Red Sun (1972)

One of the wrost movies I have ever seen

brilliant actors, brilliant editing

The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

Firstly, I sought out this film, at the time it was released, because I have always admired the beauty of Ursula Andress. Add to this a pretty impressive list of International stars- Mifune, Bronson, Delon , and even the not oft-mentioned Capucine, and even though I am not a fan of Westerns, it would be a fair expectation to expect something fairly special. Wrong! This has some of the ropiest looking Indians that ever appeared in a Western. It's obviously shot in Europe. The cast really has nothing of much interest to do, and you think what a waste of opportunity. One scene where Ursula "stabs" an Indian is so bad that you can actually see the knife is bending.For fans of any of these performers, I would suggest saving your money. For Ursula fans Seek out a movie she made about the same time called "Pefect Friday", where her looks and comic abilities are showcased in a much better way.

People are simply suckers for crossovers: be it Superman and Spiderman slugging it out in the comic books, Hercules fighting Aztecs in the Italian muscle n' sandal flicks or Dracula dueling Jessie James. In "Red Sun" the dream for many a kid came true: samurais going head to head with cowboys and Indians.The concept of mixing Eastern culture and (especially) martial arts with the archaic Wild West has been often tried, sometimes with success but more often with complete failure (Jackie Chan escapades, numerous Spaghetti-Western-Kung-Fu-crossovers and the "Kung Fu" TV-series, which was a technical and aesthetic failure, even though the audience loved it). This had little to do with the incompatibility between east and west but rather lacking directors who could handle both genres with equal dignity.The story is rather plain and simple: Bronson and Delon plan to rob a train that happens to carry the imperial Japanese ambassador. The heist goes fine but fiery-eyed Delon (remember, he is French and left-handed) betrays his partner, leaving him at the mercy of the Japanese entourage – but not before stealing a Samurai sword that was meant as a present for the US-president. The ambassador makes Bronson a deal he cannot refuse: bring back the sword within a week or loose your head. To insure that Bronson is doing his job, the disgraced sword-keeper (Mifume) is sent along, likewise obliged to commit 'hara-kiri' when the seven day span is over. Both men form an uneasy camaraderie, one driven by obligation, the other from thirst for revenge and each perceiving the others culture as plain alien.It would be very hard to duplicate this 'innocent' clash of the cultures-scenario today: too many similarities, too many cross-cultural interchanges have occurred. Today a kid from Japan would be no more alien to the image of an American cowboy than your average businessman would be to the concept of eating raw fish with rice, namely sushi, which they eat anyway during lunch-break. Back in the early 70's, those images tended to be way more exotic to the average-Joe. Back then we could believe Mifumes wide-eyed look of disbelieve at 'culture' of the Wild West as well as Bronsons inability to comprehend his 'partners' culture. Needless to say, this leads to many-a comic relief and, once the colts and katanas are pulled, plenty of action.Mifune and Bronson are simply veterans at what they do (so is Ursulla Andress, by the way, namely dressing, undressing and throwing tantrums). They really don't need much dialogue to bring their sentiments and thoughts across – each confused and by degree disgusted by the others culture and behaviour. No matter how you look at it, the chemistry works and is believable. Throw in Alain Delon doing what Delon can do best – namely look chiseled like a roman statue and throw glares that could cut through ice – you've got the perfect cocktail of experienced acting and charisma.Terence Young made this happen by applying the same he did to the first two James Bond films: make a serious movie but don't take the movie too serious. The result was a comic-book Western that owed more to the Euro-Western of the 60's (perhaps even a bit more to the German Schnitzel-, rather than the Italo-Spaghetti Westerns) than it did to John Wayne or "Bonanza".Granted, this is not a cinematographic masterpiece, this isn't Sergio Leone nor is it Eastwoods "The Unforgiven". This would be comparing "Dr. No" to the ultra-realistic violence of "Casino Royal". Neither films need to be taken serious but should rather be enjoyed. This isn't "Dance with the Wolves"; this is about a bandit and a samurai on a mission to retrieve the emperors sword, on the way slugging it out with bandits and Indians. Throw in the (as usually) excellent soundtrack by Maurice Jarre and what you get is the perfect blend between Euro-Western and Samurai Adventure. 8/10

