Das Concorde Inferno

When in '79 the world, thanks to America, was captivated by Moonraker or Rocky II, Italian cinema tried not to lag behind and keep pace with overseas productions. Did it succeed? Well, not exactly. While we still recognize some titles from that year, Concorde Affaire is fading into obscurity, and it's harder to find in the language version we're interested in. This is also something to take note of. Even though the dialogues aren't particularly thrilling, if I had walked out of the cinema in '79 after watching this film, I would have felt like I got more than I expected.

Let me briefly explain. The film is packed with action that keeps you on edge but in a subtle way-not exaggerated like in contemporary cinema with explosions and scantily clad women everywhere. In an hour and a half, we get a suspenseful thriller with mysterious plot twists-conspiracy? An attempted ransom? All the commotion is created to protect certain "interests" while trying to cover up sabotage, dragging innocent people into it. The question is whether our main character will figure out what's really going on. His heroic stance and determination make us feel he's the right man for the job and the cause.

Concorde Affaire has the ability to make you not want to take your eyes off the screen. Even for those who aren't fans of aviation, just seeing such a majestic plane sparks awe. The plane's capabilities-the realization of supersonic passenger transport thanks to Rolls-Royce Olympus 593 engines with a dual spool, originally developed for the Vulcan bomber-are impressive. The mood is heightened by the soundtrack by Stelvio Cipriani, who had already been praised for his earlier film scores, and he didn't disappoint here either. To fully appreciate the music, though, it's worth listening to it on platforms like Spotify, where you can hear even the tracks that don't fully resonate in the film.

What's missing for a higher rating? - The creators could have recleaned the soundtrack, which at times overlaps with other effects or has a muffled tone. Moreover, for that year, they could have opted for a sharper, more vivid picture that would be more pleasant on the eyes.

The inexhaustible world of Italian exploitation cinema never ceases to amaze me! Here I was expecting a cheap and trashy knockoff of the world-famous "Airport" disaster movie series, and that's partially what I got, but also so much more! As directed by the great and mighty Ruggero (here credited as Roger) Deodato - one year prior to perplexing the world with his masterpiece "Cannibal Holocaust" - "Concorde Affaire '79" is a compelling conspiracy thriller, an exhilarating tropical adventure flick, and a nail-biting disaster flick all in one!

When a prestigious Concorde airplane crashes in the Ocean near the French Antilles during a test flight, nobody initially suspect sabotage, but stewardess Jean Beneyton miraculously survived the crash and the fisherman that rescued her from the water are viciously murdered. This causes for a local businesswoman to alert her ex-husband in New York, newspaper reporter Moses Brody. When he arrives on the island, his ex-wife is dead, and he gradually uncovers that a criminal organization are making everything that links back to the crashed Concorde disappear, including the wreck of the super-plane itself. Obviously, the authorities don't believe him, and Brody needs to save the missing stewardess and help prevent another sabotaged Concorde, this time with more than 100 people on board, from crashing.

What a tremendously fun film! The plot is convoluted and far-fetched but sucks you in from the very first until the last minute. Deodato could also rely on a reasonably big budget, which didn't just pay the salaries of a long list of impressive names in the cast, but also ensured there is room for impressive stunt work and astonishing underwater cinematography. There's a long - but fantastic - sequence in which protagonist Brody (James Franciscus) and his helper dive to the bottom of the ocean to explore the wreckage of the Concorde, and it contains some of the most professional underwater filming I have ever seen. Moreover, it's also an action-packed scene, with a hand-amputation, a cameo from a shark, and ending in a virulent diving chase.

