Sorcerer (4K UHD Review)
- Review Date: Jun 14, 2025
- Format: 4K Ultra HD
-
Director
William FriedkinRelease Date(s)
1977 (June 24, 2025)Studio(s)
Film Partners International/Universal Pictures/Paramount Pictures (The Criterion Collection – Spine #1267)- Film/Program Grade: A
- Video Grade: A+
- Audio Grade: A
- Extras Grade: A
Review
[Editor’s Note: The film review here is by Adam Jahnke, from his look at the 2014 Blu-ray release. The Criterion 4K disc comments, including video/audio quality and special features, are by Bill Hunt.]
An Irish gang member (Roy Scheider), a French investment banker (Bruno Cremer), a Mexican assassin (Francisco Rabal), and a Palestinian resistance fighter (Amidou) are forced by circumstances of their own making to abandon their former lives and flee to Central America, where they survive by earning a meager living in terrible conditions. But when a local oil well catches fire, an extremely dangerous but profitable job suddenly becomes available—the oil company needs four men to drive a pair of trucks through the jungle to retrieve a supply of dynamite from a remote depot. But the dynamite’s been improperly stored, so it’s as unstable as the men themselves, and the two hundred mile path they must travel can barely be called a road.
There aren’t too many movies that have been more deserving of a critical re-evaluation than William Friedkin’s Sorcerer. Released in 1977, the existential thriller was a flop with audiences and, perhaps more surprisingly, critics alike. Over the years though, a fervent cult has developed around the film and it’s now considered by many to be one of Friedkin’s best.
Even so, it isn’t hard to understand why critics had their knives out for the film. For one thing, it’s a remake of a genuine classic, Henri-Georges Clouzot’s The Wages of Fear (1953). Then as now, remakes are rarely welcomed with open hearts and minds. Friedkin was coming off of the one-two punch of The French Connection (1971) and The Exorcist (1973), but it had been five years since the latter film’s release. A lot of critics probably felt that it was time to take him down a peg or two. And if you go into Sorcerer looking for reasons not to like it, the movie gives you plenty of ammo. It’s one thing for a movie to be challenging, but Sorcerer is deliberately—almost antagonistically—obscure, from its what-the-hell-does-that-mean title on down.
It’s even easier to understand why the public stayed away from Sorcerer in droves. This movie was never destined to be the feel-good hit of the summer. It’s dark, violent, and features exactly one recognizable, if not necessarily bankable, American movie star (Roy Scheider). Most damaging of all, the film takes its time. It’s about an hour into the movie before Friedkin deigns to start cluing you in to what the story’s even supposed to be about. American movie audiences are many things, but patient isn’t one of them.
But for those willing to put in the effort, Sorcerer is an incredibly rewarding film. Its first half borders on the hypnotic, drawing you in gradually. It’s like the slow winding up of a rubber band, letting go a sustained burst of tension in the second half. Scheider and his costars—Cremer, Rabal, and Amidou—are terrific, but this is the kind of movie where you suspect there wasn’t a lot of “acting” involved. These are highly physical performances and you can feel every bead of sweat and every strain of muscle. Friedkin achieves a state of almost unbearable tension with this film, creating not just one but several of the most nerve-racking sequences ever captured. Sorcerer is an extraordinary achievement on any number of levels.
Sorcerer was shot on 35mm film (Eastman 100T 5247) by cinematographers Dick Bush (Tommy) and John M. Stephens (Grand Prix), using Panavision Panaflex cameras with Panavision spherical lenses. It was finished photochemically and was released in theaters at the 1.85:1 flat aspect ratio. The film was notably restored back in 2013 by Ned Price and colorist Bryan McMahan at Warner Motion Picture Imaging, a process that was supervised by the director. But this new 4K presentation is mastered from a new 4K scan of the original camera negative, with select shots taken from a 35 mm color reversal intermediate. A 1998 35 mm print (provided by Paramount) and the 2013 digital master—both of which were approved by Friedkin—were used as color reference. Digital restoration and HDR grading were done by Resillion (compatible with both Dolby Vision and HDR10), while disc authoring is by NexSpec. And the presentation has been encoded for a 100GB disc, with video data rates in the 75-85 Mbps range.