Red Sun is the type of film they mean when they talk about international production. American Charles Bronson, Japanese Toshiro Mifune, German Ursula Andress, French Alain Delon, Italian Capucine and for good measure this film was shot on the plains of Spain which did not look like they'd seen much rain by Englishman Terrence Young.The film concerns the train robbery of a gang in which Alain Delon is in charge. The money isn't enough for Delon, the train is carrying some Japanese passengers with a ceremonial samurai sword, a gift from their Emperor to our president. Two of three Japanese are killed, the mistake Delon makes when he decides the sword would make a nice souvenir is that he lives a real live Samurai in Toshiro Mifune alive with a vengeance quest. Delon makes a second mistake in double crossing Charles Bronson and not killing him as well. Bronson is a member of his gang who cuts all ties, but forms an uneasy alliance with Mifune.Mifune wants Delon dead, but Bronson just wants him alive long enough to say where he's hidden the money. Bronson and Mifune go to a bordello run by Capucine to get Ursula Andress, a hooker favored by Delon as a hostage.Red Sun works nicely as a film because of the interesting if antagonistic chemistry between Bronson and Mifune. From an uneasy alliance they develop a genuine regard for each other. As for Delon he has a gentlemanly demeanor that's a very thin veneer for one of the meanest mean streaks ever on the big screen.Fans who are younger will recognize the plot of Red Sun being later used in a modern day feature Renegades with Kiefer Sutherland and Lou Diamond Phillips as the uneasy allies with Rob Knepper as the gang leader with a mean streak.I'm not really big on foreign made westerns, but I make an exception in the case of Red Sun.

This Spaghetti Western with enjoyable casting (Bronson , Mifune , Delon and Andress) concerns about robbing a Japanese blade from a train crossing American West and the Japan Ambassador had for gift of emperor (the Japanese Ambassador refers to the emperor as the "Mikado") to US President . The thieves result to be Charles Bronson and Alain Delon . But Bronson (one of The Magnificent Seven) is double-crossed by Delon , then Toshiro Mifune (one of the Seven Samurai) along with Bronson team up as two unlikely heroes . This is a surprisingly low-key Bronson Western , this time accompanied by the Japanese star number one , Mifune . Bronson as another of his two-fisted gunfighters and joining forces with a Katana expert , a specialist on martial arts well played by Mifune to find a missing valuable blade and the stolen loot.The picture contains an interesting plot ,action Western , shootouts and a little bit of campy and refreshing humor . It's an improbable blending of standard Western , tongue-in-cheek and chop-socky . A clever premise , gunslingers against samurais , and agreeable international cast make this oater well worth the watching . As the movie stars U.S. born Charles Bronson, Japanese actor Toshirô Mifune, French actor Alain Delon and Swiss actress Ursula Andress , it was filmed in Spain by the British director Terence Young . Pretty good Charles Bronson in his ordinary tough role , this film is one of Charles Bronson's 70s westerns ; his westerns made during the 1970s include Chino (1973), Red sun (1971), Chato the Apache (1972), From noon till three (1976), Nevada Express (1975) and The White Buffalo (1977) . Besides , there appears usual secondaries from Italian Western as Anthony Dawson , Guido Lollobrigida , Ricardo Palacios , Bernade Barta Barry and several others . Considerable and spectacular musical score by Maurice Jarre (Lawrence of Arabia) . The motion picture was regularly directed by Terence Young (Dr.No , From Russia , Thunderball.. among others) but turned to be entertaining . The picture takes part of a sub-genre in which during the period of the 70s combined Spaghetti Western and art martial with original influence from ¨David Carradine's Kung Fu ¨ series , for example : ¨Karate law in the west ¨(Tonino Ricci), ¨The Karate , the Colt and the impostor¨ (Anthony M Dawson) , ¨ My name is Shangai Joe¨ (Mario Caiano) and ¨ Return of Shangai Joe ( Bitto Albertini)¨, furthermore ¨ The white, the yellow and the black¨(Sergio Corbucci) that bears remarkable resemblance to ¨Red sun ¨ . It's an offbeat , muddle and uneven Western but will appeal to Bronson , Andress and Delon fans.