Sorcerer

Rating:
Summary: Different take on Wages of Fear... no widescreen (sniff)
Review: This movie is a good remake of Wages of Fear. Its even betterthan Wages in some places but the film needs some major help in someplaces.

This movie is told in a strange way, and I'm not talking about 4 unrelated scenes ending up in one, I'm talking about there is very little dialog in this movie. Not much words are said. One minor character has more words than Scheider and Cremer combined!

The characters are very unlikable. Scheider's character hoping the other truck blows up so he can get more money is pretty bad. In Wages the men were friends and looked out for each other, here they are scum who just want money and will kill each other for it. I like that.

This is a very good movie and anyone who has seen Wages of Fear should see this one. The soundtrack is pretty strange and sounds like John Carpenter did it( i know who did the soundtrack).

I have one major problem though. You would think with the invention of DVD a widescreen option would be put on every disc produced. Seems cheap and logical doesent it? Guess not, this is very sad. This DVD looks like it was cut in half and diced on the top. Its like watching the movie out of a little window and I often found myself actually looking up trying to see for more screen.

Whats also very sad is that this movie wasen't a box office success, this film deserves some Oscars! Also sad is that since this film was a box office failure its a home video failure which it is. This disc isn't selling well which means we are NEVER gonna see a widescreen version of Sorcerer. Its a damn shame.

1 star off because its not as good as Wages of Fear. 2 stars off because of no widescreen. 2 stars because this movie is great!

I love this movie but it needs Widescreen and color remaster! Write Universal! Demand it! END

Rating:
Summary: TRANSFER FROM A BROADCAST MASTER
Review: If you look at all the other reviews, you'll rarely see anything less than five stars and the film deserves it. "SORCERER" falls into that category sometimes referred to as an "undiscovered gem". My reason for giving this DVD one star is technical. Rather than creating a new master from film elements, this DVD was created from an existing full-screen SMPTE television broadcast master. As a result, you miss all of screen left, all of screen right, and a portion of both north and south. "SORCERER" is one of my all-time favorite action films and I can only hope that Friedkin and company release the original, theatrical wide-screen version of this thriller. I am so disappointed by the technical failings of this DVD that I won't buy it unless/until it's re-released in the theatrical format.

Rating:
Summary: the most underrated movie of all time
Review: Sorcerer is a genuine masterpiece, especially during its first hour, when Friedkin describes the origins of the 4 characters. According to me, it is far superior from the original movie by Clouzot , and Scheider and Cremer deliver sublime performances. this movie has a very strange atmosphere, almost fantastic, and it stucks in your mind long after you've watched it. The Exorcist remains Friedkin's best movie but this one comes close second...

Rating:
Summary: One More Reason Why Friedkin Is Brilliant
Review: Sorcerer is a damn good remake of Wages Of Fear. Friedkin's direction delivers killer suspense and a feeling of desperation while watching this classic. Roy Scheider delivers a great performance and the music by Tangerine Dream fits the film perfectly. If the first half doesn't make your toes sweat, the second half sure as hell will. Much like Friedkin himself, this film is terribly underrated.

Rating:
Summary: Take a little trip...
Review: I've seen this great film on the big screen three times and was blown away each time. Excellent cinematography, intense characters, and dismal settings catapult you into the the story for one hell of a ride. This looks and feels like a documentary, making it a real nail-biter. The eerie and haunting soundtrack by Tangerine Dream is so trippy, years ago I would've freaked out!. If you know someone with a huge tv screen have a Sorcerer party. Definitely at the top of my dvd collection!

Rating:
Summary: Best Movie Ever
Review: This is for me the best movie ever made. Friedkin is a genious and Scheider is perfect. I cannot believe it was made in 1977 since it looks from the 90s. Last scene of Scheider dancing with the sad lady in the bar is the best ! Unique music, terrific casting and great story..a 10!

Rating:
Summary: Sorcerer
Review: Perfect! Micheal Mann (Theif,Heat, ManHunter) has taken alot from this movie and everyone should. William Friedkin was at the top of his game.

Rating:
Summary: An overlooked gem
Review: Forget "Wages of Fear" for a moment and look at the merits of the DVD release of William Friedkin's "Sorcerer."

I would have overlooked this film had Siskold and Ebert not flagged it as an under-rated film and under-rated it is. I caught it on HBO and later purchased the Laserdisc.

But the DVD is a step up from there. The color is excellent and the DVD sound is spectacular with the score by Tangerine Dream. Vivid is the word.

Friedkin, who cut his teeth in commercial television, doggedly sticks to his 1:1.33 aspect ratio for this release, but one sees his way of looking at the scenes in this way.

And, oh the cargo! Cases of sensitive dynamite leaking nitroglycerine carried in two trucks driving 15 minutes apart over "pre-Columbian" roads for 200 miles through a South American jungle past, over, or through every danger one can imagine. Dynamite truckers are sometimes called "suicide jockies" even on regular roads. This is downright kamakazi.

Once the journey starts and Tangerine Dream plays the score, it becomes a white knuckle journey not only for the drivers, but for the audience as well. Not good men (after all their are on the lam) but I wound up caring for all of them -- and that says something for the way Friedkin draws the viewer in.

Perhaps the "superior characterization" of the earlier film appeals to those who like the personal stories and certainly there is a place for that, but for the raw imagery of the journey, "Wages" does not touch Sorcerer. If anything, both films should be seen and enjoyed, each for their different focus.

I especially liked the opened ended ending of Sorcerer -- open to debate -- does the theme music mean the end, or yet another spin of the wheel?

Is this a never-ending story? Is it the story of "everyman?"

Rating:
Summary: The most underrated film of the century!
Review: This intensely realistic 'amoral' tale of human desperation says more about the political and socioeconomics of humanity in the 20th century than any film I can think of. The story, the acting, the incredible music, and the mesmerizing cinematography 'deserved' a ton of academy award nominations. But apparently Hollywood just couldn't deal with a film where there were no good guys, or bad guys, or even a happy ending. I can name dozens of movies that have won 'best picture' awards that don't even approach the excellence of this film! Its a movie that is entertaining in both its stark realism-- and in its inevitable ironies. And the bridge scenes were some of the greatest cinematic moments in motion picture history, IMO.

Rating:
Summary: for once second part is best
Review: I ever thougth that second parts never were good, but in this case I must say not only this movie is one of my favourites, but for me is better than the first version "Wages of Fear" that is considered a masterpiece. Well, both films are very good. I know "Sorcerer" isn't the most popular nor valued but each one has his preferences and the theme of the man which has to figth with all chances against ever was my preferred and in this film these is very clearly put in the screen. Both films have very good players, but I think in this, is one of these rare cases when color and modern making better the final result, because in general, remakes are poor and low the dramatism, but undoubtly "Sorcerer" is an exception and has something ever impress me. There's not adventures for children and cinema of today almost never attains this.