No, not the Mario Bava classic but it's the cheesy 1977 Robert Shaw opus...pretty good, other than the SWEATY BALL CHASER (sports) parts which went on WAAAAAY too long. Good stunts, and once the movie kicks in, it's basically Captain Quint (errr, Shaw) in wannabe action hero mode trying to stop a bomb-laden...GOODYEAR BLIMP! Terrorists have commandeered it and are headed right for the Toilet Bowl, errrr, SUPA BOWL! (Where's John McClane when you need him?!?! Oh, sorry, this is set about 10 years too early.) Pretty far out, with a rousing JOHN WILLIAMS score to accompany Quint, JAWS style ! I mean, yeah, this one is dated and silly, but still...Quint as the ACTION HERO in Bronson/Eastwood format kinda, so...worth the view for that. A coupla good, crazy unexpected death scenes as phones are used as explosives and blow up the guy on the other end, and lots of REAL STUNTS with no CGI. Gratuitous use of SUPA BOWL footage and even a shot of then- Pez of The U.S., errrr, Prez, of the time, ol' Jimma Cata (Jimmy Carter), making a cameo for Captain Quint to save! Seeing Quint spiral down a rope from a helicopter and shimmy inside to try to stop Mad Hatter Bruce Dern has to be seen to be believed, accompanied by the Indiana Jones-ish march music, but wow, it all ironically ends above the Atlantic as Quint vs. Bruce, scored by Williams (ahhhh, JAWS irony again, trivia fans!), battle it out to the finish. Directed by John Frankenheimer of PROPHECY-THE MONSTER MOVIE fame!!!! The political era of the times confused me immensely, but the plot as a whole is pretty simplistic---a terrorist gal that Quint failed to eliminate in the opening teams up with a disgruntled Vietnam Vet (Bruce Dern) and they decide to bomb the 1977 Miami Super Bowl using the Goodyear blimp! And it's up to Quint to stop 'em. Fritz Weaver plays his fairly useless sidekick. Plenty of cameos from '70's TV actors as well, it doesn't get much better than this for cheeseball '70's action. Based on the novel by Thomas Harris, creator of Hannibal the Cannibal...this was his first novel and movie adaptation. Captain Quint! Swingin' in to save the damn day like Tarzan! Check it out if you can!
No, not the Mario Bava classic but it's the cheesy 1977 Robert Shaw opus...pretty good, other than the SWEATY BALL CHASER (sports) parts which went on WAAAAAY too long. Good stunts, and once the movie kicks in, it's basically Captain Quint (errr, Shaw) in wannabe action hero mode trying to stop a bomb-laden...GOODYEAR BLIMP! Terrorists have commandeered it and are headed right for the Toilet Bowl, errrr, SUPA BOWL! (Where's John McClane when you need him?!?! Oh, sorry, this is set about 10 years too early.) Pretty far out, with a rousing JOHN WILLIAMS score to accompany Quint, JAWS style ! I mean, yeah, this one is dated and silly, but still...Quint as the ACTION HERO in Bronson/Eastwood format kinda, so...worth the view for that. A coupla good, crazy unexpected death scenes as phones are used as explosives and blow up the guy on the other end, and lots of REAL STUNTS with no CGI. Gratuitous use of SUPA BOWL footage and even a shot of then- Pez of The U.S., errrr, Prez, of the time, ol' Jimma Cata (Jimmy Carter), making a cameo for Captain Quint to save! Seeing Quint spiral down a rope from a helicopter and shimmy inside to try to stop Mad Hatter Bruce Dern has to be seen to be believed, accompanied by the Indiana Jones-ish march music, but wow, it all ironically ends above the Atlantic as Quint vs. Bruce, scored by Williams (ahhhh, JAWS irony again, trivia fans!), battle it out to the finish. Directed by John Frankenheimer of PROPHECY-THE MONSTER MOVIE fame!!!! The political era of the times confused me immensely, but the plot as a whole is pretty simplistic---a terrorist gal that Quint failed to eliminate in the opening teams up with a disgruntled Vietnam Vet (Bruce Dern) and they decide to bomb the 1977 Miami Super Bowl using the Goodyear blimp! And it's up to Quint to stop 'em. Fritz Weaver plays his fairly useless sidekick. Plenty of cameos from '70's TV actors as well, it doesn't get much better than this for cheeseball '70's action. Based on the novel by Thomas Harris, creator of Hannibal the Cannibal...this was his first novel and movie adaptation. Captain Quint! Swingin' in to save the damn day like Tarzan! Check it out if you can!
