You won't be disappointed!

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

"Black Sunday" is a political terror film based on a novel of the same title by Thomas Harris. Harris said his book was inspired by the massacre at the 1972 Olympics in Munich. The Palestinian terrorist group, Black September, kidnapped and killed 11 Israeli athletes in that event. Anyone who watched TV coverage of the event will never forget it. In this film, a dishonored Viet Nam veteran sets out to commit suicide by taking many lives with him. He contacts the Black September group, which helps him commandeer a Goodyear Blimp to fly and explode over the Orange Bowl during the 1977 Super Bowl game. Everyone knows the plot from the pilots, trailers and buildup. But the thrill and excitement are in seeing the story unfold. It's a common "catastrophe" thriller that keeps one on the edge of his or her seat. The suspense, action and superb camera work make this a very good and entertaining, if somewhat dark, action film.

John Frankenheimer was it seems a visionary director. His films always seemed to be ahead of its time. And Black Sunday is no different. While ostensibly based off the Munich Olympics attacks of Black September the attack on the Super Bowl seemed to almost forecast events like 9/11 and the incessant war on terrorism that envelopes us today. Frankenheimer did not stray from controversy. He drew a picture of the terrorists far more than many others might have. We feel the bitterness of Dahlia Iyad (Marthe Keller)on how the Israeli/Palestinian conflict has impacted her life, her family and the Palestinian people. We even have some sympathy for Michael Lander (Bruce Dern) who while playing his crazed best is actually a tortured soul clearly suffering from PTSD and his feeling of embitterness towards his wife who deserted him and his eventually court martial even though he spent years in prison as a POW in Vietnam (probably Hotel Hilton and was no doubt tortured). He may have received the silver heart (or was it purple?) but he was deeply embittered and a perfect foil for the Iyad led terrorists to be the fall guy for their planned attack on the Super Bowl. Lander is an ex pilot and when he was normal he was the pilot for the Goodyear blimp that hovers over the Super Bowl. But it wasn't just the terrorists who were drawn well. Major David Kabakov (Robert Shaw) is clearly a Mossad agent even though it never seems to utter the word Mossad. He is a ruthless killer whose sole purpose is to track down terrorists like Iyad and assassinate them. That he seems to be given a somewhat sympathetic portrayal suggests they needed someone to act like the good guy. But there was little good about him and especially not his ruthless sidekick Moshevsky (Steven Yeats).If there was anyone who actually came off as a bit of a good guy it was the FBI agent Sam Corley (Fritz Weaver).My one complaint about the film was turning Robert Shaw into a latter day James Bond with his phony heroics to hook up the blimp to the helicopter to drag it away from the Super Bowl before it blows up. It was all a bit too neat and tidy.Black Sunday is a superb action and political thriller worthy of Frankenheimer's better pictures. Considerable tension and the music score of John Williams added to the tension. The shot of of the Goodyear blimp coming in over the Super Bowl was superb and the ensuing panic was filmed not CGI'd. We felt the panic. *** out of 4.

For years down to this day since seeing Black Sunday in the theater I've always watched major sporting events with this film in mind. That's the kind of thoughts that director John Frankenheimer plants in your mind with a viewing of Black Sunday.Black September the Palestinian terrorist organization of the day and the ones responsible for the slaughter of Israeli Olympic athletes in Munich have something special in mind for America at one of our major sporting events. Israeli intelligence Mosad learns of it and the guy who learned of it is dispatched to the USA to stop it.Robert Shaw is the agent that is sent and he gives a carefully controlled performance of an Israeli assassin. The kind you send out after Arab assassins. Shaw is quiet and deadly and most effective in his acting.The other side is represented by Marthe Keller and note that she's not a traditional Moslem woman in her style of living. Nonetheless both she and Shaw have suffered immense personal tragedies which has brought them to their respective positions. Keller has found a former Navy Pilot who was a Vietnam POW Bruce Dern who is more than slightly unhinged. After a court-martial he's bitter against the USA and wants to commit an atrocity and he has a very specific atrocity in mind. All three of the leads acquit themselves well in their roles. But the real star is the special effects and an ending that for the last half hour will have you on the edge of your seats.I predict your reaction to Black Sunday will be the same as mine. You will never watch a major sporting event without this film in the back of your mind.

Robert Shaw plays Israeli agent Kabokov, who learns that a terrorist organization named Black September is planning an attack on the United States, which involves a known woman terrorist named Dahlia(played by Marthe Keller) who has enlisted the services of disgruntled Vietnam Veteran Michael Lander(played by Bruce Dern) to fly a Good Year blimp in the next Super Bowl, crashing its bomb-laden body into the stadium, killing thousands, all on national television. Kabokov races against time to stop this plan before it is too late...Exciting and provocative film(especially today) has an interesting story, good action, and fine acting, which never lags despite its nearly Two & a half hour length.Based on the Thomas Harris novel, and directed by John Frankenheimer.