luckily, Frankenheimer had a good relationship with the heads of Goodyear as a result of working with them on his earlier film Grand Prix. While Goodyear allowed the use of their airship fleet, they did not allow the Goodyear Wingfoot logo (prominently featured on the side of the blimp) to be used in the advertising or the poster of the film. Thus, the words "Super Bowl" are featured in place of the logo on the blimp in the advertising collateral. Frankenheimer was even able to secure the unprecedented cooperation of the NFL and the production was allowed to film at Super Bowl X no less. So the game was really the Super Bowl, not staged. The final attack on the stadium was filmed later, using a mock-up of the forward section of the blimp and 10,000 extras. One of the biggest faults of the movie is that the movie suffered the death of "1000 cuts" in this long-awaited climactic scene. It still gives me a headache to watch this one-take figurative and literal screen disaster with deplorable special effects. Oh well, it's not like they had any real competition that year, just that "Star Wars" flick, so no problem. The score John Williams gives in the film add tension and thriller to already action-packed film. The fight scene along with the blimp with the music gave me goosebumps. The movie didn't do any good PR for Goodyear by the way, and thus Goodyear started using the blue and yellow markings after the film was made to save itself. While the movie is a great flick, it's suffers from post-911 fears. After all, it doesn't seem so far-fetched today. If you want to watch a thriller. It's worth trying.