Sol Vermelho

On the surface Red Sun appears to be a fairly standard shoot-em-up with the attendant 'who's the real nasty?' sub-plot thrown in for a bit of mystery. But the careful observer will discover many more layers of this particular onion pitting cultures (and genders) against each other with a few surprising results and plenty of thought-provoking situations designed to keep this one on the shelf as a 'keeper'.

Bronson fans (like me) will note this is the second of his 'samurai connection'westerns...Magnificent Seven being the first...though the debate will probably never be resolved as to which was the better performance. True, some of the dialogue in this movie borders on juvenile, but overall I rate the movie very high.

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 Franco-Italian "Eastern Western" has intrigued me since I read about it on a magazine, in view of its then-upcoming showing on Italian TV, when I was about 7 years old – but it literally seemed to vanish from the face of the earth in the interim! Given that fact and Leonard Maltin's unpromising ** rating, I had suspected that it was going to be a big disappointment when I eventually catch up with it – but, happily, it turned out not to be the case. It is actually a very enjoyable large-scale action film which, while perhaps lacking the touch of greatness, deserves to be re-evaluated more positively.

The four international leads – Charles Bronson, Toshiro Mifune, Alain Delon, Ursula Andress – are top-notch and the supporting cast also includes Capucine, Anthony Dawson and Luc (here billed as Luke) Merenda. The chemistry between betrayed outlaw Bronson and samurai warrior Mifune is especially successful and provides the film with some nice humorous touches (as well as a couple of good lines); their casting is all the more interesting for its pairing one of THE SEVEN SAMURAI (1954) with a member of THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN (1960), that film's equally popular Americanization! Delon has a smaller part than I was expecting but he does well as Bronson's double-crossing partner-in-crime who, apart from the pre-requisite European sophistication, has a vicious streak about him. Andress adds the required eye-candy as his sluttish girlfriend and, along with Monica Randall (playing Mifune's inexperienced one night stand at Capucine's rundown brothel), provides the film with some unexpected – if very welcome – dashes of nudity.

Besides, there's a fine if subdued score from Maurice Jarre; as befits the film's title, too, renowned cinematographer Henri Alekan often bathes the scenery in a warm golden hue and the use of remote locations throughout is inspired. Still, the film could probably do with a few trims here and there, as some scenes tend to go on too long – such as the afore-mentioned mid-section revolving around Bronson and Mifune, and the climactic Indian attack. The full-frame presentation is not too bad considering: I can only complain of excessive headroom on occasion and a general washed-out look to the print on the U.K. disc I watched.

Almost 30 years preceding the very popular Shanghai Noon's release came its direct ancestor, Terence Young's Red Sun, an only slightly, more serious in tone relation and for me, a more entertaining watch. Featuring an international talent-laden cast with a British director helming a spaghetti western in Spain, it's a heady mixture and by no means a great film (though John Huston apparently thought so), but in my opinion, a memorable one.

In a narrative very similar to the above-mentioned later Jackie Chan vehicle, Japanese Ambassador bodyguard Toshiro Mifune, enlists double-crossed desperado Charles Bronson's assistance, in retrieving an intended ambassadorial gift sword to the American President, that was stolen by Bronson's duplicitous partner (Alain Delon) during a train robbery.

There is no doubting the plot is rather elongated and somewhat contrived, but it allows plenty of opportunity for the Bronson and Mifune characters to amusingly interact with a surprising amount of comic side-play. It's really their movie and they both make the most of it, bonding of course in a diverting east meets west fashion. Delon has his moments too as an enjoyable bad guy and Ursula Andress who only makes her appearance when the movie is well into its second half, is only there for eye candy. (I'm trying to think, but hard - pressed to come up with one of her movies where she is not dubbed). Let it be said though, she always makes captivating eye candy.

There's laughs, action (both sword and gun play), a good set-piece climax at an abandoned mission and in its nearby corn-field, with a surprisingly touching and effective final couple of scenes. Really is there anyone who isn't really interested in seeing a Charles Bronson / Toshiro Mifune western/road movie? I'm sure Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson gave it plenty of attention.

I had to see this film...mostly because of the strangeness of the cast. In addition to the three guys I mentioned above, Capucine and Ursula Andress appear in the film....making it a film starring an American, a couple French folks, a Swiss lady and a Japanese man! Talk about a strange conglomeration of actors!

When the film begins, the first Japanese ambassador to the United States is on a train heading through the west towards Washington, DC. However, a gang of bloody bandits hold up the train and kill a lot of folks...and steal the gift from the Emperor to the President. The ambassador is determined to get this back and sends one of his samurai (Mifune) to recapture the sword that was stolen by Gauche (Delon). It also happens that Gauche (which, oddly, means 'left' in French) just tried to murder his partner (Bronson) and so the Samurai and the angry crook decide to work together to get their revenge on Gauche. But, not surprisingly, the partnership is a rocky one...and the pair have to eventually learn to work together in order to get what they want. This process makes up the bulk of the film.

While the mismatched theme is very familiar, the situation is, at the very least, hard to believe and a bit contrived! You simply have to ignore this and watch the film and enjoy it for what it is-- an escapist action film. The Comanches in the film, by the way, fight like idiots--charging up to be bumped off one after the other! Not especially good or bad...just competently made and worth your time overall.