Black Sunday (1977)

An Israeli anti-terrorist agent must stop a disgruntled Vietnam vet cooperating in a plot to commit a terrorist plot at the Super Bowl.

Director:

John Frankenheimer

Writers:

Thomas Harris (by), Ernest Lehman (screenplay),

Stars:

Robert Shaw, Bruce Dern, Marthe Keller

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Robert Shaw	...	Ma. David Kabakov
Bruce Dern	...	Michael Lander
Marthe Keller	...	Dahlia Iyad
Fritz Weaver	...	FBI Agent Sam Corley
Steven Keats	...	Moshevsky
Bekim Fehmiu	...	Fasil
Michael V. Gazzo	...	Muzi
William Daniels	...	Pugh
Walter Gotell	...	Colonel Riat
Victor Campos	...	Nageeb
Joseph Robbie	...	Joseph Robbie
Robert J. Wussler	...	Robert Wussler (as Robert Wussler)
Pat Summerall	...	Pat Summerall
Tom Brookshier	...	Tom Brookshier
Walter Brooke	...	Fowler

Storyline

Terrorist organization Black September is planning an attack on the United States. A woman called Dahlia is the one overseeing the operation. She was in the Middle East with the other members of the organization, discussing the operation when some Israelis came in; the leader, Major Kobakov had his gun on her but didn't shoot her. Kobakov then informed the US what they found. Though they don't know what their operation is, Kobakov assures them that it will be devastating. So, with FBI man, Corley, they try to find out what it is before it's too late. But they both have different ways of doing things, and since Kobakov is the visitor, he is warned to watch it. Dahlia's "partner in crime" is Michael Lander, a Vietnam P.O.W., who is psychologically scarred by that experience, thus making him very susceptible to her machinations.

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Plot Keywords:

blimp | day in title | smuggling | female terrorist | spy | 

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Taglines:

There has never been a motion picture adventure like...

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Genres:

Action | Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 March 1977 (USA)

Also Known As:

Domingo negro

Filming Locations:

Carson, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

143 min

Sound Mix:

Mono Stereo

Color:

Color (Movielab)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Three Goodyear blimps are used in the film, one based in Miami, Florida one in Houston, Texas and one in Los Angeles, California. The names of the blimps were "Mayflower" (N1A),"America" (N10A), and "Columbia" (N3A) respectively. The Super Bowl scenes were shot in Miami; the Texas shoot was a short scene filmed in Spring, Texas; whilst the hijack and landing scenes were shot at Goodyear airship base in Carson, California.

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Goofs

When Captain Lander arrives at the VA medical center for counseling, he tells the bored receptionist that he has an appointment. The receptionist tells him to take a number, sit down, and wait his turn. Left unexplained is why a patient with a scheduled appointment was made to wait like someone who did not have one.

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Quotes

Captain Michael J. Lander: I wanted to give this whole son-of-a-bitchin' country something to remember me by!

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Connections

Featured in A Night at the Movies: The Suspenseful World of Thrillers (2009)

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Soundtracks

"I've Been Working on the Railroad"
(uncredited)
Traditional
Played twice by the band at the Super Bowl

User Reviews

Perceptions Change

Despite being set in the 1970s I couldn`t help noticing that Robert Shaw`s Mossad agent Kabakov is shown as being a violent ruthless cold blooded killer who`s almost as bad as the terrorists he`s hunting . This goes slightly against the common perception in much of the world at the time of Israelis being heroic and plucky freedom fighters striving to defeat terrorism and it should be remembered Israel carried out the legendary raid on Entebbe the year before . It wasn`t untill Israel`s invasion of Lebanon in 1982 that this perception changed towards the state of Israel somewhat . Well I suppose the producers should be congratulated on bringing ambiguity to the story . Likewise the " villain " Lander is a terrorist motivated by the fact that his country has turned his back on him . Sent to fight people in South East Asia he was shot down and left to rot in a North Vietnamese POW camp and on returning home from the most dirty and needless war of the 20th century he finds that even his own wife has forgotten about him . The point being that terrorists are never born but made .

BLACK SUNDAY is a very good political thriller full of good but often violent action scenes which means it`s not a film for everyone . Likewise watching this film in the 21st century which involves a plot to kill tens of thousands of innocent people at a public event means many viewers will be uneasy watching this . Sometimes you can take a plot and make it a little too realistic