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.
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The 1985 movie Legend, the rather extraordinary fantasy starring Tom Cruise, has two soundtracks, one of which was done by Tangerine Dream. DVDs of both versions exist.
“Due to the changes in the film from its European and American releases, Legend has two different soundtracks. The first, produced and composed by Jerry Goldsmith, was used for its initial European release and restored in the director’s cut edition of the Region 1 DVD release.
“The second soundtrack features music by German electronic artists Tangerine Dream and was used for the initial theatrical and home video releases in the United States.
“This soundtrack also includes songs by Jon Anderson of Yes and Bryan Ferry of Roxy Music. Both soundtracks are available on CD, although the Tangerine Dream soundtrack has become harder to find.”
I rented it from Netflix a few years ago.
Awesome movie, great plot, characters, real edge-of-seat stuff in a jungle. The bridge scene is brutal.
I’m sure Spielberg mined this for Indiana Jones.
It was a pretty scary movie the first time I saw it. But by the 3rd time the surprises had worn off. I was essentially desensitized.
A couple of years later I saw The Omen. Now that movie spooked me seriously for a couple of days. Creepily atmospheric. However, a re-watch of it years later made me wonder how it could have spooked me like it did.
Tangerine Dream makes that movie hum with the soundtrack.
The film is great, too. Probably Caan's best.
Even better than the Godfather.
Oops, I meant that Caan’s ROLE is more outstanding. Not that Thief is a better movie. The Godfather stands alone.
I loved Sorcerer when it first came out.
I was dumbfounded by the acting in Wages of Fear when I watched it several years later.
The scene where the driver pulls a gun at the bar after his assailant pulls a knife, then makes him take the gun and demand he shoot him or else leave, was one of the best intuitions of human character written in the screenplay and portrayed by the actors. That is true acting.
Thanks for ping Perdogg and thread EveningStar. Haven’t seen it but will try. Did enjoy Exorcist n French Connection. Fan of Tangerine Dream so that’s a plus!
A lot of very good movies made in the ‘70s - the last decade for which that could be said, in my humble opinion.
I had just gotten out of Air Force basic training, and I think this was the first movie that I saw. Personally, I thought it was a great story, with a four-star cast. The two negatives that I’d give it...first was the name itself....making you think it was related to the Exorcist. Second was the music score within it. Oddly enough, I’ve never seen it on TV or cable.
Another movie from that era which was a great movie....Kentucky Fried Movie. You never see it on TV or cable either.
I liked ‘Sorcerer’ and was trying to find a copy of it recently. No luck.
“It gave me a new respect for old cases of dynamite!”
One of my neighbors, a man about 70 yrs old, used to own a Quonset hut in Death Valley. He and a couple of younger friends were out nosing around the desert and spotted a wooden box at the bottom of a hill. The two younger guys went down to investigate. They tried to lift the lid and the box exploded, killing one instantly and doing a lot of damage to the other. My neighbor was standing on top of the hill and the explosion burned off his eyebrows, burned his face, burned his clothes. The explosion ‘set fire to the desert’ in one news account.
What they had found of course was a case of old dynamite. When manufactured the dynamite was a tube of compressed sawdust soaked in nitroglycerin. Not especially dangerous when new. But after sitting unmoved for decades the nitroglycerine had time to ooze out of the sawdust into a pool at the bottom of the box, and that is extremely dangerous.
“THX1138 “
I saw that when it came out. It was an expanded version of a college project of George Lucas IIRC. I’d be surprised if it aged real well.
It has aged pretty well. It got mixed reviews initially but now has sort of a cult following. All I knew of George Lucas was Star Wars when I watched THX1138. I was amazed that it was created by the the same guy. To me it’s the better film in terms of artistic sophistication and setting a visual mood.
I remember it, it was OK.
I have it on DVD. Its time to watch it again.
-PJ
Don’t they all die in the end?
I have the soundtrack to this movie. Tangerine Dream...
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