Concorde Affaire '79 (1979) User Reviews

As Cheap, Cheesy Italian-made Action Flicks Go, 'Concorde Affaire '79' isn't Half Bad

[ascheland · 6/10 · 2 October 2013]

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.

Bad but Entertaining

[marbleann · 6/10 · 31 December 2012]

Incredibly bad, but I loved it. Particularly the quasi disco song played through the action scenes and the closing credits. And the passengers having panic attacks while the plane seemingly is crashing, Which is the most accurate part of any of these type movies. There was only a skeleton crew of big stars from Hollywood Golden Years. No Gloria Swanson here. But we do have Joseph Cotton and Van Johnson and Edmund Purdum.

The big difference with this movie and the other movies of this type like all of the Airport movies is that this plane actually crashes in the beginning. Which sets off the events for the rest of the movie The plot was a little bit like the the Airport 75, also a Concord. Some corporate bigwigs know the plane is faulty but doesn't care and are after anybody who survives the accident or anybody who knows her. Opposed to a reporter having the goods on her boyfriend and he wants to target her by crashing a whole plane. Which was the plot of Airport 75. The reason for the plane crashing was sort of like one of my favorite plane disaster movie which is actually a good movie, Fate is the Hunter with Glenn Ford. Ford puts on a great performance. Like this movie the only survivor is a stewardess and she serves coffee right before the disaster. I think Fate is the Hunter is so underrated a lot of people never saw the connection between this movie and that.

James Fraciscus and ex-patriot Mimsy Farmer are the two leads. He is the reporter who has the story about the faulty plane. The movie spends most of its time chasing those two around. Also there is some catchy quasi disco music they use for some chase scenes and the ending credits. I have to say I was entertained and that is what a movie is suppose to do. But it still goes on my so bad it's good list.

Just think 25 years from now we will have Space Shuttle 2027 staring Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt, Denzel Washington, Beyonce as the singing nun and Sharon Stone as the 80 year old grandmother escorting her grand daughter to get a new heart.

Just as Good as ANY Roger Moore 007 Movie

[sheepdater · 7/10 · 3 March 2019]

Sometimes the things you can find on Amazon Prime Video surprise you. Buried in the C level drive in movies and made for television dramas of the 1970s I found this gem. It impressed me enough to write a review. Considering I've rated thousands of movies on here and this is maybe my 3rd review, it made a lasting impression.

If you're a fan of any of Roger Moore's work as James Bond, invest some time into watching this movie. The locations, underwater footage, fight scenes and chases are just as spectacular as anything to come out of Pinewood Studios. What impressed me most is that this movie achieved the same result with a budget that is likely the smallest fraction of the cash the British threw at 007 movies of the era. The plot is honestly slightly more plausible than anything James Bond faced at the time.

Now it's also no masterpiece. It's never been restored so video quality is subpar, it's also rather poorly dubbed when compared to a Hollywood movie. Compared to 1960s Spaghetti Westerns, however it ain't bad at all.

Arch villain Joseph Cotten was apparently either being kicked out of his nursing home or was running out of incontinence pads, but either way must have needed a paycheck VERY badly. In every scene he looks like he was just dragged outta bed to sit behind a desk and mumble nonsensically. Although I'm rather certain this applies to all of Joseph Cotten's work after 1965.

I can't really fault Van Johnson's portrayal of the Concorde pilot either, he knew he was there for nothing but a cameo and seems to have had fun with the part. James Franciscus did well with his starring role as well. It's almost a shame they were unable to turn his high intrigue investigative reporter character into a franchise. It's almost as believable as a high intrigue archeologist and that seemed to pay off for Indiana Jones. Perhaps Franciscus's early death played a part in the character being forgotten.

I think another factor that hurts this film is the similar title to the literally horrible film Airport 1979. Now I'm certain the Italian film makers did this on purpose without actually seeing the film. They were hoping the popularity of the previous 3 Airport movies would help their box office returns. However with how poorly Airport 1979 was made and performed, I think it's only hurt the film.

I don't consider it a spoiler to say: This is NOT an airplane disaster movie. It's a low budget James Bond movie that did a great job with little money. Perhaps you could call it a "Spaghetti Spy" movie. If you got a kick out of Roger Moore as 007, then count on having a smile on your face when you finish this film.

