MovieChat Forums > Sorcerer (1977) Discussion > Finally saw this, had some issues with t...

Finally saw this, had some issues with the plot

posted 10 years ago by tpupkin
25 replies | jump to latest

I put off watching this for a looong time. I guess I felt like maybe it wouldn't live up to the hype, because on paper it sounds like my cup of tea, but its obscurity -- given its pedigree -- wasn't exactly inspiring.

First off, I really liked it from the start. The first hour, showing why the characters ended up in their shared situation, was great. Friedkin at his best, like in the Iraqi segment of The Exorcist, can really capture the spirit of a place and set a uniquely uneasy atmosphere.

I like Scheider a lot -- just watched Jaws again last week -- and the other actors were also excellent. I dug both the score and cinematography.

So why didn't like Sorcerer *a lot*?

I felt like the writers threw motivation out the window in the second half. Maybe there are good explanations for these questions, but they really undermined the movie for me:

1. These guys all escaped to this little *beep* of a town because they were hiding for their lives. So why are they all suddenly willing to risk death to get out of it? Because it's a tough place to live, and they're being shaken down by corrupt cops? Where do they think they're going to go hide that will be better than this?

2. For some reason this big oil company keeps its nitroglycerine in an neglected, unsupervised, poorly maintained shack in the jungle 218 miles away from its drilling site, even though it's an important tool they may need have on hand in an emergency.

3. This big oil company calls in a helicopter and asks the pilot to transport unstable nitro that would be unsafe to handle, but never thinks to ask the helicopter pilot to bring with him some stable explosives that they can use right away. Was it more cost-effective to pay 40000 pesos (plus supplying two large trucks and apparently a bunch of additional new auto parts) and risk a 218-mile land journey than it would have been to just fly in some new explosives?

4. Not only are these 4 guys in the middle of nowhere great drivers, but apparently they are also skilled auto mechanics, including the effette French banker who pissed away his family fortune. Who would have guessed he would be such a convincing handyman?

5. On the journey, there are a few times when characters make complete 180-degree changes in attitude in a second for no reason. The guy from Jerusalem doesn't want to drive, but the French guy mumbles something, and then he does it without protesting any longer. The Mexican guy starts running away, but Jackie gets him to come back with no effort at persuasion -- even though this guy is clearly crazy and seems content to murder anyone inconvenient to him. These moments felt like the writers wanted to put more conflict in some scenes, but didn't want to think of actual conflicts or then trouble themselves with resolving the conflicts.

6. Not a plot problem, but I did not like Jackie's hallucination scene at all. It was the most poorly done, ineffective and surely the most (only?) dated part of the movie.

7. So apparently they only needed one crate of nitro, which means that both trucks were risking the explosion of two additional crates each. Why not minimize the risk by only each carrying one crate? Is there a logistic reason for this?

8. Through the movie people are carrying the crates with utmost care even though they can withstand almost 2 miles of drunken-like, delirious staggering.

9. What's the deal with dancing with the cleaning lady at the end? That didn't work for me. It felt like something out of a different movie, something cheesier and sentimental. I thought he was going to go over to those extortionist cops and punch one of them or something, but instead it went for a forced (and maybe condescending) "moment."

[–] Garvante 10 years ago

I can offer some insight for issue #2.

Older german home releases are differently cut, missing 40 minutes of material from the international version, but having added 15 minutes of new material. In this version, it is shown that the regular on-sight nitro storage has been emptied by the same terrorists who blew up the site, which is the reason for them having to go back to an older abandoned dig site and look for nitro there.

[–] josh-357-995958 9 years ago

The movies do have this thing called "willing suspension of disbelief." Of course, once in a while that suspension requires some pretty thick cables.

[–] doodleboy 9 years ago

1. I think once they got there they realized it was hell on earth, and they'd at least like to have the money, if not the escape to somewhere else. Somewhere else with $10k-$40k is better than slaving away with corrupt cops hounding you (not to mention the legit passports)

2. yeah, i didn't get this either. Why can't they get fresh dynamite shipped in? I mean, i don't think Fedex (or whatever) overnighted HazMat material to remote locations back in the '70s, but surely one of those chopper pilots could fly to Manila and get some, right?

