User Reviews

Hired by a corrupt American oil company to transport volatile chemicals across dangerous terrain, four men risk life and limb in pursuit of a rich payday. The job’s much too dicey for the refinery’s usual, unionized employees, but these louts are just desperate enough to throw caution to the wind and wager everything on their own driving skills. They’ve had their fill of kicking around a dusty, barren, South American nowhere town, waiting for work to materialize, and the mere thought of a big score has them spending the money before they’ve left the garage. The first act takes a while to find its footing, but once the rubber hits the road, The Wages of Fear is a master class in compounding suspense. Splitting time behind the wheel in two large, under-prepared equipment trucks, the men are soon at each other’s throats, stressed by the trying conditions and ever-present threat of mortal disaster. They weren’t exactly friendly before this endeavor, starting fights and waving weapons in a bar the night before, and the smothering anxiety only serves to fan those flames. Together, they’re forced to wind around a steep, jagged mountain road, cross a field of divots at high speed and slide through a lake of spilled oil, doing their best to cooperate (and often failing at that) while remaining hyper-aware of their payload’s touchy nature. The jerrycans of nitroglycerin that line their beds are so fickle, a bad bounce could blow them all to kingdom come. You just know that, eventually, something’s going wrong. It’s tough not to nibble a fingernail as the twin teams navigate one obstacle after another, balanced precariously on the metaphorical tightrope. When disaster finally strikes, the film doesn’t knock our socks off. It focuses on the shockwave over the shock and awe, a whisper of rushing air that sweeps crumbled tobacco from a half-rolled cigarette and then departs, like spirits headed into the afterlife. It seemed destined that only one truck would finish this adventure - the oil company suspected as much - but the real question is, can the survivors still find a way to band together and overcome? And, if so, at what cost?

One of the most gripping, edge-of-your-seat films you'll ever see. C'est merveilleux!

Outdated movie with many scenes, that are a bit ridiculous today. Anyway the story is not bad but too long: 2,5 hours.

1953 !... de quel film actuel pourra-t'on dire dans 60 piges :"ça, tu vois mon gars, c'est un putain de bon film !"...? je n'en vois pas et encore moins s'il doit s'agir d'un film... français. Cela situe la performance de la mise en scène, des acteurs et du scénario : toujours aussi percutants tant de temps après et... après moult visionnages. Le seul reproche que je pourrais lui faire concerne l'exposition un peu trop longue, le film peine (un peu) à embrayer. Un détail cela dit, car même le début n'ennuie pas pour autant. Un beau chef-d'oeuvre dont on peut être fier avec un Vanel et un Montand au sommet de leur art, une oeuvre toujours aussi impressionnante de tension et de justesse des caractères, une oeuvre qui n'a décidément pas pris une ride et dont l'impact est resté intact.

The movie is good and I would give an 8, but for me that ending completely destroys the film. The outcome could and should be the same, but done differently.

really good movie I recommend you go see it. good actors and in the end areally good move am impressed thry do a really good job!!! It is good enough for a 9/10