Sexy Palestinian terrorist, Dahlia Iyad (Marthe Keller) finds the perfect boyfriend in Vietnam Vet Mike Lander (Bruce Dern) who works once a week as a Goodyear blimp pilot for the National Football League (NFL).
To make a point about America’s support for Israel, she convinces him to fill the blimp up with explosives and blow up a Miami stadium during the Super Bowl, which the President will be attending.
But badass Israeli Mossad agent David Kabakov (Robert Shaw) is on her tail. He tracks her down to the US and joins forces with FBI agent Sam Corley (Fritz Weaver) to identify her plan and stop her.
Eventually, the blimp’s attack on a packed stadium – an iconic image from late ’70s cinema – is an exercise in superb editing craftsmanship, using every trick in the book from the pre-CGI era.
Miami Dolphins owner Joe Robbie got the NFL to allow extensive filming at a real Super Bowl game and the use of copyrighted team names and logos. Additional footage of the stampede at the game was shot at the Orange Bowl after the game with thousands of extras.
Based on an early novel by Thomas Harris, who later created Hannibal Lecter and wrote the various books about the cannibalistic shrink’s exploits.
David Kabakov
Robert Shaw Mike Lander
Bruce Dern Dahlia Iyad
Marthe Keller Agent Sam Corley
Fritz Weaver Moshevsky
Steven Keats Fasil
Bekim Fehmiu Muzi
Michael V. Gazzo Pugh
William Daniels Colonel Riat
Walter Gotell Nageeb
Victor Campos Joseph Robbie
Himself Robert Wussler
Himself Pat Summerall
Himself Tom Brookshier
Himself Fowler
Walter Brooke
David Kabakov
Muzi
