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Sorcerer

Play trailer Poster for Sorcerer PG 1977 2h 1m Adventure Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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84% Tomatometer 56 Reviews 83% Popcornmeter 2,500+ Ratings
In the small South American town of Porvenir, four men on the run from the law are offered $10,000 and legal citizenship if they will transport a shipment of dangerously unstable nitroglycerin to an oil well 200 miles away. Led by Jackie Scanlon (Roy Scheider), the men set off on a hazardous journey, during which they must contend with dangerously rocky roads, unstable bridges, and attacks from local guerillas. The four fight for their lives as they struggle to complete their dangerous quest.
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Sorcerer

Sorcerer

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Critics Consensus

Sorcerer, which obstinately motors along on its unpredictable speed, features ambitious sequences of insane white-knuckle tension.

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Critics Reviews

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Rex Reed New York Daily News 10/26/2021
I don't know if there's an audience for this kind of grueling, depressing experience, but Sorcerer might bring back the kind of moviegoer who used to cheer Humphrey Bogart. It's tough and unyielding as a pair of brass knuckles. Go to Full Review
Vincent Canby New York Times 02/28/2021
For moviegoers who are convinced that more is more, "Sorcerer" is a big, fat, satisfyingly shapeless spectacle. For the rest of us it's a walnut of a movie-a good little melodrama surrounded by thick pulp. Go to Full Review
Peter Keough Boston Globe 02/28/2021
The director at his most brilliant and original. Go to Full Review
Michael J. Casey Boulder Weekly Jul 11
5/5
Bleak as hell but so expertly made it’s hard not to sit in awe. Go to Full Review
Rudie Obias Battleship Pretension Jul 9
Overall, Sorcerer is William Friedkin’s masterwork, as a storyteller and filmmaker. Go to Full Review
James Kendrick Q Network Film Desk Jul 4
4/4
a masterful evocation of human desperation and the most intense and compelling depiction of mankind battling the elements to his own destruction not directed by Werner Herzog Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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michael C. @MichaelC2 4d Sorcerer is a masterpiece. Very suspenseful. The music is very cool as well. Loved it. Too bad it got buried by the juggernaut that was Star Wars that came out about the same time. See more Greg K @GregZ Jan 14 All the location filming, setpieces and grime do not make up for the shallow characters and the useless prologue. Could have more drive by beeing 30min shorter. See more Wayne K Jan 11 While it might have a deceptive name, one of many things that sealed its doom at the box office, Sorcerer is a fantastic film, intense and brutal, full of compelling character moments and some incredibly creative set pieces, including a bridge crossing scene that Friedkin has called the hardest thing he ever filmed, and it shows. It opens with what feels like completely unrelated and irrelevant vignettes which make you feel like you’re watching an anthology flick, but they introduces us to its chief players, establishing their dark history and reason for being in the steaming hot jungle. It’s a film that really taps into the spirit of New Hollywood, a movement that was more or less in its death throes by this point. It’s great that its reputation has grown in recent years, because Sorcerer, as is often the case, was the right film at the absolutely wrong time. See more Jonathan O. @John_lucky5 Dec 12 I've not seen the original version, but this remake really delivers with really exhilarating suspense adventure thriller and strong cast including Roy Schindler brings up the heart in this film and William Friedkin takes a risk of filmmaking and he pulled it off and really amazing cinematography it captures like a documentary style and haunting atmosphere and really great sound design. See more Hector I Sep 19 I had classified this film as a crime thriller following its re-release by Criterion Studios, and I wasn't expecting it to be the American version of The Wages of Fear, even though I had my doubts when I saw the American title. Given the director (The Exorcist), I thought I was going to find myself in a mystical crime thriller set in South America, but that's not the case, at least not entirely... Here we follow four Westerners lost in a village abandoned by everyone and the gods in South America. The country is not very welcoming because they want to flee Cajun for their own reasons (ruined businessman, mafia, etc.). They work hard with no hope of escape until they are offered a cursed job (in reference to the Aztecs and the mystical symbolism that adorns this film), which consists of driving a truck loaded with highly unstable explosives (nitroglycerin) through the jungle. The two trucks set off into this green hell, driven by fear and madness. I was talking about the mysticism and madness that permeated this film. and indeed there are Aztec symbols scattered throughout the film (the truck with its terrifying mouth, the music, the Indians) so much so that you almost feel like you're in Aguirre, the Wrath of God, or even in the heart of darkness of Conrad, who takes these men to a wild country where the greatest danger comes from themselves. What a joy to see Bruno Cremer in the role of the ruined French businessman fleeing the reality of his situation. If you've seen Section 317, you get the impression that this man only feels at home in the jungle with his impressively calm and soothing blue eyes. Finally, it must be compared to its model, The Wages of Fear. Personally, I didn't find Montand very credible, but the 1953 version undoubtedly has a formidable aesthetic, a universal work thanks to its magnetic black and white, linked of course to oil. What does this film have that its predecessor doesn't? A rather well-crafted mystical aspect, and the bridge scene is truly terrifying. If you like Schoendoerffer, Bruno Cremer's presence alone is enough to elevate the film from good to Good ! See more Blobbo X @Blobbo Aug 27 Is not why Nobel invented dynamite? See more Read all reviews
Sorcerer

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Movie Info

Synopsis In the small South American town of Porvenir, four men on the run from the law are offered $10,000 and legal citizenship if they will transport a shipment of dangerously unstable nitroglycerin to an oil well 200 miles away. Led by Jackie Scanlon (Roy Scheider), the men set off on a hazardous journey, during which they must contend with dangerously rocky roads, unstable bridges, and attacks from local guerillas. The four fight for their lives as they struggle to complete their dangerous quest.
Director
William Friedkin
Producer
William Friedkin
Screenwriter
Walon Green
Distributor
Universal Pictures
Production Co
Paramount Pictures, Film Properties International N.V., Universal Pictures
Rating
PG
Genre
Adventure, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Jun 24, 1977, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Aug 5, 2014
Runtime
2h 1m
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