John Frankenheimer was one of the cinema's best and most talented directors, yet for some reason he rarely achieved the same status of respect as, say, Martin Scorsese, Alfred Hitchcock, or even Brian De Palma.
"Black Sunday" is based on the novel by Thomas Harris ("Silence of the Lambs"), and is one of four books he's written that does not deal with the character of Hannibal Lecter. The book is pretty interesting (if not great) and the film does a commendable job of translating it to the screen.
It seems all the more prescient today, given the political turmoil in the world and particularly between the United States and the Middle East. Robert Shaw plays an FBI agent who stumbles upon plans by a demented war veteran (Bruce Dern, "The 'burbs") to attack the US Superbowl with the help of Iraeli conspirators.
You may remember this in another film a few years back named "The Sum of All Fears" (2002). That was based on a book by Tom Clancy, who stole from Harris and allegedly had accusations brought against him. (It's not the first time he's been accused of "stealing" from other authors - Elmore Leonard accused him of having stolen the name Jack Ryan from a mystery thriller he wrote named "The Big Bounce").
Shaw and Dern both give good, solid performances but in the end it is Frankenheimer's thrilling, paranoid direction that makes this worth seeing. Definitely one to check out.
"Black Sunday" is based on the novel by Thomas Harris ("Silence of the Lambs"), and is one of four books he's written that does not deal with the character of Hannibal Lecter. The book is pretty interesting (if not great) and the film does a commendable job of translating it to the screen.
It seems all the more prescient today, given the political turmoil in the world and particularly between the United States and the Middle East. Robert Shaw plays an FBI agent who stumbles upon plans by a demented war veteran (Bruce Dern, "The 'burbs") to attack the US Superbowl with the help of Iraeli conspirators.
You may remember this in another film a few years back named "The Sum of All Fears" (2002). That was based on a book by Tom Clancy, who stole from Harris and allegedly had accusations brought against him. (It's not the first time he's been accused of "stealing" from other authors - Elmore Leonard accused him of having stolen the name Jack Ryan from a mystery thriller he wrote named "The Big Bounce").
Shaw and Dern both give good, solid performances but in the end it is Frankenheimer's thrilling, paranoid direction that makes this worth seeing. Definitely one to check out.