Better Than the Film It's Ripping On

[Michael_Elliott · 25 May 2012]

Concorde Affaire '79 (1979)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Entertaining non-sense from director Ruggero Deodato is an Italian rip-off of the American film THE CONCORDE....AIRPORT '79 but this here is actually much, much better. The wild plot deals with a crazy businessman (Joseph Cotten) who plans to take down every Concorde plane that he can so that it keeps him in business. The first plane goes down but a woman (Mimsy Farmer) survives the crash and then gets held captive so that no one finds out. Thankfully a reporter (James Franciscus) finds out about the plot and tries to get to the bottom of it. CONCORDE AFFAIRE '79 is one crazy little film that pretty much has everything you could possibly think of in regards to just downright silliness. The plot is all over the place but it's so wild and crazy that you really can't call it anything other than original. I went into this movie expecting something really bad but I must admit that I was surprised by how entertaining it was. It's certainly not going to make you forget CITIZEN KANE but it's still a fun little movie. There are some really crazy scenes and sequences here and one of the strangest has to be when the reporter is at the bottom of the ocean checking out the wrecked plane and he must battle people on the surface who are trying to kill him. This sequence runs a very long time but it keeps you drawn up in its action and the underwater photography is actually excellent. We've also got some other crazy scenes, mostly dealing with the surviving woman who is constantly coming under attack. This includes a couple scenes where she tries to break free and there's a real crazy sequence towards the end inside a bank. Director Deodato pretty much throws everything in the picture and for the most part it's fun no matter how dumb it is. This includes the really campy music score, some poor dubbing and a hilarious performance from the lead. I found Franciscus to be extremely entertaining in the lead and he certainly kept you interested in what was going on. This is especially true because he was playing the part like Charlton Heston and the (I believe) dubbed job makes him sound like Heston. Farmer doesn't offer a "good" performance but the over-the-top nature of her breakdown towards the end is priceless. Both Van Johnson and Cotten are obviously just picking up paychecks but it was fun seeing them. Fans of serious cinema will want to skip this but those just looking for a good time should get some entertainment value.

"Looks like I picked a bad day to stop watching Italian films"

[Bezenby · 5/10 · 5 December 2018]

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.

Exactly what I needed

[BandSAboutMovies · 6/10 · 14 October 2020]

I've gone on record proclaiming my love for the Airport movies, specifically the continual devolution into scummy cash-in - and therefore, more awesome - as the series progressed. By Airport '77, things had become goofy. And by The Concorde ... Airport '79, any semblance of being a quality picture went out the window, the same one that George Kennedy opened and fired a flare gun out of to throw off a heat-seeking missile.

Which means that of all the four films, the 1979 one - blame a cast that includes Sylvia Kristel, Robert Wagner, Jimmie Walker, Susan Blakely, Martha Raye, Charo, John Davidson, David Warner, Sybil Danning and Harry Shearer (where were Edmund Purdom, John Carradine, Donald Pleasance and Cameron Mitchell and what were they doing at the time to not be in this movie?) - is my favorite.

Let's smashcut to Italy, where Ruggero "Monsieur Cannibal" Deodato - the very same man who made Cannibal Holocaust; Live Like a Cop, Die Like a Man and the astounding Dial Help, amongst others - would join with scriptwriters Ernesto Gastaldi (The Possessed, Day of Anger) and Renzo Genta (Jungle Holocaust) to try and get a few extra kilometers (it does 2,179 an hour) out of the Concorde, which trust me, was all the rage in 1979.

If you could make a Venn diagram out of my film loves - and you totally can - this exists at the absolute center point of Italian ripoffs, American actors in foreign films, disaster flicks and opportunities to dream of making a souffle for Mimsy Farmer.

This film starts with a great disclaimer, which is always the way the best of films begin:

"This story is imaginary, and any reference to actual events or to real persons living or dead is entirely coincidental. The supersonic airliner "Concorde" is a stunning reality, however, the result of space-age technology, it links continent to continent, flying in complete safety at over 1,200 miles per hour. The production wishes to thank "British Aerospace," English builders of the "Concorde," for their kind cooperation and for producing film footage and materials."

