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, 31 December 1972

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

The busy schedules of Alain Delon and Capucine meant that they flew back to France and Switzerland respectively for weekends and were helicoptered back to the location each Monday.

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Goofs

When Link Stuart at the end is waiting for the train he looks at the train coming around the bend. Behind the train you can clearly (blu-ray) see a car driving along a road near the tracks.

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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

RED SUN (Terence Young, 1971) ***

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.