Sorcerer (1977) (Criterion Collection) (4K + Blu-ray Digipak) [UK]

[steelmybeatingheart]

Release date: October 6, 2025
Purchase links: Amazon UK - Zavvi - HMV
Price: £29.99 (Amazon - HMV) - £32.99 (Zavvi)
Notes: The US release lists an option of a 3 disc 4k or a 2 disc blu-ray.

Spoiler: Additional images from the US release

Spoiler: Special edition features

A hallucinatory journey into the heart of darkness, William Friedkin's pulse-pounding reimagining of the suspense classic The Wages of Fear was dismissed upon its release, only to be recognized decades later as one of the boldest auteur statements of the New Hollywood. In a remote Latin American village, four desperate fugitives - a New Jersey gangster (Roy Scheider), a Mexican assassin (Francisco Rabal), an unscrupulous Parisian businessman (Bruno Cremer), and an Arab terrorist (Amidou) - take on a seemingly doomed mission: transporting two trucks full of highly explosive nitroglycerin through the treacherous jungle. Aided by Tangerine Dream's otherworldly synth score, Friedkin turns each bump in the road into a tour de force of cold-sweat tension - conjuring a hauntingly nihilistic vision of a world ruled by chance and fate.

4K UHD + BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

• New 4K digital restoration, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack approved by director William Friedkin, and alternate original theatrical 2.0 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
• One 4K UHD disc of the film presented in Dolby Vision HDR and two Blu-rays with the film and special features
• Friedkin Uncut (2018), a documentary by Francesco Zippel featuring interviews with Friedkin, screenwriter Walon Green, filmmakers Wes Anderson and Francis Ford Coppola, and others
• New conversation between filmmaker James Gray and film critic Sean Fennessey
• Conversation from 2015 between Friedkin and filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn
• Archival audio interviews with Green and editor Bud Smith, from the collection of Giulia D’Agnolo Vallan, author of William Friedkin (2003)
• Behind-the-scenes footage
• Trailer
• English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• PLUS: An essay by film critic Justin Chang
• New cover by Nessim Higson

Remastered original 1977 trailer:

 

[hatredhorror]

@Flloydo

 

[steelmybeatingheart]

i'm sure many Ninja's have this edition.



for comparison, that had as 'special features':

• Sorcerers - A Conversation with William Friedkin and Nicolas Winding Refn (74 minutes)
• The Mystery of Fate - A letter from director William Friedkin
• Newly commissioned artwork to celebrate the 40th Anniversary
• Reversible sleeve containing the newly commissioned and original theatrical artwork

so this new Criterion seems to have the same main extra plus loads more in all other areas, and the remaster. it will be even better if it's confirmed that the UK gets the same physical package as the US.

 

[Flloydo]

@Flloydo

Yeah I got the email earlier. Told you months ago I don’t like the art you mong

 

[TheWildEye]

Peak

 

[hatredhorror]

Yeah I got the email earlier. Told you months ago I don’t like the art you mong

yeah, but usually you dont like it as long as its an US import, once its UK and cheaper you magically start to like it you cnuT

 

[Garfield87]

Anyone know when the release date is for this, the date has changed to coming soon for my HMV order.thanks

 

[TheWildEye]

Anyone know when the release date is for this, the date has changed to coming soon for my HMV order.thanks

It does look like the release date has been binned across the board for now.
I'm wondering if there might now be some issues arising from licensing stopping Criterion from releasing their 4k version in the UK?

 

[crib79]

Back in stock as amazon.com at half price so decided to import in case the UK one gets cancelled.

 

[steelmybeatingheart]

happy days.

this is one of those films, one of my all time favourites, that i keep updating each time there's a new edition, and this is probably the best one yet. there are some artwork choices i would have done differently, and some other aspects that could have been slightly better, but overall i think this is a good release. pics below and here in the album.

View media item 28616
i don't own the US edition, but from the pics in the OP, i think this looks exactly the same. i don't mind the front artwork, it mirrors the ancient sculpture you see very briefly in the film and i like the truck design. the back is the usual text-fest from Criterion. all that and the specs under the spoiler:

Spoiler: Sorcerer (Criterion) - front, back, specs

View media item 28614View media item 28613View media item 28612

View media item 28611
once opened, the digipack is... OK. it's an odd mix of a grainy truck photo and a clear orange explosion flare with no context. surely this is where you put the film's most (in)famous scene, as featured on every poster for it ever, which is instead on the pull-out booklet? there's no art under the discs, but they do all have separate artwork:

Spoiler: Sorcerer (Criterion) - more pics of digipack & discs

View media item 28610View media item 28609

the pull-out booklet actually has quite good content, but probably would have worked better thin and stapled book-style:

Spoiler: Sorcerer (Criterion) - booklet

View media item 28608View media item 28607View media item 28606View media item 28605View media item 28604

i am no PQ expert, but the restoration has it looking better than i've ever seen it, and is the main reason for purchasing.

if you like this film, this edition is a no-brainer, despite the caveats. if you've never seen it, despite the odd title (Friedkin always said it referred to fate), it's one of the most nerve-shredding films i've ever seen, a masterpiece - go watch!

 

[jaws finatic]

i'm sure many Ninja's have this edition.

View attachment 597057

for comparison, that had as 'special features':

• Sorcerers - A Conversation with William Friedkin and Nicolas Winding Refn (74 minutes)
• The Mystery of Fate - A letter from director William Friedkin
• Newly commissioned artwork to celebrate the 40th Anniversary
• Reversible sleeve containing the newly commissioned and original theatrical artwork

so this new Criterion seems to have the same main extra plus loads more in all other areas, and the remaster. it will be even better if it's confirmed that the UK gets the same physical package as the US.

That's really nice, man. I snagged the Digibook of this film upon its release and love it, but I had no idea this bad boy was out there. At least my aging brain doesn't recall it if I did. Going to have to search for this to check out its innards.

This is another film I would love for Manta to take a stab at.

 

[steelmybeatingheart]

That's really nice, man. I snagged the Digibook of this film upon its release and love it, but I had no idea this bad boy was out there. At least my aging brain doesn't recall it if I did. Going to have to search for this to check out its innards.

This is another film I would love for Manta to take a stab at.

absolutely, i would grab an OC for this from a premium seller in a heartbeat! we can dream... ...

 

[TheWildEye]

absolutely, i would grab an OC for this from a premium seller in a heartbeat! we can dream... ...

One of my favourite films and I picked it up day one. Love this and The Wages of Fear equally. In fact, I watched TWoF first. I had the original Criterion DVD import in the early 2000s. First time I saw this story filmed and was blown away. Took a few more years to find a copy of Sorcerer to view as it was OOP for a very long time in the UK. Thankfully, we don't have that liability for most movies nowadays. We can count ourselves lucky.

Just two fantastic adaptations of a fantastic story.

Henri Georges Clouzot
William Friedkin

Equally as important to cinema history and equally as enjoyable and thrilling to watch.

 

[steelmybeatingheart]

One of my favourite films and I picked it up day one. Love this and The Wages of Fear equally. In fact, I watched TWoF first. I had the original Criterion DVD import in the early 2000s. First time I saw this story filmed and was blown away. Took a few more years to find a copy of Sorcerer to view as it was OOP for a very long time in the UK. Thankfully, we don't have that liability for most movies nowadays. We can count ourselves lucky.

Just two fantastic adaptations of a fantastic story.

Henri Georges Clouzot
William Friedkin

Equally as important to cinema history and equally as enjoyable and thrilling to watch.

agree 100%. i've just finally picked up the BFI edition of The Wages of Fear, too, so got that to look forward to, not seen it in a while.