Disc Details
Special Features:	Chapter selection. Theatrical trailer. Production notes. Cast and director bios and filmographies.
Video Format:	Full Frame (1.33:1)
Languages:	English (Dolby Digital 5.1) English (Dolby Digital 2.0) Surround
Captions:	English, Spanish, French.
Casing:	1-Disc Keep Case

There is an oil well explosion in some remote South American country. In order to meet quotas of production, the fire must be put out. Unfortunately, the dynamite stored by the company has not been turned in over a year. All of the nitroglycerine has leaked out of the sticks. Any small bump will cause a major explosion. The dynamite can't be transported by helicopter. The fire is 218 miles from the storage facility. The only way to get the explosives to the fire is by truck over treacherous mountain roads.

Now, to find a group of desperate fools to do the driving. There are four men needed. The four are Scanlon (Roy Schieder) a Mafioso on the lam after getting in dutch with a New Jersey kingpin. Next is Victor Manzon (Bruno Cremer) a Frenchman who has committed bank fraud and fled the country just ahead of the police. Kassem (Amidou) is an Arab terrorist wanted for a market place bombing in Jerusalem. Finally there is the mysterious Nilo (Francisco Rabal), a hitman who seems to be after one of the other three. The men have been offered enough money to allow them to leave the dreary jungle hellhole.

The journey through the mountains and jungles is the highlight of the film. Friedkin produced some truly amazing scenes. The most memorable involves getting the two trucks over a rotten bridge made of rope and wood. The bridge is similar to the one in "Indian Jones and the Temple of Doom" except it is a great state of disrepair. I do not know how this sequence was filmed without any fatalities. While the movie as a whole doesn't even come close to "Fitzcaraldo" or "Aquirre: The Wrath of God" this sequence does remind me of those films in that the director's determination overcame impossible odds to produced an unforgettable scene. Unfortunately, the rest of the movie doesn't seem to gel. There don't seem to be any lessons learned. This is a problem because of the way the main characters are developed. The film doesn't start out to be an action film. The characters are three dimensional. They are conflicted men seeking either redemption of at the very least some private island. The third act leaves you wondering why Friedkin spent so much time developing these men if he wasn't going to resolve their dilemmas in a meaningful way. I was surprised by the lackadaisical ending because the screenplay was written by Walon Green (The Wild Bunch). In Peckinpah's classic, Mr. Green was able to develop such characters and resolve all their issues is a quite satisfactory manner.

All its faults aside, I still enjoyed "Sorcerer" because of the exciting visuals, the great performances and the excellent score by Tangerine Dream. You may just want to rent this one.

Picture Quality: 5/10
Some scenes are great, but there are many scenes which are very grainy. Must have used an inferior print to make the transfer.

Sound Quality: 7/10
There were several times I had to put on the closed captioning to hear what was being said.

Menu: 7/10
Nothing special. Easy to navigate. Gets the job done. It does have pictures on the chapter selection section, which I like.

Extra Features: 3/10
Nothing special. The production notes are interesting. This would have been a great movie to present in widescreen format with a commentary. There have to be some great stories about the production of this jungle thriller.

The Final Word:
I picked this up at a pawn shop. Glad I only spent a few bucks on it. I like the movie despite its faults. Worth a look. Universal should have given this film better treatment on DVD.

Rusty White