Amazon.com: Following the blockbuster success of The Exorcist, director William Friedkin had the clout to make any film he wanted, and he nearly ruined his career making Sorcerer, an ill-fated remake of the classic French thriller The Wages of Fear. Given the big-budget treatment that Friedkin could command, the original plot remains unchanged: In an unnamed Latin American country, Roy Scheider leads a group of four fugitives who will earn their freedom if they can successfully transport truckloads of volatile nitroglycerine over treacherous terrain to extinguish a raging oil fire. The unstable explosives could prove deadly at any point of the journey, and numerous obstacles threaten the completion of the mission. Produced under rugged conditions in the jungles of the Dominican Republic, the film is visually impressive and contains intense moments of astonishing suspense, but the specter of the superior French version hangs over every scene. This version remains a folly of directorial ambition run amuck, but for the very same reason Sorcerer is a film that's hauntingly unforgettable, fueled by an atmosphere of dread and the forceful powers of nature. Presented in full-screen format on DVD, the film is aided immeasurably by Tangerine Dream's eerie electronic score. --Jeff Shannon
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: - Sorcerer
Still fantastic and suspensefull after all these years!
Just as good as I remembered it to be!
Rating: - Sorcerer and The Wages of Fear
I had not seen Sorcerer since its original theatre release three decades ago. Actually, I had been searcher for the DVD for several years. I am a classic movie fan, and one of my favourites is the legendary 1950s French movie The Wages of Fear, of which Sorcerer is a remake. It doesn't quite come off, and is not nearly as good as the original French movie. Yet it grows on you. The first week it arrived I played it three times! I think it is somewhat mistitled, and that might be partly to blame for why it was such a box office flop. Roy Scheider is topnotch in the movie, and so is Bruno Comer. Indeed, ... Read More
Rating: - I LOVE THIS FILM
This movie didn't get great reviews. However, in my opinion, most film critics are too full of themselves. This is a GRITTY violent film with a very good story line. Great acting, direction and locations. The DVD does not come in Letterbox which is a drawback for me.
Rating: - Great dramatic thriller for its time!
Not as good as i remember but the soundtrack! Get it! Great product received promptly. Thanks!
Rating: - Gritty Reality Play
I first saw "Sorcerer" when 14, and I thought it was terrible. In my 40s, I see it differently as a mirror on reality and as a great movie.
Whatever your current problems, they aren't as bad as those of the principal characters in this movie. They are four men who are refugees from greater society (a terrorist, a man wanted for high-stakes financial malfeasance, a petty criminal wanted by the Mob, and a professional assassin). They all flee to a nasty South American back water town, and then the sabotage of an industial facility 200 miles distant causes an oil well fire. Dynamite to put ... Read More
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