I am willing to bet that the makers of this film never spoke to anyone who made the Concorde and my proof is that this movie starts with one of them wrecking, which was the greatest fear of this place and one they'd probably never want in a film.

L.P.A. Flight 820 is the test flight that has crashed off the coast of French Antilles of the Caribbean, with French air hostess Jean Beneyton (Mimsy Farmer, The Perfume of the Lady in Black, Body Count) as the only survivor. She's rescued to two fishermen who are soon killed to keep any witnesses from learning what has happened.

Moses Brody (James Franciscus, the voice of Jonathan Livingston Seagull) is an investigative journalist on the case, brought on by his ex-wife Nicole (Mag Fleming, who is in everything from Cannibal Ferox to Nightmare City and A Policewoman on the Porno Squad) who dies from a "heart attack" before he gets to see her. As soon as he arrives, he's attacked by a gang of ne'er-do-wells before he's saved by a man named George.

We soon learn that two men are behind all of this mayhem: the superstar powered duo of Milland (Joseph Cotten) and his business partner Danker (Edmund Purdom), who are using their Old Hollywood energy and big business scumbag savvy to keep all of this a secret.

Our heroes rescue Jean and find the wreckage of the Concorde underwater, but George loses his arm in the wreckage and gets shot several times because this is an Italian movie. I'm shocked that a turtle hasn't been ripped asunder or a pig hasn't been landed on by a jet engine at this point.

From here on out, the movie becomes Venantino Venantini (Father Moses from Warriors of the Wasteland) chasing Farmer and Franciscus while another Concorde, flown by Van Johnson (once second to only Frank Sinatra in bobbysoxer's hearts), is being attacked by a vial of acid that heats up in the microwave and destroys the electrical lines of the plane. If the science of this all seems way off, welcome to the glorious world of Italian xerox cinema and its utter lack of making any sense. May it never change! And speaking of great things about this movie, the Stelvio Cipriani (A Bay of Blood, Death Walks on High Heels, Baron Blood, Piranha II: The Spawning, Tentacles) score is fabulous!

Somehow, this movie has the budget to have a nerve-wracking landing sequence. Our protagonists aren't even on the plane, which is kind of an anti-climax, but at least Brody is ready to take down big business now that the henchmen are all members of the choir invisible.

Look for Robert Kerman from Cannibal Holocaust as the London air traffic controller. Years later. Deodato would say that if he had known that Kerman was a porn actor, he wouldn't have hired him. Oh yeah? Well the other air traffic controller, Jake Teague, was in Debbie Does Dallas and Deep Inside Annie Sprinkle, so I think he isn't being all that honest and is more upset about the fact that Kerman continually had horrible things to say about the hell he put the cast of the aforementioned human gutmuncher through inside the Green Inferno.

Two years after this movie, Franciscus would star in The Last Shark, making him that part of a very rare breed of actors: those that ripped off two major franchises aided and abetted by Italian magic makers. He's also the kind of guy that can take over for Charlton Heston - who was in Airport 1975 - not once, but twice, seeing as how he did the honors in Beneath the Planet of the Apes.

This movie makes no sense and spends more time underwater than in the sky on a supersonic jet. 900 thumbs up, 300 stars out of 5, 300/10 would see this again.

PS: I couldn't find this movie anywhere, so I had to watch it on a Russian video site, which meant that a Russian voice had to say every line a few seconds after it was voice as well as read every single block of text on the screen. The guy doing it even roped a female voice - I imagine it was his bored wife, much like how Becca reacts when I force her to watch Italian blockbuster remixes, to be the Soviet-friendly voice of Mimsy Farmer.

PPS: Keep an eye out for former pro wrestler Dakar as a fisherman. He was the High Priest of the Spider in Ator the Fighting Eagle and also shows up in all manner of Italian films, including Zombie Holocaust, Zombi, Mission Stardust, 2 Mafiosi Against Goldginger and Papaya: Love Goddess of the Cannibals.

