Why are Universal re-issuing Friedkin's "Sorcerer" on Feb. 8th? (1 Viewer)

[Dorian Gray]

I can only agree with this... as I suggested it 6 months ago !
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...light=sorcerer

 

[Gordon McMurphy]

Oh, yeah! I forgot about agreeing with you on that, Dorian!

Oh, I emailed Jon Mulvaney at Criterion last week:

The current edition of "The Wages of Fear" could be improved upon, I feel. The transfer is not that bad, but this film deserves better and it is also a film that scream out for revealing bonus features.

Universal's current edition of William Friedkin's shamefully underappreciated re-adaptation, "Sorcerer", is also in the same boat: the transfer is cropped from either anamorphic 2.35:1 or a 1.85:1 hard-matted negative. It, also, has no bonus material, and also screams out for a commentary, interviews, etc.

Would a deal with Universal, Friedkin and Clouzot's estate to bring these films and bonus material together to create what would be a highly desirable boxed set be feasable?

Criterion's DVD of Clouzot's, "The Raven" is great; it would be much
appreciated to see "Wages" get the same treatment some day, also.

Best regards,


Gordon

--------------------------------------------


And today, I got this reply:


It's not much, but I admire Mulvaney a lot, as he has always replied to my emails. How many customer relations people at DVD companies can you say that about?

 

[Damin J Toell]

He's definitely the best fictitious customer relations guy going.

DJ

 

[Paul_Scott]

nice to see the love for this one.
its knocked me out every time i've had a chance to see it, and its easily been over ten years since my last viewing.
i remember early on seeing this on the dvd racks and being elated only to be deflated a few seconds later when i read the specs on the back of the jacket.

a Criterion version of this film would be a Godsend!
hell, i think i would pay list price for it even if it were bare bones.

another Friedkin 70s film i absolutely adore is The Brinks Job (his follow up to Sorcerer i believe, and most likely another BO underachiever).
i would be so thrilled if Universal would put out a decent OAR disc for that one as well this year.
in the mean time i'm making do with a substandard Japanese import of it.
$40 for a bare bones disc that has one of the weakest, artifact ridden (albeit anamorphic) transfers i've seen.
oh well. i love the film and thats the best there is at the moment.
A Criterion disc for that one would be really welcome also since they would probably be willing to dig up material relating to the actual hold up, which would be really fascinating to see.
however i do see Sorcerer as being a more likely candidate.

 

[Kevin M]

Does Criterion listen to customer requests? Perhaps a flood of E-Mails would help get it into their eyesight at least.....is there enough of a fan base for this film to constitute a "flood"?

 

[Gordon McMurphy]

Am I missing something here? Please elaborate on your statement, sir!

 

[Rosscoe M]

Gordon: Have you ever seen a photo of Jon Mulvaney? If the answer is "no", then perhaps you'll catch the poster's drift...

 

[SteveGon]

Just dropped Jon Mulvaney an email and mentioned my interest in a Criterion Sorcerer.

Also asked about Louis Malle's Au Revoir Les Enfants, Milcho Manchevski's Before the Rain, Volker Schlondorff's Voyager, and Philip Ridley's The Reflecting Skin.

 

[Peter Apruzzese]

I don't think there were any 70mm prints made of Sorcerer. It was shown in the US at 1.85 ratio (don't remember if it was hard-matte or not) and I believe in 4-track mag stereo.

They would not have made a reduction print from 70mm to 16mm for Apocalypse Now (a 35mm production). BTW, the 70mm version did not have end credits at all (with or without the footage of the Kurtz compound), they were only on the 35mm prints. Your 16mm print was from 35mm source.

Sorcerer is a great picture and I hope they do get out a correctly-framed version of it someday.

 

[seanJ]

I remember when "Sorcerer" was released to cinemas in the U.K. late 1977 it was actually titled "Wages Of Fear" and ran @95mins. I didn`t see it at that time but when first broadcast on British tv in 1980, also in this truncated version and (amazingly for the time)in widescreen. The AR was probably either 166:1 or 185:1, can`t remember for sure, but I do remember being struck by the vivid cinematography, the imagery certainly didn`t look cramped, which led me to believe we were seeing the film as intended, a refreshing change from the usual television pan/scan bestowed on viewers at the time.
A special edition from Universal (or whoever), featuring a restored full length version (plus perhaps the shorter version on a second disc? )would be most welcome.

Regards

 

[Chris PC]

Will this ever come out on dvd as anamorphic?

