Posts Tagged ‘Sorcerer’

William Friedkin, RIP

Monday, August 7th, 2023

No director probably ever had three films back to back as good as William Friedkin (who just died at age 87) did in the 1970s. The French Connection, The Exorcist and Sorcerer are each truly great films that stand the test of time. The first two made a ton of money (justifiably). The third one didn’t, but has one of the greatest, tensest scenes of all time.

Friedkin let the success of those first two go to his heads, and then a string of flops (including Cruising, a film that, like The Last Temptation of Christ, alienated its only potential audience) put him out of favor in Hollywood.

He also directed a pretty swell episode of the 1980s Twilight Zone reboot.

He had a wealth of talent, I just wish we had more first rate films from him.

William Friedkin’s Sorcerer Finally Out on Blu Ray

Saturday, April 26th, 2014

In the 1970s, director William Friedkin made three great movies, one after the other. The first, The French Connection won the Academy Award for best picture. The second, The Exorcist, was not only one of the greatest horror films of all time, but one of the highest grossing films ever.

However, his third film, Sorcerer, a remake of the French film The Wages of Fear, sank like a stone at the box office, despite having one of tensest action sequences ever filmed:

It also doesn’t help that the film was later butchered for the international market.

The film has long been champion by many (including Roger Ebert) as a lost classic. But the film was never released on Blu-Ray.

Until now:

The Blu-Ray version is the full film, restored and remastered with Friedkin’s oversight, and is reportedly “stunning”.

I’ll definitely pick this up, because even on VHS (kids, ask your parents what a VHS was), it was an extremely well-made and gripping film (and one I prefer to the original Wages of Fear).

Warning: Don’t pick up the DVD released the same day as the Blu-Ray, which is reportedly a “botched” full-screen transfer, as the restored version of the DVD isn’t available yet.