Now for the 46th anniversary of film's initial release Arrow Video is releasing a deluxe Blu-ray of this 70's disaster film. And as a fan of these 70s disaster films like Earthquake, The Towering Inferno and The Poseidon Adventure I was really excited for this release.
Blimp pilot Michael Lander (Bruce Dern), who has endured the horrors of the Vietnam War, is now psychotic. Hoping to kill himself in grand fashion, he teams with Palestinian terrorist Dahlia (Marthe Keller), who plans on using Lander to set off a bomb at the Super Bowl by crashing his aircraft into the crowded stands. With thousands of lives at stake, Israeli military agent Kabakov (Robert Shaw) teams with the F.B.I. in an attempt to stop Lander's mass murder-suicide.
John Frankenheimer known for directing the 1962's war thriller The Manchurian Candidate. Here he amps up the thrills directed this pulse pounding disaster film. The film does suffer slightly from the length. Running at almost two and a half hours it came be a bit much to digest. The acting is good, but the stand-out here is Bruce Dern. Finally the films score is produced by the great John Williams so you know you are in for something special.
It is good to note that this film was shot at the Orange Bowl at Miami, Florida during Super Bowl X, where Pittsburgh Steelers played the Dallas Cowboys. Black Sunday was also endorsed by the National Football League (NFL). While Black Sunday made money at the box office, the reason it probably lost so much steam was that the previous year an extremely similar film was released entitled "Two Minute Warning".
Arrow Video has transferred this 1970s cult classic to Blu-ray in High Definition 1080p. The original restored lossless mono audio, presented for the first time on Blu-ray. There is also options for restored lossless 5.1 and 2.0 stereo audio options. Finally there is them option for English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing.
The picture quality of this new transfer is truly amazing. The film looks crisp and clean with no signs of damage. The colors are vibrant and as for the audio it is crystal clear. This is a tremendous looking transfer. But Arrow Video didn't stop with a great looking transfer. They added some very cool bonus features. Take a look at what is included.
* Brand new audio commentary by film scholar Josh Nelson
* It Could Be Tomorrow – brand new 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
As a fan of these 70s disaster films it is so cool to add Black Sunday to the the collection. Now While maybe not as strong a film as the others, it still deserves the deluxe Blu-ray treatment and I am glad Arrow Video gave this film a chance to shine on Blu-ray.
If you love disaster film of the 1970s Black Sunday is one your are going to want to add to your collection. Head over to Amazon and pre-order your copy today.
Out of 4 Film reels (4 being the best) Arrow Video's Blu-ray Black Sunday receives...
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