Director: William Friedkin
Writer: Walon Green (Screenplay) Georges Arnaud (Novel)
Starring: Roy Scheider, Bruno Cremer, Francisco Rabal, Amidou, Ramon Bieri, Peter Capell
Plot: Four unfortunate men from different parts of the globe agree to risk their lives transporting gallons of nitro-glycerine across dangerous Latin American jungle.
Tagline – WANTED. Four men willing to drive a cargo of death to escape a life in hell.
Runtime: 2 Hours 1 Minute
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Sorcerer starts as we meet Scanlon (Scheider), Victor Manzon (Cremer), Nilo (Rabal) and Kassem (Amidou) who are all running from their past to avoid criminal repercussions in a small South American village.
After the village suffers a tragedy involving the nitro-glycerine, many of the locals are killed, leading to the owners needing people to step up to restore the supply, with the four men being pushed into the job that could secure their freedom or at least fund their next few years.
Thoughts on Sorcerer
Thoughts – Sorcerer is a movie that will put four criminals, from four different worlds together in a position where they will need to work together to transport a highly explosive material across South America, needing to work together to solve the problems they find along the way. This is an interesting concept for a film, showing us just how an unlikely group of people will need to be able to work together to solve problems while risking their lives. The performances are strong throughout from the four leads, but it does fall into the position of not giving us enough about why this journey needed to become so dangerous, if it is so important, they should have made a safer route by now. We do get the tense scenes when the four are in a difficult spot, needing to get through before it is too late, which are easily the best parts of the film.
Final Thoughts – Sorcerer is an intense thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat.