John Frankenheimer (The Manchurian Candidate, 1962) directed this epic international thriller based on the debut novel by Thomas Harris, creator of Hannibal Lecter. Robert Shaw, in a rare and welcome heroic leading role, is a world-weary Mossad agent on the trail of a Black September terrorist (Marthe Keller) and her unstable partner (Bruce Dern) planning an unthinkable crime on US soil.

John Williams’s score adds to the pulse-pounding excitement, and the screenplay by Ernest Lehman, Kenneth Ross, and Ivan Moffat gives the characters on both sides of the conflict their due.

The bestselling aquatic thriller by Jaws author Peter Benchley became a summer blockbuster under the direction of four-time Oscar nominee Peter Yates (Bullitt, 1968), with Robert Shaw commanding the screen as a Bahamas treasure hunter who aids a vacationing couple (Jacqueline Bisset and Nick Nolte) in a dangerous hunt for a sunken fortune.

The film’s memorable diving scenes benefit from the impressive underwater cinematography of second unit directors Al Giddings (The Abyss, 1989) and Stan Waterman, and the evocative score by five-time Oscar winner John Barry.