Seeing 'Red Sun' in 4K!

Photo by Brett Homenick.

Tonight, Saturday, September 19, I visited Toho Cinemas Hibiya Chanter to catch a screening of Red Sun (1971) in 4K. I'd never seen the film before, but the pairing of stars Toshiro Mifune and Charles Bronson in a movie directed by 007 veteran Terence Young seemed like an intriguing project. 

And the movie is . . . all right. I can't say I loved it, but it wasn't a bad time, even though it dragged on occasion. The premise is fun, but a lot of it felt a bit too much like a reworking of Hell in the Pacific (1968), just set in the Old West. Alain Delon wasn't a very imposing villain, especially when set against a figure with the gravitas of Mifune. (I mean, does anyone really think there'd be a contest there?) 

Bronson does all the heavy lifting, acting-wise, as Mifune doesn't do much more than be a stoic and respectable samurai. The action scenes are decent, but you can find more compelling ones elsewhere. The stuff involving the Comanches was straight out of a '40s B-movie. 

OK, I am starting to sound a bit harsh. As of this writing, Red Sun has a 6.8 rating on IMDb, and I think that's pretty fair. Perhaps my expectations were a bit too high, as the movie has a solid reputation, especially in Japan. I'm also just not the biggest fan of Westerns, so you should probably take that into consideration, too. 

Overall, the movie is pretty good but definitely flawed. I wish I could share the enthusiasm others have for it. It probably would have benefited from being 15 or 20 minutes shorter, as the scenes in which Bronson tries to get Mifune to agree to his terms regarding what to do about Delon are needlessly repetitive. As presented, however, I'll give the movie a lukewarm recommendation. Check it out if it's a flick that might interest you.