Sorcerer

1977
PG
2h 1m

IMDb RATING

7.7/10

30K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

Play trailer2:53

Jungle Adventure Road Trip Adventure Drama Thriller

Four unfortunate men from different parts of the globe agree to risk their lives transporting gallons of nitroglycerin across dangerous Latin American jungle.Four unfortunate men from different parts of the globe agree to risk their lives transporting gallons of nitroglycerin across dangerous Latin American jungle.Four unfortunate men from different parts of the globe agree to risk their lives transporting gallons of nitroglycerin across dangerous Latin American jungle.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.7/10

30K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

4,554

188

See production info at IMDbPro

Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 3 nominations total

'Carlos'
(as Fredrick Ledebur)

Chico Martínez

Bobby Del Rios
(as Chico Martinez)

Joe Spinell

Spider

Rosario Almontes

Agrippa

Richard Holley

Billy White

Anne-Marie Deschodt

Blanche
(as Anne Marie Descott)

Jean-Luc Bideau

Pascal

Jacques François

Lefevre
(as Jacques Francois)

André Falcon

Guillot

Gerard Murphy

Donnelly

Desmond Crofton

Boyle

Director
- William Friedkin
Writers
All cast & crew
Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
Besides internal on-set conflicts, William Friedkin said that approximately fifty people "had to leave the film for either injury or gangrene," as well as food poisoning and malaria. In The Friedkin Connection he added that "almost half the crew went into the hospital or had to be sent home." Friedkin himself lost fifty pounds (23 kg) and was stricken with malaria, which was diagnosed after the film's premiere.

Goofs
During the tree sequence, after the dynamite is lifted out of the wooden crate, it is kicked to the side and (apparently) falls off the tree.

Weeping dynamite is leaking out the nitroglycerin as a liquid which will readily soak through untreated materials such as the wooden case, shelves upon which they sit and so on. Old stocks of dynamite usually require destroying the entire building in which they are found for safety.

When kicked, or when it fell to the ground, the wooden crate would have exploded with significant force. The drivers would have been briefed on this to not make any mistakes while moving the crates.

Quotes
Scanlon: [Nilo has been shot] What're you gonna do with all that money, you hump? Talk to me! What're you gonna do?
Nilo: Get... laid! Best whore in Managua!
Scanlon: Two whores! Two best whores in Managua!
Nilo: You do it. For me.

Crazy credits
The only opening credits at the beginning of the film are the studios' names followed by the film's graffiti style font title. Although by the late 1990's it was quite common to not have credits at the beginning of a film, in 1977 it was very unusual.

Alternate versions
The European version of the film was re-edited and shortened by CIC, the European distributor, without director William Friedkin's permission. The prologue sequences set in New York, Paris, Vera Cruz and Israel that show what happened to the main characters and why they had to flee to South America, were changed to flashbacks running throughout the film.

Connections
Featured in Sneak Previews: Take 2: Overlooked Classics: Great Movies of the 70's That Nearly Everybody Missed (1980)

Soundtracks
Spheres (Movement 3)
Performed by Keith Jarrett
Used under license from Polydor Incorporated and through the courtesy of ECM Records

User reviews205

Review

Featured review

8/10

Fate takes the wheel

For my money, the original one-sheet for "Sorcerer" is one of the most effective pieces of movie advertising. A cargo truck trying to negotiate its way across a sorely decrepit bridge. Simple, but highly effective. The whole movie is distilled into that one image. Which isn't to say that that's all the movie is, far from it. "Sorcerer" deals in high suspense like a seasoned pro, cavalierly dismissing the laws of physics in favor of truly nail-biting cinema. The whole thing feels doomed, and that sense of dread just builds, baby. It's a movie that spends its first half in set-up, but surprisingly is never boring. And Friedkin milks the gritty atmosphere out of that third-world jungle.

It's been a few days and I still can't get this movie out of my head. It doesn't shake off easily.

8/10