Soleil rouge (1971)

Director:

Terence Young

Writers:

Laird Koenig (writer)
Denne Bart Petitclerc (writer)

Release Date:

9 June 1972 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Thriller | Western

Tagline:

2 Desperados ... 1 Hellcat ... and a Samurai ... the greatest fighting force the West has ever known!

Plot:

The Japanese ambassador is travelling through the Wild West by train, when gangsters hold up the train...

Plot Keywords:

Samurai | Beautiful Woman | Color In Title | Spaghetti Western | Female Nudity

Cast

Charles Bronson	...	Link Stuart
Ursula Andress	...	Cristina
Toshirô Mifune	...	Kuroda Jubie
Alain Delon	...	Gauche, a.k.a. Gotch Kink
Capucine	...	Pepita
Barta Barri	...	Paco (as Bart Barry)
Guido Lollobrigida	...	Mace (as Lee Burton)
Anthony Dawson	...	Hyatt (as Tony Dawson)
Gianni Medici	...	Miguel (as John Hamilton)
Georges Lycan	...	Sheriff Stone (as George W. Lycan)
Luc Merenda	...	Chato (as Luke Merenda)
Tetsu Nakamura	...	Japanese Ambassador (as Satoshi Nakamura)
Jo Nieto
Julio Peña	...	Peppie (as Jules Pena)
Mónica Randall	...	Maria

Also Known As:

Red Sun (USA)
Sol rojo (Spain)
Sole rosso (Italy)
The Magnificient Three (Philippines: English title)

Runtime:

112 min

Country:

France | Italy | Spain

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor and Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Iceland:12 | West Germany:16 (f) | Singapore:NC-16 | Finland:K-16 (uncut) (1990) | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 (cut) (1971) | Norway:15 (video rating) | Norway:16 (original rating) | Portugal:M/18 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Tabernas, Almería, Andalucía, Spain

Company:

Les Films Corona

Trivia:

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.

Goofs:

Factual errors: This story takes place around 1870. During the train robbery, several calvary soldiers are shown with foreign type bolt action rifles. The US calvary troops were not issued bolt action rifles during this period, but were equipped with either lever-action Spencer carbines or single-shot Sharps carbines, with single-shot "trap-door" Springield carbines being introduced in 1873.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in Shanghai Noon (2000)

Pretty silly, but worth a look for fans

Toshiro Mifune & Charles Bronson in an early 70's Western with Alain Delon as the bad guy & Ursula Andress playing an opportunistic whore?

Sounds irresistible, but it's all a bit of a mess, which is often what happens when there's too much of a good thing. Plenty of talent & personality in the acting department, but too little attention paid to the story itself.

Bronson plays a train robber forced by the Japanese ambassador to help find a priceless sword stolen by Bronson's double-crossing partner Gauche, played by Delon. Accompanying Bronson is Mifune playing, surprise surprise, a powerful samurai.

Mifune, as always, is riveting, & Delon seems to be enjoying himself as the devilish Gauche. Bronson's a bit on the lazy side, but it's fun to watch the sparring between him & Mifune. Ursula Andress' role seems pretty pointless, but she was never hired for her acting abilities anyway.

The film breezes cheerfully along, but the big showdown ends up being confusing & dull, with a tribe of vicious Comanches thrown in at the last minute, as if to provide some excuse not to have Mifune cut Delon's head off straight away. The climax, as such, only comes after being dragged out for too long, & so, falls flat. The subplot involving Cristina (Andress), Gauche's old flame, makes things even messier, & her character's motives are never all that clear.

Still, it's well worth a look if you're a fan of any of the principal actors, or Westerns in general. Just don't expect a masterpiece.