Sorcerer [1977] (REGION 1) (NTSC)

Customer Reviews:

Clunky, Awkward and Long-winded.......2008-02-25

This film has Friedkin's signature all over it. If you're a fan of 'The Exorcist' you'll recognise his style in this film. However there are several problems. The first hour of it is an attempt to show the audience how the three central characters, from different parts of the world, social and political background, got themselves into the situation that the film is actually about (taking on a highly risky transport job). However its done so poorly, the characters are underdeveloped and there's no empathy for them in any way; it ends up being long-winded and confusing. An hour in, and the story, proper, begins. The dialogue is so sparse, that Friedkin misses an opportunity to make the audience have some sort of possession (no pun intended) of the characters. I was yearning for a some sort of conversation between the characters to show there humanity and when one does awkwardly begin, it ends in a violent death that leaves the story bereft of substance. Even the potentially exciting 'huge-tree-in-the-way-of-the-truck' scene is dry, sterile and uninteresting because there was so little dialogue. Its rather like the weird editing and sparsity of the spaghetti westerns by without the tension. The late great Roy Scheider is the films only saving grace, but even his craggy face and brilliant acting can't save this film. The sublime soundtrack by Tangerine Dream, a milestone in the genre of German electronica, hardly makes it eerie presence felt either, which would've helped a great deal. So if this is supposed to be a good film compared with the original 'Wages of Fear' I hate to think how bad that version was!

In conclusion, this film story is ripe for the picking by a better director and that could make a great film, but this one is best avoided.

Warning ! Not Wide Screen!.......2007-11-10

The film was shot 1.85:1 but this DVD is only 1.33:1 so you frustratingly lose the sides!

I expected more from this movie. But it takes an hour to get going, you don't really care about the characters, the action is often confusing, and the score is intrusive and unremarkable. The Cluzot original is far superior.

Should have been better.......2006-11-23

I'd read about this in Peter Biskind's" Easy Riders, Raging Bulls" book. It sounded intriguing. So eventually I bought it.

It's not great, but it isn't terrible either. It seems strange that they had a chance to correct many of the faults of the original movie. Instead they just repeated it, flaw for flaw.

As with the original, you can safely skip the first hour as it's only ploddingly dull set up. Eventually when things do start it feels like too little too late. You feel as though the movie should be reaching its climax, not starting a whole new adventure!

Strangely some of the set pieces are better handled in the original than in this remake - the turning on the creaking wooden platform and the blowing up of the boulder/tree stump on the road. It's a shame the characters are so vague as it was a strength of the original when the characters got together to work out how to solve a problem. In this version they say little, apart from insults, to each other. The tree stump scene suffers because of this in comparison to the boulder scene in the original.

The movie was okay. If I ever watch it again I'll skip the first hour.

The picture quality on this DVD is very grotty. It looks like a 70's cinema print that's been on tour around the world. Though it could be argued that it's picture quality is appropriate for the material.

Great 70s film, when cinema was good.......2006-09-29

William Friedkin was at the top of his form when he made this film, coming off the back of The French Connection and The Exorcist. As fine a film as those two, this suffered with poor marketing and having the misfortune to be released the week after Star Wars opened.
Gritty, ultra realistic, with scenes of third world poverty that make you squirm in your seat, and one of the most downbeat endings ever committed to celluloid, (and no princess in danger or light sabres to liven things up), Sorcerer bombed at the box office.
Undeservedly.
A fine, underrated film about four desperate men in a desperate situation willing to risk their lives for another shot at freedom, (and redemption), this is good old fashioned film making at its best, and Friedkin's most European film, with sequences of almost unbearable tension (in which the actors appear to be in actual danger), and an ending you will never forget.
Roy Scheider is at the top of his form, riding the wave of popularity from Jaws which would take him through to the mid 1980s before petering out.
That's the great shame about watching a film like this; remembering how good cinema was in the 70s, and how wretched it so quickly became from the 80s on.

Release Sorcerer on Region 2!!.......2005-07-04

I agree with the first review - a fantastic movie from a Director who is either lauded or derided; some of his work must feature in most peoples 'best of' lists - French Connection, Exorcist etc but equally there is a cache of forgotten movies that cry out for attention - Live & Die in LA, Jade and of course Sorcerer.I doubt its even been on TV in the last 25 years!! Sad........ but true.
Release the Sorcerer on Region 2.

Bruce Li in New Guinea [1977] (REGION 1) (NTSC)

Average customer rating:

Bruce Li in New Guinea [1977] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
Starring: Ho Chung Dao , Chen Sing , and Bruce Li
Director: C.Y. Yang
Manufacturer: Epi
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Region 1 | Special Features | DVD | Video

DVD | Format (binding_browse-bin) | Refinements | DVD | Video
ASIN: B0009H97EY
Release Date: 2005-07-12

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