The result is breathtaking, an absolute revelation on every front. There’s an enormous amount of detail visible in the image nearly always (save as usual for the odd shot of soft focus, and optically printed titles and transitions). Texturing and refinement are exquisite. Grain is medium and organic, and as fans will know occasionally much more coarse depending on the scene (particularly later in the film, during jungle rainstorms). Colors are nuanced and accurate, though somewhat muted given the overall color palette of the 1970s. But shadows are deeply black, highlights are bold, and detail on both ends is more impressive than ever. It’s hard to call this a reference quality 4K image, because the very nature of Sorcerer is that it looks like two hundred miles of bad road by design. But this is a spectacular 4K restoration by any measure.
Audio wise, Criterion’s 4K and Blu-ray editions both include a lossless 5.1 English DTS-HD Master Audio mix that was approved by Friedkin in 2013. The film’s original theatrical stereo surround mix is also included in 2.0 DTS-HD MA—you’ll want to ensure that Dolby Pro Logic decoding is enabled on your receiver to properly enjoy it. It was sourced from the 35 mm magnetic track. Both tracks are excellent, with a medium wide soundstage, clean dialogue, and few (if any) analog artifacts or age-related defects. Bass is modest, but more than sufficient for the task of lending explosions, gunshots, and the grinding of gears more energy and bite. The Tangerine Dream score is presented in excellent fidelity. Of the two, the 5.1 mix sounds just a little more natural and immersive, while the stereo surround is obviously more accurate to the vintage listening experience. Optional English SDH subtitles are included.
Criterion’s 4K release is a 3-disc set that includes the remastered film on Ultra HD and Blu-ray. There are no special features on either of the movie discs, but there’s also a bonus Blu-ray in the packaging that includes the following extras:
- Friedkin Uncut (HD – 107:26)
- James Gray and Sean Fennessey (HD – 28:18)
- William Friedkin and Nicolas Winding Refn (HD – 77:23)
- Walon Green and Bud Smith (HD – 36:27)
- Behind the Scenes (HD – 6:09)
- Theatrical Trailer (SD – 2:53)
Friedkin Uncut is a terrific 2018 documentary on the filmmaker by Francesco Zippel. It includes interview segments with Friedkin himself, as well as comments by filmmakers Quentin Tarantino, Wes Anderson, Walter Hill, Francis Ford Coppola, Dario Argento, Damien Chazelle, Philip Kaufman, and many others, including actors, cinematographers, screenwriters and more. The conversation with filmmaker James Gray (Little Odessa, Ad Astra) and film critic Sean Fennessey was recorded by Criterion for this release. In it, the pair discusses the film’s politics and its place in cinema history. The conversation between Friedkin and filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn (Drive) was recorded back in 2015, and it’s not only interesting, it’s hilarious as the pair busts each other’s balls mercilessly. For all their levity you can tell there’s real respect between them. Also available here are archival audio interviews with Sorcerer screenwriter Walon Green and editor Bud Smith, which were conducted by author and film historian Guilia D’Agnolo Vallan as part of the research for her 2003 book on Friedkin. Finally, you get a brief montage of Super 8 film footage shot on the set of Sorcerer, as well as the film’s theatrical trailer. And the package contains a foldout liner notes booklet with an essay by film critic Justin Chang, as well as the usual remastering notes and credits. At tip of the hat as well to artist Nessim Higson, who created the terrific cover artwork for the package.
Looking back at all the years when the only way you could see Sorcerer was in a substandard, pan-and-scan version, it’s impressive that the movie’s picked up as much of a cult following as it has. With its release on Ultra HD, Friedkin’s unfairly maligned masterpiece is poised yet again to win over a new generation of admirers. And those of us who’ve been championing it for years have been richly rewarded for our support. Criterion’s 4K disc is very highly recommended.
- Adam Jahnke and Bill Hunt
(You can follow Adam on social media on Facebook, and be sure to read his excellent Substack here)
(You can follow Bill on social media on Twitter, BlueSky, and Facebook, and also here on Patreon)