Black Sunday – BLU-RAY LIMITED EDITION

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What was Black Sunday?

Thomas Harris became famous for creating the character Hannibal Lecter and writing the novels featuring him. But before that, he worked as a crime reporter for a local newspaper. He used what he learned on the job to write his debut novel, ‘Black Sunday’. Remarkably, long before events like 9/11 or the Oklahoma City bombing, Harris wrote a story about terrorism, featuring an Israeli agent trying to prevent a large-scale attack on American soil.

That Black Sunday story…

A disgruntled Vietnam veteran plans a devastating attack on the Super Bowl, using a blimp packed with explosives as his weapon. The target is the Orange Bowl stadium in Miami, and the story follows a tense, urgent effort to stop him before the game, culminating in a dramatic showdown in the sky that will decide the fate of 80,000 fans.

The stars, the director and that legendary producer!

Though marketed as a disaster movie, this film is actually a skillfully made thriller with strong performances from its two lead actors. It was produced by Robert Evans, a highly successful producer who had recently overseen hits like The Godfather films, Chinatown, and Marathon Man. After rescuing the studio with those films, he acquired the rights to the book this movie is based on.

Bruce Dern had already built a solid film career, notably starring in Hitchcock’s final movie, ‘Family Plot.’ However, ‘Black Sunday’ tapped into a subtly unsettling quality he possessed, making him perfect for the role of Michael Lander – a disgruntled former soldier seeking revenge on the US. Robert Shaw, fresh off the blockbuster success of ‘Jaws,’ played the determined Israeli agent tasked with stopping Lander, willing to do whatever it took. The two actors were compelling opposites, and director John Frankenheimer masterfully built the tension to a thrilling climax, perfectly suited to his skills.

After beginning his career in television, he seamlessly transitioned to film, directing a series of excellent thrillers including the often-overlooked ‘The Train’ – a film that influenced Christopher McQuarrie’s approach to the Mission Impossible movies – Grand Prix, and the brilliant The Manchurian Candidate. He was a highly respected master of the thriller genre, making him a perfect fit for Black Sunday. The film’s climax was shot at the Super Bowl, and the producers remarkably convinced organizers to allow filming during the actual event. They secured the cooperation of the teams and even persuaded Goodyear to feature their blimp, reimagining a character from a Goodyear employee to a freelancer, as a terrorist device. While it’s unclear how they would have managed 80,000 extras, Frankenheimer brilliantly wove footage of Shaw and other actors into the live game. The seamless blend of pre-planned shots, the live action, the blimp, and the panicked crowd creates a remarkably convincing scene, especially considering it was made before the widespread use of CGI.

It’s box office perfomance…

Early test audiences liked the film, and the studio, Paramount, thought it would be a huge hit. When it was released in April 1977, however, it didn’t do well, earning just $16 million on an $8 million budget. Director John Frankenheimer believed the film’s poor performance was due to its release so soon after ‘Two Minute Warning,’ another movie about a threat at a football game. While ‘Black Sunday’ is the stronger of the two films and deserved success, it was overshadowed by the massive popularity of ‘Star Wars,’ which came out the following month and dominated the box office.

Often overshadowed by his famous character Hannibal Lecter, Black Sunday is a fantastic thriller and definitely worth watching. The actors and director all deliver excellent performances, making it one of the best thrillers of its time.

Released on limited edition blu-ray this has a host of excellent bonus features that includes:

  • High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray presentation
    • Original restored lossless mono audio, presented for the first time on Blu-ray
    • Optional restored lossless 5.1 and 2.0 stereo audio options
    • Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
    • Audio commentary by film scholar Josh Nelson
    • It Could Be Tomorrow, a visual essay by critic Sergio Angelini, exploring the film’s adaptation and production, and its place within the pantheon of 70s terrorism thrillers
    • The Directors: John Frankenheimer, an hour-long portrait of the director from 2003, including interviews with Frankenheimer, Kirk Douglas, Samuel L. Jackson, Roy Scheider, Rod Steiger and others
    • Image gallery
    • Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Peter Strain
    • Collectors’ booklet featuring writing on the film by Barry Forshaw
The best of the bonus features…

Since Shaw, Frankenheimer, and Dern are no longer able to provide commentary – with Dern approaching his 90th birthday – the included featurettes, particularly ‘It Could Be Tomorrow’ and the documentary about Frankenheimer’s career, are excellent. Frankenheimer initially aspired to be an actor but soon realized his talent lay in directing. He was a strong, decisive director who created a remarkable collection of films, including several intense and often overlooked thrillers like ‘52 Pick Up’ and ‘Ronin.’ ‘Ronin’ features a thrilling car chase comparable to the one in ‘The French Connection,’ which he also directed a sequel to, before his death in 2002.

If you haven’t seen Black Sunday, you’re in for a real treat and won’t be disappointed to add it to your movie collection.

Here’s the Black Sunday trailer….

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2026-03-08 03:24