 

[Kevin M]

They re-released Carpenter's The Thing enhanced, which I never thought they would do, so I guess anything is possible.
Hell, it looks like they might re-release Vertigo enhanced so I guess anything IS possible!

 

[eric tengren]

this is a personal favorite of mine. I read that this flick is a 1:66 ratio from 70mm. Universal has really dropped the ball on this flick.this and Charley Varrick full frame. Universal and Artisan's Matewan are some of the most piss poor dvd's ever.the thing with Universal is that they keep re releasing this flick as a budget title but they are just selling the same worn out transfer. oh, and for the guy that bought the Japanese The Brinks Job dvd, thanks. you saved me 40 bucks. SORCERER deserves criterion treatment.

 

[Chris PC]

Any updates about possible re-release of this dvd?

 

[Gordon McMurphy]

No, but Criterion are releasing a newly restored and remastered edition of The Wages of Fear in October. A fine anamorphic edition of The Brink's Job is available in France. I really love Sorcerer. It's one of the last 'old-school' action thrillers, before the OTT 80s ruined the genre (for me, at least). It screams for a Friedkin commentary - and a new anamorphic transfer from a prime film element (the DVD is actually from the 1991 Laserdisc video mastertape, pan and scan from 1.85, low bitrate DVD-5).

 

[Chris PC]

So should I wait? Is the version Full Frame? Could I zoom it? Is the picture and sound otherwise OK? What a drag that such a good movie is not released properly on dvd.

 

[Gordon McMurphy]

Hi, Chris.

To answer your question: No, you can't zoom-in, as the image is definately cropped from 1.66/1.85 and is grainy/noisy; the sound is... adequete.

Universal seem to be remastering almost all of their pre-2000 DVDs. Sorcerer is way overdue for an anamorphic special edition. As I said above, Criterion are releasing a 2-disc SE of The Wages of Fear in Novemeber, to my rapturous delight. Hopefully, Universal will take note of this and produce a special edition of Friedkin's glorious remake.

It's actually quite bizarre that Sorcerer has not appeared in any other country; not in Britain, France, Australia, Japan - nowhere other than R1 USA. The French DVD of The Brink's Job is good. The original cut of The Exorcist also deserves a new transfer, with all the previous extras (including the uncut version of the documentary) and maybe a few more. It would be a big seller, no doubt.

What else can I say - I'm a Friedkin nut and love his films. Where the hell is the 140-minute cut of Cruising with Friedkin commentary?! Al Pacino goes undercover as a homosexual S&M hustler in order to find a queer serial killer to the punk rock noise of The Germs - what else do want from a movie?! Am I all alone in wanting this?

 

[Jon Hertzberg]

Not by a longshot, Gordon. I've been fortunate enough to see a new 35mm print of Cruising twice in the last six years or so. Can't wait to see that mythical extended cut either. My favorites on the soundtrack are the Willy DeVille cuts as well as Jack Nitzsche's uber-creepy original score (which is unfortunately AWOL on the soundtrack album released by CBS.) Friedkin also used music from noted ECM avant jazz composer Barre Phillips (music from his "Three Day Moon" was incorporated into Nitzsche's score).

 

[Kevin M]

Even during the production of Cruising it has been the poster child of political gay rights advocates for homophobia in the film community and unfairly I think, true during a certain murder scene Friedkin inserted brief frames from hard core gay porn but I have never believed this to be a sign of Friedkin's homophobia but a talented director/editor...a radical one it's true...but nonetheless a talented director/editor giving insight into the killer's warped mind, NOT the victim or the gay community as a whole as has been suggested. The lead was not a stand up character at all as the ending suggests and aside from the leather bar caricatures most of the gay characters in the film are shown to be neither immoral nor as twisted/conflicted as the lead "hero" character was in the long run....that ending is not positive towards him at all IMO.

I have always thought that this film was a first class, if hard to watch, psychological thriller that inspired much of that genre that followed it in the decades since.

No matter how you feel about it I think it should be released uncut for those who wish to make up their own minds as to it merits or demerits.

 

[Jeffrey Nelson]

I think Friedkin's best film after SORCERER is TO LIVE AND DIE IN L.A. A crackerjack character drama and action film, which contains one of the most spectacular car chases ever filmed. John Pankow really shines in this, and Willem Dafoe is perfect as Masters, the counterfeiter/artist supreme.

I also quite like JADE, and think it's grossly underrated. Great cast and direction...yes, the script could be just a LITTLE less aggressively sleazy (thank you Joe Ezsterhas) but that's my only beef. I have the Director's Cut on VHS (sadly not available on DVD), and it's much better than the theatrical cut.