Posted on 10/12/2014 4:23:28 PM PDT by EveningStar
Director William Friedkin couldn't have been on more of a hot streak: "The French Connection," released in 1971, won five Oscars, and "The Exorcist," released in 1973, won two Oscars. In 1977, he released a movie he would later call the best of his career: "Sorcerer."
But "Sorcerer" was a bomb, grossing only $6 million worldwide — short of its $21 million budget — and receiving tepid initial reviews.
The existential thriller follows four criminals from around the globe as they accept a lucrative but deadly contract to transport gallons of explosive nitroglycerin across a South American jungle. The film is the second adaptation of French novel "Le Salaire de la Peur," which was adapted as "The Wages Of Fear" in 1953.
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
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Plot sounds familiar but the title doesn’t. Was it black and white?
Thanks for the recommendation. I love The Exorcist.
Interesting. Never even heard of it but now I’d like to see it.
Color. The original French film “The Wages of Fear” was B/W.
A big part of the appeal of the movie is Tangerine Dream’s score.
I fell asleep during the French Connection’s fight scene.
Is this the one where the bus or truck had to traverse that creaky wooden bridge over a gorge?
I once dated a guy who really liked this movie, so I probably watched it at some time. He was really into the soundtrack as it was done by Tangerine Dream.
William Friedkin blames Star Wars for the failure of Sorcerer. I’m not sure if he has a point in literal terms, although Sorcerer did come out right as Star Wars fever was gripping the nation, debuting a month after Luke first blew up the Death Star, but he’s certainly right in a larger sense. Star Wars heralded the end of the 70s Golden Age of film, and Sorcerer was the last movie of that wave to make it through, but when it was released it found the entire movie landscape had changed.
Maybe some of the problem came from the title; despite being called Sorcerer the movie has nothing to do with magic. Audiences could have been confused, thinking that the director of The Exorcist was back in the paranormal world and, seeing that it’s a movie about driving trucks in the jungle, been turned off.
But most of the problem, I think, came from the changing times. Friedkin’s movie is tough and smart, expertly crafted and thrillingly shot, but it doesn’t capture the feel-good matinee theatrics of Star Wars. After a decade of rough-edged movies about difficult men and existential crises, America had enough. Sure, Sorcerer is an adventure movie set in the jungle, but audiences wanted a lighter kind of adventure, and they’d happily visit the jungle with Indiana Jones in a few years, but they didn’t want to take this death trip with Roy Scheider.
Saw it when it came out. Way under rated flick.
That’s the one. Great movie. I was thinking about it just a few days ago; no idea why, since it must be 30 years since I saw it.
Saw it in the theater back then, great film.
I saw “Sorcerer” when it aired in HBO in the 80s not long after HBO first got going. Loved the movie. Hope to watch it again sometime.
I haven’t seen the movie, but I have always remembered that photo of the truck crossing the bridge. It pulls you in immediately.
It’s funny that just two days ago I found out about this film and now I see a post about it.
Thanks for the link. :)
A must-see then!
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