It's been 40 years since Sorcerer first came to a South American jungle near you, but it's hard to imagine a time when it didn't exist. Three sequels (with many more to come), three misguided yet often misunderstood prequels, one "Sorcerer Story" (last year's Rogue One, about the embezzlement scheme that leads Sorcerer's Bruno Cremer into exile at the beginning of the movie), countless books, video games, animated cartoons, and one infamous Christmas special later, the pop culture crater left by Sorcerer's impact is so large it makes the tree blown up by the film's heroes look more like a twig.

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

"The Sorcerer is an evil wizard and, in this case, the evil wizard is fate. The fact that somebody can walk out of their front door and a hurricane can take them away, an earthquake or something falling through the roof. And the idea that we don’t really have control over our own fates, neither our births nor our deaths; it’s something that has haunted me since I was intelligent enough to contemplate something like it."

"I wasn't prepared for my success or failure. I felt... buffeted by fate without any control over [my] destiny. That's one of the themes of Sorcerer. No matter how much you struggle, you get blown up. [...] It's about revenge, vengeance, betrayal – this is how I feel about life.... life is filled with betrayal... false promises... fate is waiting around the corner to kick you in the ass."

- William Friedkin

A cinema of madness. Pure physical detail. Damnation as a form of cinematic spectacle. Man with blood in their hands fulfilling their death wish. What for Clozout is social need, for Friedkin is self-punishment. First world crimes reimagined in a third world purgatory, an amusement park of unforgiven nature. The beauty is that everything is translated in pure action, everything a matter of another form of behavior. Among other things, this is Friedkin’s most compassionate movie, Francisco Rabal taciturn killer is the film’s heart and Bruno Kramer’s masochist banker it is clear-eyed soul.

This one surprised me. For those who don’t know about this let me give you the rundown: in a nutshell 4 guys have to move boxes of old decaying dynamite with nitroglycerin leaking out of it from one place to another in the Dominican Republic over very rough terrain. The only problem is if there is even one big bump and BOOM!! Everybody gives top notch performances especially Roy Scheider. This film relies a lot on tension which really works for this film. There’s a sequence that involves a bridge of rope and wood over a river that I’m amazed was even filmed. Check this one out if you get the chance.

In a nutshell:
(Stephen Kings favourite movie)

* Roy Sheider is underrated ⭐️ 
* Slow start, wish the cast was more interesting, kept waiting for Sheider to reappear 😴
* Zero character development in the first hour 😕
* There was a riot, was I meant to care?... Because the cast seemed to care 🤔
* Ah! Dynamite! 💣
* Ah! A truck! 🚚 
* Are we there yet? 😒
* To be fair it’s a very easy plot device to build tension... but you need the characters and... well you have to care 😬
* I personally don’t think this even deserves cult status... and I’m a Friedkin fan! 🤷🏻‍♂️

Though perhaps not as treacherous as the journey undertaken by the characters in the movie... this was a trial. At least I’ve got the 74mim ‘A Conversation With William Friedkin And Nicolas Winding Refn’ to make the BR price worth it 👍

Dignisimo remake del salario del miedo con cambios significativos pero manteniendo la tensión de la original. Menudo despliegue de medios había antes y escenas incluso peligrosas de rodar no como ahora que gracias al ordenador te ahorras todo esto

This movie strives for maximum impact and it is often bombastic and I am very here for it.

Tighter than the original one. More thrilling action sequences, more show don't tell. However, it is at the expense of less character development

An expedition into the jungle to make a movie.
Amazing soundtrack.
Vice grip tension and suspense.
A truck crossing a rope bridge in a rainstorm.
Grade A.

The multi-part genre-hopping vignette structure of the first act, the suffocating oppressive atmosphere of the village and the surrounding jungle, the slapdash ramshackle trucks, the harsh journey and continuing descent into worse situations, the methodical overcoming of each challenge...Sorcerer remains as thrilling upon rewatch as it was the first time

Chief Brody sure did have a hard time of it back in the 70s

The greatest cinematic wind I've ever seen.