The second half of the film feels more familiar, because it features chaos and panic aboard a Concorde in peril, but even these sequences are still intercut with action sequences of Moses Brody and Jean Beneyton escaping from their assailants. Never a dull moment in "Concorde Affaire '79", that's a guarantee. I reckon Deodato ran out of steam and budget just before the finale, because the ambulances and Concorde that are used during the emergency landing are obviously toys/miniatures. Oh, well... The cast is stupendous, with James Franciscus and Mimsy Farmer in one of their best roles, but also fantastic names in the supportive cast, like Venantino Venantini, Van Johnson, Edward Purdom, and the always-reliable Joseph Cotton as evil aerial tycoon. And, last but not least, Stelvio Cipriani delivers a phenomenal score as always.

I finally managed to track down copy of this CONCORDE: AIRPORT 79 cash-in directed by the the violence-obsessed Ruggero Deodato. I'm surprised this flick doesn't come up in discussion more often since it does have a pretty fantastic cast and crew and a pretty good storyline too.

Joseph Cotten and Edmund Purdom are big New York executives who are informed that the Concorde has failed numerous safety checks, yet they have them fly anyway. Right away of course, a Concorde crashes into the Carribbean Sea leaving a stewardess (Mimsy Farmer) as the only survivor. Of course she is first picked up by some members of an international mob (including Richard Raymond and Venantino Venantini). They demand a million dollars ransom for the girl to the hotshot executives, who respond by unleashing their hit men on everyone who knows about the crash in a vain attempt to cover it up. Enter James Franciscus as the heroic journalist who steps in and rescues the stewardess from the mobsters and barely gets her to the authorities in time to learn a second Concorde (piloted by Van Johnson!) is experiencing similar trouble and may also crash if she doesn't remember what caused her flight trouble. Turns out the mobsters were behind the whole thing and that they're all in a little over their heads.

This oddity certainly doesn't pack the best special effects I've seen (the Concorde footage is all either stock footage or cheesy little model airplanes), CONCORDE AFFAIR 79 still manages to be a lot of fun. There's murder, mobsters, & mayhem, and an underwater scubadiver fight or two. The cast is top notch, with even Robert Kerman dropping by as an air traffic controller who has to talk Mimsy Farmer to her senses at the end. Genre veterans may also recognise that same black guy from ZOMBIE and DOCTOR BUTCHER M.D. as one of the fishermen who rescues farmer and is promptly killed off. The photography, in this case by both Federico Zanni and Gianlorenzo Battaglia is pretty good, but fails to make the Godzilla movie-ish miniatures seem realistic. Stelvio Cipriani's musical score is about exactly usual for his work, yet adding a couple interesting new variations.

All in all, I think this flick was alright. It's totally rare and impossible to find in a decent quality print, but in my opinion it's well worth the effort tracking down.

It's tempting to call "Concorde Affaire '79" (a.k.a. "Concorde Affair") a rip-off since its title is so close to the hilariously awful "The Concorde: Airport '79," but beyond that the only similarities the movies share is the crashing of their titular plane. They're not even in the same genre, with the Italian-made "Concorde Affaire '79 " more of an action thriller than a disaster movie.

The action kicks off right away when an airline CEO (a bored Joseph Cotten) orders the sabotage a rival's Concorde test flight, causing it to crash in the Caribbean Sea, killing everyone on board. News coverage is routine, but then New York-based freelance journalist Moses Brody (James Franciscus) gets a scoop from his ex-wife—who just happens to run a restaurant in the Antilles—and though she's irritatingly vague he heads to the islands anyway. By the time he arrives his ex is dead and there are thugs trying to kill him. The plot thickens from there, with Brody discovering that there was one survivor of that Concorde crash: Jean (Mimsy Farmer), a flight attendant (because who else was going to get the pilots' coffee?) now being held captive by gangsters who are using her to blackmail Cotten—who pays them as part of "the cost of doing business." Can Brody rescue Jean and escape the gangsters in time to thwart Cotten's sabotage of another Concorde flight out of the U.K.?

Though hardly a great movie, "Concorde Affaire '79" is far better than it has any right to be (and 10 times better than "The Concorde: Airport '79," as other reviewers have noted). It certainly has way more plot than expected though the storytelling is a bit rickety at times. Case in point is Brody acting surprised to discover the exact location of the Concorde wreckage as if this were some big secret. And apparently it is, as it's revealed the gangsters are actually Cotten's henchmen, sent to destroy all traces of the wreckage. Guess the FAA didn't waste too much time investigating plane crashes in the late '70s. Just as rickety is the way director Ruggero ("Cannibal Holocaust") Deodato relies on stock footage for all scenes showing the Concorde in flight. Even worse are the unconvincing miniatures used to represent the plane at the bottom of the sea. Otherwise, Deodato does a competent job in the director's chair, seldom letting the movie's pace drop below a cruising altitude. Incidentally, though helmed by a man known for including liberal amounts of gore, sex and nudity in his other movies, "Concorde Affaire '79" is strictly PG-13, with no sex, little gore and even less skin (Franciscus wearing a Speedo is as close as you'll get to nudity, though at times Farmer's billowing white blouse barely covers her breasts).

Franciscus brings the swagger and rugged charisma a role such as Brody requires (think of him as a half-priced Steve McQueen, or a younger, cheaper Charlton Heston), his performance really elevating the movie's entertainment value. Cotten and Edmund Purdom do little more than wait for their paychecks. Van Johnson, another Hollywood legend, at least invests a little effort in his small part as the pilot of that second doomed Concorde flight. Farmer is under-utilized in a damsel-in-distress role, though she does get to freak out a couple times ("I… CAN'T REMEMBER!"). It also appears Farmer wasn't available for all her scenes as an obvious stand-in is used for Jean's first scenes aboard the test flight. Also look for '70s porn stars Michael Gaunt, Jake Teague and Robert Kerman (a.k.a. R. Bolla) as London air traffic controllers, speaking with dubbed English accents.

It was foolish of me to think that the Italian film industry wouldn't have a go at the old disaster genre, and here it its: the Italian version of Airport. Kind of.

Evil businessmen are wishing to destroy the Concorde by sabotaging it and causing it to be decommissioned. Using evil henchmen Venantino Venantini and Ottavia Dell'Aqua, they bring one aircraft down in the Antilles. It's a shame that air hostess Mimsy Farmer survived though, because she could blow the whole conspiracy wide open. It's kind of a mixed blessing that the henchmen get a hold of her, because although they already know about the conspiracy, they always start blackmailing the evil businessmen. Where's the loyalty these days in avational espionage?

Journalist James Franciscus gets involved when his wife phones him from the Antilles and annoyingly doesn't tell him anything over the phone, which is rather selfish because by the time he flies there from New York she's dead and he's not got a clue what she's on about. Luckily he's got a guardian angel looking out for him, because Venantino and Ottavia reckon they'd be better off minus a nosy journalist.

There's a lot of scuba diving looking for sunken Concordes and amazingly Mimsy nearly escapes the ship she's being held on just as James was passing by. By the time this all happens you'll be wondering when the disaster element is going to arrive - it does eventually, involving another plane piloted by Van Johnson. The same device that took down the first concorde is on board this one, but only Mimsy Farmer and her amnesia can save everyone on board...

When not murdering animals for a laugh, Ruggero Deodato can actually produce a good film, or at least an mildly entertaining one like this. There's a whole load of shenanigans going down between James trying to convince the authorities of the conspiracy and people trying to kill him, but those looking for Deodato gore will be let down, save for the bit where a diver is shot in the face and about ten gallons of blood pours out. Van Johnson does well as the stressed out pilot and you can't beat a bit of Joseph Cotton being evil, so that's not so bad either.

What's good for a laugh are some of the effects - the emergency cars at the end of the film are clearly toys, and so are several shots of the concorde itself. I'm no expert in disaster films but as a quick time waster it was okay. Dakar from Zombie Flesh Eaters gets his head run over by a boat.