Excited to hear about your 8-page feature on "Dark of the Sun". Earlier
this year, I finally got a re-mastered DVD through Warner Bros
Archives. It's a beautiful print (unfortunately no special features) and
the film holds up remarkably well. It's gratifying to see one of the best
action films ever get some long-overdue recognition. As I'm sure you know, it's
a "guilty pleasure" of both Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino (part of the
reason Tarantino cast Rod Taylor as Churchill in "Inglorious Basterds".) As for "The White Buffalo", I obviously liked the film better than you did.
I never really thought of it as "horror" movie-western hybrid, but I was struck
by its mythic, haunting ambiance. One of the many things I admired about it was
the authentic-sounding period dialogue. How many films use words like
"flummery"?
Ray Cunneff
Retro Responds: Thanks, Ray...We're probably the only magazine on the planet that would feature a film like Dark of the Sun in such detail, but the movie is a true gem. I totally agree that it stands up well over time and in fact is far superior to just about every action movie made today. Re: The White Buffalo, I do think the film is a failure, but I will concede at least it's an original and ambitious failure. However, I think in its attempt to be highbrow, it comes across as somewhat pretentious. The film is ultimately undone by an uneven script and some distractingly cheesy special effects. However, before anyone puts much stock in my opinions, I also consider The Ghost and Mr. Chicken to be a comedy classic. - Lee Pfeiffer
(Dark of the Sun will be featured in Cinema Retro issue #22 in a major article by contributor Howard Hughes.)