Stars: Roy Scheider, Bruno Cremer, Francisco Rabal
OK, so how do you re-make one of the greatest movies (Le salaire de la peur) of all time, and turn it into a critical and box-office disaster? Well, here's how:
1) Take the original four likable - deeply human -characters and make them superficial and unlikable. In the original, we had four "average Joe" outcasts who bonded with each other. We rooted for them. In this version, we have a Mafioso, a crooked banker, an Arab terrorist, and a Spanish professional killer. They have no warmth and they don't even like each other. So, why should we care?
2) Cast un-charismatic actors and obscure foreigners. Originally, Steve McQueen and Yves Montand were to star. But the producer/director wanted to make more $$$ by casting lower-priced Roy Schinder and Bruno Cremer, along with two more even more obscure actors: Amidou and Rabal. Result? We care even less about the superficial characters.
3) Give your unlikable characters a long pointless backstory. Unlike Wages of Fear, which begins in the isolated South American town, Sorcerer gives us long boring "action packed" backstories for the four protagonists. However, its all at the start, and since we don't know who these guys are, we don't care. And the action sequences are unremarkable - which makes it even worse.
4) Spend a lot of time in the Isolated Town doing nothing of interest. Incredibly, Sorcerer doesn't get the guys on the road till the 55 minute mark. So what were they doing before that? Sorry, I can't remember. There were a lot of broken down South American shacks, Roy Schinder looking sad, rain, mud, and various nasty looking characters, but other than that...sorry dude.
5) Update the Story to the 1970s so we wonder why they need to use Trucks. In Wages of Fear, they *had* to use trucks. In 1953, no backwater Oil Company would have a helicopter to transport explosives 200 miles. But in 1975?! So, the film's silly excuse for no helicopters? "Turbulence". Yeah right, as opposed to having high-explosives bounce around in the back of a truck over rough roads!
6) Take out all the Suspense First, since we don't really like them, who cares if they live or die? In addition, every dangerous scene is directed in a slack and un-engaging way. We have these big monster trucks rumbling through the jungle and we're always viewing them from a distance. Even, the much touted bridge scene is a bore.
7) Have people act like idiots. The guys in the Wages of Fear weren't rocket scientists, they were average Joe's trying the best they could. But in Sorcerer they're just plain dumb. When they come upon a tree blocking their way, Schinder goes crazy and starts using a machete to find an alternate path -and his partner is going to shoot him - because its the end, right? But then they realize they have a truck full of explosives...and.... figure out what the audience thought 10 minutes before. In a later scene, bandits with AK-47s try to hijack the truck, but they don't search the drivers for weapons, or take any precautions because ...they're idiots. Result? One guy with a pistol kills five guys with automatic weapons!
8) Have an unnecessarily sad ending. Everyone dies. Schider makes it to the end, but after the payoff, gets killed by mafia hit-man. So it was all for nothing. The end.
IMDB Rating a Phony
And I don't believe the 7.8 IMDB rating for a minute. I smelled a rat, and loe and behold when you look at the rating details, what do you find? Well, the 1000 top reviews and IMDB staff give the movie a 7.0. And it has 129 reviews, as many as "Wages of Fear". Well, that's odd - given its bad critical reception and relative obscurity. And amazingly, review after review mentions the producer/director William Friedkin. Really. How many people mention an obscure director in their review? It obvious that someone is gaming the system
Summary: Sorcerer isn't a good movie and isn't deserving of cult status. Watch Clouzat's Wages of Fear instead.
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