Italian thriller only for die-hard Euro buffs

[Leofwine_draca · 4/10 · 29 December 2016]

Fans of the Italian film scene will no doubt be aware that despite all of the imaginative highs, a fair amount of cheap knock-offs of popular movies have been made in the land of pizza and pasta over the years. SOS CONCORDE is one of these movies, a yawningly routine variation on the '70s disaster movie staple which was released in the same year and with a similar title to a genuine American disaster film in an attempt to fool viewers into thinking the films were one and the same. Although not an entirely worthless film, this is doubly disappointing when considering the wonderful staple cast and crew behind the movie, all of whom had been involved in (and were later involved in) much better, more wonderful things. Not only did top giallo screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi work on the script, but infamous horror director Ruggero Deodato (here called "Roger Deodata"), best known for his highly controversial film CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST, helmed the movie. Sadly the direction is weak at best, with little being made of the various suspenseful situations or action.

The stalwart cast sees James Franciscus headlining as the dashing heroic lead, a vain reporter seeking out a conspiracy behind a missing Concorde and finding himself pursued by various shifty henchmen, all invariably smartly dressed, slightly sweaty, unshaven, and with sinister glasses. Although there is plenty of scope for action, only towards the end of the movie does the film deliver with an exciting shoot-out in a bank and a couple of cool stunts and car chases. Also, for the film's finale, we are offered a genuine disaster situation, with a Concorde loaded with passengers racing towards destruction unless our hero can save it. Somewhat contrivedly, the key lies in an amnesia victim's memory, a former stewardess who must try to remember the reason the first plane crashed. A once-youthful Mimsy Farmer plays the too-often hysterical stewardess but seems miscast in the part.

Of course, ripping off an AIRPORT-style disaster movie wasn't enough, so in come scenes similar to those in JAWS and THE DEEP, two films which fuelled the late '70s underwater adventure genre. Lots of slow scuba-diving is involved, along with a killer shark and a wonderfully gruesome death for a diver, who is shot through the head from behind with a high-powered rifle, resulting in a huge wash of blood pouring from his shattered goggles. Sadly this is the film's only gory moment, again something of a surprise considering the director's filmography, although there is another cheesy moment in which an unlucky fisherman (played by a cameoing Dakkar from ZOMBIE FLESH EATERS) is mowed down by a speedboat. Other casting dependables include an ancient Joseph Cotton as one of the shady executives behind the Concorde, and his partner, the ever-hammy Edmund Purdom; Van Johnson as the unlikely pilot-in-peril; even Robert Kerman popping up for the finale as an air traffic controller who helps to guide the plane to safety. Yet despite the cast and scope for mucho excitement, the pacing is sluggish throughout, the scripting often uninteresting, and the special effects cheap, minimal and cheesy. Therefore only die-hard Euro buffs need to bother seeking this one out.

The first of two Concord movies released in 1979

[sol1218 · 5/10 · 20 January 2007]

(There are some spoilers) Cheaply made, especially in the special effects department, disaster film about a number of big and powerful businessmen trying to wreck the Concord Jet-plane industry. They plan to sabotage a number of the supersonic jets killing hundreds or passengers in the process. Released some five months before the far more expensive and much more popular "The Concord Airport " '79" the movie. "Concord Affaire '79" as well as "The Concord Airport '79" also boasts, well not publicly, of having in it the same porno & skin-flick super-stud Richard Bolla, in the movies credits.

Losing control and crashing in the Caribbean Sea off the Great Antilles Concord flight 820 goes under the waves with only one survivor being the stewardess Jean Beneyton, Mimsy Farmer. It turns out that the plane was sabotaged and the people behind it are a number of passenger plane manufactures headed by a Mr. Milland, Joesph Cotton. Theses plane manufactures feel that the supersonic jet would put them out of business.

Getting a call from his estranged wife Nichol,Flamma Maglione, from her restaurant in the Antilles US reporter Moses Brody, James Franciscus, is told that there's a big story behind the crashed jet that has nothing to do with mechanical failure. Getting to the islands Moses finds out that Nicole had been murdered. Moses also finds out that two fishermen working for her, catching lobsters and shrimps, restaurant were also killed in a tragic accident. they were really run down by a speedboat belonging to local mobster Forsythe, Venantino Ventantini. Forsythe also ended up kidnapping stewardess Jean Beneyton who the fishermen tried to rescue.

Moses finds that the surviving stewardess Jean Beneyton is being held hostage by the Forsythe Mob in their yacht and together with his and his wife's, the late Nicole Brody, friend on the island. George, Francisco Charles, goes scuba diving off the Antillie coast to rescue Jean and also find out what's left of the wreckage of the Concord only to have George lose his life in a shark attack.

