Three Outlaw Samurai I broke my somewhat stringent 'do not blind buy' rule when this was on sale for 15 bucks over the holidays and I'm really glad I did. This is a samurai film for those who hate samurai films. There's no preachy monologues and characters sitting around indian style talking about the plot, just a whole lot of action and a quick moving plot featuring likable characters. The cinematography and fight scenes were gorgeously executed. I'd be surprised if the cinematographer wasn't influenced by John Alton, really special stuff. This is what samurai movies should be - violent, fun and dazzling. I should have watched this years ago. 9/10
3 Outlaw Samurai (1964) 7/10. First Blu-ray screening. Peasants oppressed by their local magistrate need championing in Hideo Gosha's first feature. Enter the Good Samurai, soon followed by the Goofy-Looking Samurai, and finally, the Bad Samurai (originally working for the magistrate until he too joins the cause). The story was never going to win any awards, but the photography (b&w 'scope) and the fight choreography are first-rate. Nice body count, too.
For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943) - 5/10A trivial adaptation of a great novel. Wrong actors for the parts (both Cooper and Bergman), mediocre lighting at the best, overused score, no sense of grittiness (everything's too nice and clean). Sam Wood fails to really reach any of the emotional or thematic depth of the source material. 5/10 because the story isn't bad and there are some nice touches here and there.
Le salaire de la peur / The Wages of Fear (1953) - 9/10. Sooooo much better than the Friedkin remake. It always helps the dramatic tension between the characters if they first actually are characters. The set pieces are indelibly fixed in my mind: the rickety platform scene, the blowing-up-the-rock scene, the oil hole scene. And the way Clouzot signals that the B team didn't make it--masterful. The ending is silly (although it surely influenced Kubrick), but I gotta hand it to the special effects guys: they really knew how to cream a truck.
Did you get the Blu Ray from Criterion? I was actually about to get a copy of Sorcerer since it seems to have gotten released on DVD/Blu-Ray recently but reading this, I should just pick up the Criterion of Wages of Fear.