Red Sun (1971)

In 1870, a gang robs a train and steals a ceremonial Japanese sword meant as a gift from Japan to the U.S. President, prompting a manhunt to retrieve it.

Director:

Terence Young

Writers:

Laird Koenig (story), Denne Bart Petitclerc (adaptation)

Stars:

Charles Bronson, Toshirô Mifune, Alain Delon

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Charles Bronson	...	Link Stuart
Ursula Andress	...	Cristina
Toshirô Mifune	...	Kuroda Jubei (as Toshiro Mifune)
Alain Delon	...	Gotch 'Gauche' 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)
José Nieto	...	Murdered Mexican farmer (as Jo Nieto)
Julio Peña	...	Peppie (as Jules Pena)
Mónica Randall	...	Maria (as Monica Randall)

Storyline

The Japanese ambassador is traveling through the Wild West by train, when gangsters hold up the train, to rob a gold shipment. They also carry an ancient Japanese sword the ambassador was carrying as a present for the US president. The ambassador's bodyguard (Toshiro Mifune) will go after them, with the aid of one of the gang's leaders betrayed by his pals...

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Plot Keywords:

battle | blood | arizona territory | new mexico territory | horseback riding | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Action | Western

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

France Italy Spain

Language:

English Spanish Japanese

Release Date:

9 June 1972 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Red Sun

Filming Locations:

Adra, Almería, Spain

Box Office

Gross USA:

$4,840,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Les Films Corona, Oceania Produzioni Internazionali Cinematografiche, Producciones Balcázar S.A.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

112 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor and Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Ursula Andress loved the Andalusian Stallion she rode in the movie. She also fell in love with the area and bought a Spanish villa during the shoot.

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Goofs

Equipment visible at 43:43 in lower left hand corner.

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Quotes

Kuroda Jubie: Give me my clothes!
Link Stuart: I'll give you your clothes, but first I want your word of honor that you won't kill Gauche on sight.
Kuroda Jubie: My clothes!
Link Stuart: Your word.
Kuroda Jubie: [angrily speaks Japanese]
Link Stuart: Don't know what the hell that's all about, but it sounds like it's comin' from the heart. Well?
Kuroda Jubie: Give me five minutes with him.
Link Stuart: Not enough.
Kuroda Jubie: One hour. Give me one full hour.
Link Stuart: I need one full day. Kuroda, I need the time to make Gauche take me to the cash. I wanna be sure it's there.
[...]

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Connections

Referenced in Lovelace (2013)

User Reviews

Fast action, one-dimensional characters in a Spaghetti Western with gunplay and blades

This Spaghetti Western with enjoyable casting (Bronson , Mifune , Delon and Andress) concerns the 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 . It is a surprisingly low-key Bronson/Delon 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 Toshiro Mifune to find a missing valuable blade and the stolen loot.

The picture contains an interesting plot , Western action , 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 desert of Tabernas , Almeria , Spain, as usual , 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 by John Sturges (1973) , Red sun (1971) , Chato the Apache by Michael Winner (1972), From noon till three by Francis D Gilroy (1976), Nevada Express by Tom Gries (1975) and The White Buffalo by J.L. Thompson (1977) . Besides , there appears usual secondaries from Italian Western such as : Anthony Dawson , Guido Lollobrigida or Lee Burton , 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 martials 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 its sequel ¨ 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.