Rescuing the kidnapped stewardess Jean Moses tries to get the island police and US embassy staff to help him stop an impending explosion on another Concord jet, taking off from Caracas Venzuela headed for London. It seems that everyone in authority that he gets in contact with is so lazy or on vacation that Moses has to do all the work himself in order to prevent another Concord supersonic jet from crashing into the Atlantic Ocean.

With Jeans help in knowing what was the cause of the explosion, on the plane she was on , it comes out how the sabotage of the aircraft is being planned. The saboteurs plant a crudely made acid bomb, in the food stored in kitchen area of the plane, and have it detonate when the Concord is at 50,000 feet. Lots of action on land with a very good car chase scene that's more of an advertisement for going on a trip to the Antilles, even though the movie was shot in a number of island's off the coast of Italy.

Tension and suspense high in the air over 50,000 feet with Concord pilot Captain Scott, Van Johnson, piloting the damaged and burning aircraft to a safe landing as well as the striking island photography make the movie watchable. Even though the story is a bit ridicules with only Forsythe and his boys getting the wost of it. Nothing ever happening to Milland and his cohorts who were responsible for the deaths of over one hundred people.

In the end it turned out that the Concord wasn't that great of a deal and all that it was cooked up to be, by it's supporters. By late 2003 it went out of business for good because most people unless they were millionaires, which wasn't enough to pay even for the planes upkeep, couldn't afford to pay the Concords exorbitant plane fare.

a fun action/drama flick with amusing cast and special effects

[Aylmer · 8/10 · 19 December 2000]

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.

Amazing what Ruggero "Roger" Deodato can do with a budget!

[Coventry · 8/10 · 18 August 2023]

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.

Not bad, but it's hard what to make of it.

[itsmrbigtoyou · 10/10 · 3 March 2008]

Well, I finally got my copy of the movie today. Very old version of the movie with some mild sound and vision problems, yet this is marketed as an official release!!!! Anywhoo, as for the plot, there is an awfully large amount of stock footgae of British Airways Concorde's used.

The film is not necessarily a disaster movie per say, but more of a drama. The start of the movie consists of a Concorde taking a serious nose-dive into the ocean. It looks tropical. It is made to look as though everybody on the jet has been killed upon impact.

Some impressive effects (for the time - 1979!) were used and it looks quite good. After this, two fishermen pick up a girl in a life-jacket. The only survivor of the crash - Miss Jean Beneyton, a pretty young flight attendant played by Mimsy Farmer.

Soon after, Jean is captured by the guys responsible for the previous Concorde's fate, helmed by Joseph Cotten. Coming to her rescue is the likable actor James Franciscus as Moses Brody, a reporter. His wife (also a reporter) found out about the Concorde crashing into the ocean and was subsequently murdered to keep the event's quiet.

Finally, Jean and Moses come to know that another Concorde jet is next on the sabotage list and it is up to them to stop this next Concorde from having the same fate as the previous!!!

Important Film Details:

Violence: Some, mild. Bad Language: Twice, strong. Sex/Nudity: None whatsoever. Other: One mild reference to pregnancy.

"I'm Not Telling You A Load Of Crap, Man!"...

[azathothpwiggins · 28 July 2021]

From Director Ruggero Deodato comes CONCORDE AFFAIR '79!

After a Concorde Super Sonic jet crashes into the Atlantic ocean, reporter, Moses Brody (James Franciscus) is after the story.

Meanwhile, the sole survivor of the crash (Mimsy Farmer) is abducted, and her rescuers murdered!

Then, Brody's ex-wife calls to tell him that she's got "big news" for him, before suffering from fatal "heart failure"! Brody quickly realizes that something more than a plane crash is afoot. Something involving a cabal of aviation magnates, including the enigmatic Milland (Joseph Cotten).

Can Brody figure things out before getting himself killed?

This movie, while mild in comparison to some of Deodato's more notorious work, is actually quite engaging. The underwater scenes are particularly well done. Franciscus is in top form here, in one of his better roles.

EXTRA POINTS FOR: The way this movie transforms into an all-out airline disaster film two-thirds of the way in, featuring Van Johnson as the world's most histrionic pilot!

Well worth watching more than once!...