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Quentin Tarantino is not just a masterful filmmaker; he is also a passionate cinephile, always eager to share his enthusiasm for both classic and contemporary films. His admiration for the FX series “Justified” led him to cast its star, Timothy Olyphant, in his film “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.” Tarantino’s love for genres like blaxploitation films and spaghetti Westerns is well-documented, but one of the movies he holds in high regard is the 1977 thriller “Sorcerer,” a film that initially flopped but has since gained recognition as a cinematic triumph. Tarantino considers it among the greatest films ever made.
Universal Pictures/Paramount Pictures
Directed by William Friedkin, who passed away in 2023, “Sorcerer” came a few years after Friedkin’s success with “The Exorcist.” Unlike the supernatural horror of his earlier work, “Sorcerer” follows four criminal outcasts in South America tasked with the perilous job of transporting unstable dynamite. The film’s tension and danger are palpable, as the cargo could explode at any moment.
Despite its initial poor reception and critical panning at the box office, “Sorcerer” has since been re-evaluated and is now hailed as a masterpiece with a lasting impact on the film industry. Its gripping action sequences and Friedkin’s masterful direction have influenced filmmakers, including Tarantino, Francis Ford Coppola, and Christopher Nolan, who have all drawn inspiration from this thrilling adventure.
One of the film’s most memorable scenes involves the characters maneuvering two dynamite-packed trucks across a precarious wooden bridge. The sequence is as chilling as the first appearance of Darth Vader, with the bridge threatening to collapse into the raging river below. This moment left a lasting impression on Tarantino, who remarked in the documentary “Friedkin Uncut,” that “the bridge scene is just one of the great suspense moments in cinema.”
Remarkably, the tense bridge scene was achieved without visual effects like miniatures or stop-motion. Instead, it relied on practical effects with real trucks crossing a shaky wooden bridge, though fortunately, the dynamite was fake. Francis Ford Coppola, also featured in the Friedkin documentary, noted, “If you wanted to show something extraordinary, you had to do something extraordinary, and photograph it.” This commitment to practical effects underscores the film’s enduring influence and its authentic approach to filmmaking.
One iconic sequence in Sorceror stuck with Tarantino
Universal Pictures/Paramount Pictures
The most intense scene in “Sorcerer” involves the characters carefully driving the two dynamite-laden trucks across a rickety wooden bridge. Here, a bridge is as terrifying as the first time we ever saw Darth Vader, threatening to collapse over a raging river. It’s a scene that has always stuck with Quentin Tarantino. “The bridge scene is just one of the great suspense moments in cinema,” Tarantino said in the documentary “Friedkin Uncut.”
Perhaps surprisingly, the precarious moment wasn’t captured through the use of effects like miniatures, stop-motion, or rear projection photography. Instead, it was fully practical — one of many unbelievable movie stunts that were totally real — with two real trucks (and thankfully fake dynamite) slowly moving across a swinging wooden bridge. “If you wanted to show something extraordinary, you had to do something extraordinary, and photograph it,” said Francis Ford Coppola, who was also interviewed for the Friedkin documentary.
According to Friedkin, the scene was achieved shot-by-shot. A hydraulic system was rigged up beneath the bridge, and the truck was attached to the bridge from below, out of the camera’s view. That didn’t mean it was any less dangerous. “Many times, both trucks fell into the water.” In fact, Friedkin admits that, on at least one occasion, he himself went over the side while in one of the trucks.
With this level of dedication to practical photography for such a massive sequence, it is no wonder that Friedkin’s film has proved an influence on filmmakers like Tarantino and Christopher Nolan — both of whom are known to minimize the use of special effects in favor of a dangerous but intense reality.