3. yes, i agree. I think this scene could have been omitted, and the metaphor of "this is purgatory/hell" is made a little more plain.

4. The French guy was not born into money. He married the rich daughter, and pissed away the fortune thru malfeasance. Hence his reliance on his partner (brother in law)'s relationship with the father. People back then knew more about the cars they drove - especially bus drivers and laborers. If you broke down, you didn't have cellphone for AAA service. You also might've worked in a motor pool in the army or something.

5. People overcome their fear after a moment or two, and remember why they're doing it all in the first place.

6. Sure. He's exhausted and whatnot, right? Your mind wanders.

7. Well, but what if something when wrong with the workers at the site once they got the crate? If you need a second attempt, you'll need a second crate. You can't wait for another risky round-trip to bring you another crate

8. True, but as long as he doesn't fall, there shouldn't be any hard jarring motion to set it off. We saw enough "close calls" in the truck that he knows he can walk with it.

9. I think this was a tribute to the original movie, where the girl was younger & the romantic interest. Also, in the beginning, Schieder is looking longingly at the girl in the Coke ad - not at her, but at the Coke she's drinking. The French guy made it apparent he'd had a tryst with the cleaning lady, and she came out to say goodbye to him. When the bossman hands off French's personal letter, Schieder has (IMO) a goodbye dance with the girl in honor of French's memory. Or maybe Schieder just wants to feel like a person again, having come so close to death.

[–] 9 years ago

[deleted]

[–] DoomMarineid 9 years ago

(late reply, no *beep*

#4: Pre-Internet, boys were raised to be men. Thing like changing fluids, tires, how to handle wrenches, hammers, axes, and more were a common part of growing up. Many girls as well were taught by their fathers how to change oil and spin a wrench before they were allowed to drive the family car. It would be expected for men of the age shown in the film to be capable of all these things, even the French man whose father was a fisherman after all and would have hard a rough life growing up. Don't forget, these vehicles were not modern computer controlled cars with electronically controlled ignitions, these were decades old trucks held together with bolts and welded metal. The ability to gap a plug and adjust a carburetor would have been standard knowledge of any real man. Have you ever even looked under the hood of your own car? If not, you are not a real man.

#7: There was no guarantee that each crate would be usable. They only tested one of them, and even then it was uncertain. They would have brought all the crates in case one of them didn't work.

[–] dgcasey 8 years ago

Have you ever even looked under the hood of your own car? If not, you are not a real man.

I have and I long for the days of my '66 Mustang with 287 engine in it. I could do a tune-up on that car in less than twenty minutes and that was when I was 16-18 years old. Got really good as changing the alternator on that thing and could do it in ten minutes or less, sitting in the parking lot of the Checker Auto store. Rebuilding the carburetors was a fun, hour long task and adjusting the rocker arm clearance was like the workings of a heart surgeon.

Nowadays, most guys couldn't change their oil if their lives depended on it. Change a flat? What, are you kidding me? They will be on their cell phones, either calling their dads to come save them or they will be calling the AAA help line.

[–] prznkm 8 years ago

I'm guessing you mean 289, not 287 :)

And I changed the starter on the 289 in my '66 without even jacking the car up.
Bit of a struggle, but sometimes you did what you had to do. Like the guys in this movie did.

[–] dgcasey 8 years ago

Yeah, that's what I get for posting so late at night. ;)

[–] moviechatterer (14951) 4 years ago

2, 3 & 7
very good points , the rest nictpicking somewhat.

if only one box is needed carrying 3 literally triples the risk for no gain , its not like if one blows you still have 2 left.

[–] BourbonKing (5760) 4 years ago

It's funny to see the now defunct "pupkin"'s second handle (originally 'RupertPupkin') pop up as a legacy post, nitpicking and whining about minor details that have nothing to do with why he didn't like it. I'm convinced this poster suffers from low spectrum autism