Black Sunday (1977) Paramount/Suspense-Thriller RT: 143 minutes Rated R (strong violence, terrorism, language, brief nudity) Director: John Frankenheimer Screenplay: Ernest Lehman, Kenneth Ross and Ivan Moffat Music: John Williams Cinematography: John A. Alonzo Release date: March 11, 1977 (US) Cast: Robert Shaw, Bruce Dern, Marthe Keller, Fritz Weaver, Steven Keats, Bekim Fehmiu, Michael V. Gazzo, William Daniels, Walter Gotell, Victor Campos. Box Office: $15.8M (US)
Rating: ****
No question about it, the big budget Hollywood action films of the 70s are much better than today’s empty CGI-laden vehicles. Based on my recent viewing of Black Sunday, it’s not just an opinion but a fact! For one thing, the screenwriters took the time to write intelligent and original scripts instead of rehashing some routine storyline. Okay, one can argue that the disaster movies all followed the same basic formula, but at least the filmmakers came up with different kinds of disasters like fires, earthquakes, meteors and ships capsizing.
In the case of Black Sunday, the audience gets an awesome plot that involves terrorists blowing up the Goodyear blimp over the Superbowl. In a bravura opening sequence, Mossad agent David Kabakov (Shaw, Jaws) and a team of men take out a bunch of Palestinian terrorists, members of the group Black September. Kabakov comes across a recording by Dahlia Iyad (Keller, Marathon Man) who speaks of a major act of terrorism against the American people, something big that’s supposed to come down very soon. She intends to make it a wake-up call, something to draw the Americans’ attention to the plight of the Palestinians in Israel.
Her co-conspirator, Michael Lander (Dern, Coming Home), sees it as a way of getting revenge for all his misfortunes since returning home from Vietnam. After suffering many years of torture as a POW, he comes home to a court martial followed by a dishonorable discharge. His wife left him for a fellow Navy pilot and his fragile state of mental health prevents him from seeing his children. Not only does he want to take his own life, he wants to take as many Americans with him as possible. Together, Mike and Dahlia plan to launch a suicide attack over the crowded stadium where thousands of people have gathered to watch the Superbowl.
Once he discovers the recording, Kabakov comes to the US to track down the unknown woman who made the recording. He works with FBI agent Sam Corley (Weaver, Marathon Man) to track the explosives being smuggled into the country. It’s a race against time as American and Israeli agents try to figure out what the terrorists are planning and put a stop to their nefarious plan before thousands of innocent lives get taken.
What are the terrorists planning? I’ve already told you about it in general terms, but I’m not going to be any more specific than that. Part of the fun of Black Sunday is finding out exactly what the villains have in mind. I can tell you that it’s a pretty fantastic plan. I can also tell you that the climax of the movie involves mass mayhem as thousands of football fans attempt to flee the stadium. It sounds almost like the climax of the previous year’s Two-Minute Warning, doesn’t it? It’s one of the greatest ending sequences of the 70s.
Black Sunday has it all- growing suspense as the climax draws near, some great action sequences, one very deranged bad guy and a female terrorist whose anger and determination make her more unstable as things develop. Throw in a bad ass hero from the Mossad and it makes for one of the best action-suspense movies of the decade. Hell, it’s one of the best of all time. It’s held up remarkably well and it’s never boring for a minute. Director John Frankenheimer (Seven Days in May, Ronin) knows how to put together a great entertaining movie. Look at this movie and you’ll see what I’m talking about. Is it any wonder he’s one of my favorite action directors of all time?
The filmmakers couldn’t have chosen a better cast for Black Sunday. They actually deliver real performances instead of half-assed imitations of character types. Dern tops the list as the deranged Vietnam vet-turned- domestic terrorist. He’s obviously totally unstable; one wonders whether he’s suitable for the job or not. We can see why Dahlia chose him for the mission. Keller does well as the level-headed Dahlia whose one and only concern is the mission. She doesn’t really care about Mike any further than it affects the mission. She’s a pretty cold character, especially when she poses as a nurse and tries to kill an Israeli agent recovering from injuries sustained in an explosion. Shaw makes a great lead. He’s completely convincing as a Mossad agent who has personal reasons for wanting to bring down the entire Black September organization. In short, it’s a 70s dream cast.
It’s also got a great score by John Williams and some cool-looking special effects. They look so much more convincing than most of what’s seen in contemporary movies. Black Sunday is a genuinely exciting movie and it has a high repeat watchability quotient. It doesn’t matter that the movie runs almost two-and-a-half hours. It’s so consistently interesting and thrilling that the time just flies. It makes for an evening of grand entertainment.
