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.

Culture clash ending in mutual respect, with an understanding of BOTH cultures... good western action-adventure at the same time. Battle of wills and skills as Bronson butts heads with Mifune, who of course has all kinds of surprises Bronson's character has never seen. They are forced by circumstance to collaborate and travel together. Bronson the epitome of western tough and smart guy, in this case whose ethics are not always ivory soap; Mifune plays the epitome of determined, skilled, smart, ethical samurai knight type. Very funny watching them struggle with each other, surprise each other, and learn from each other... and deal with bordello, desert, etc. They have to retrieve the treasured sword and in the process chase down and fight a truly nasty slick cold fish. You'll end up liking Bronson and loving Mifune. Both actors did a wonderful classic job with this one!

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.

One thing's for sure, this is the only movie where you get to see a Samurai fight a Comanche. Charles Bronson plays an outlaw who robs a train. Among the passengers on the train is the ambassador of Japan and his samurai bodyguard, played by The Seven Samurai's Toshiro Mifune. When Bronson is double-crossed by one of the men in his gang, he teams up with the samurai to chase down the villain and get his revenge. If you think this sounds like a Jackie Chan/Owen Wilson movie, you're right on. Shanghai Noon was definitely a parody of this film. This is a very enjoyable, action-packed, unique western, but it definitely has some R-rated content. At the end of the day, it's hard to find a better Charles Bronson western. 4 out of 5 action rating

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.