Sorcerer (1977)

Sorcerer is a 1977 American action thriller film produced and directed by William Friedkin and starring Roy Scheider, Bruno Cremer, Francisco Rabal, and Amidou. It is the second adaptation of Georges Arnaud's 1950 novel The Wages of Fear, following the 1953 French-language film. Although it is often considered a remake of the earlier film, Friedkin disagreed with this assessment, considering it a more faithful adaptation of the novel.

Sorcerer depicts four fugitives who are assigned on a dangerous mission to transport two dilapidated trucks 218 miles (351 km) on a rough Latin American jungle road. The trucks are loaded with old, rotting dynamite that "sweats" its volatile basic ingredient, nitroglycerin, and the dynamite could explode if the trucks move too suddenly. The film was originally conceived as a small-scale side project to Friedkin's next major film, The Devil's Triangle, with a modest US$2.5 million budget. The director later opted for a more ambitious production, which he envisioned as his magnum opus.

Sorcerer's budget soon grew to $22 million following a grueling production with various filming locations—primarily in the Dominican Republic—and conflicts between Friedkin and his crew. Upon its initial release, the film received heavily mixed reviews and became a box office bomb that did not recoup its large budget. Many critics as well as Friedkin himself attributed the film's commercial failure to its release at roughly the same time as Star Wars, which instantly became a pop-culture phenomenon. Yet, there were many other very successful films in 1977 such as Smokey and the Bandit, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Saturday Night Fever, etc. However, in the decades following, the film has enjoyed a significant critical reappraisal. Some critics have lauded it as an overlooked masterpiece, and "perhaps the last undeclared [one] of the American '70s".

Friedkin considered Sorcerer among his favorite works, and the most personal and difficult film he ever made. Tangerine Dream's electronic music score was acclaimed at the film's release, leading the band to become popular soundtrack composers in the 1980s. The film was largely forgotten for many years, as the only home video releases were low-quality, non-widescreen transfers. After a lengthy lawsuit filed against Universal Studios and Paramount, Friedkin supervised a restored re-release of the film, with the new print premiering at the 70th Venice International Film Festival on August 29, 2013. Warner Home Video released the restored version on Blu-ray on April 22, 2014. The Criterion Collection released Sorcerer on Blu-ray and Ultra HD Blu-ray on June 24, 2025.