Alicia I love this movie so much

Diagonaldi Very well executed

Unlimitedia Sick Product of a Sick System

RipDelight This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

getsmartoc Just watched this out of date, over acted piece of utter nonsense. What on Earth are all these other reviews talking about? Did we watch the same movie?There are "real" classics out there, one's from the same period that dated well, showed the period and the issues of the day and dealt with them in a real and honest way...and then there these are "arty" classics that just go and over do the story, the dialogue and the characters to...well, I don't know why they do it but I can say that I don't get why they do "it". This must be an arty classics because I just didn't get "it" and I don't understand the people that have watched this in the last 40 years and pretended to get "it" as well. There is nothing real about this movie, the story is passable, okay, but there is no insight into the time or place of the movie, the dialogue is plain ridiculous, and the casting is terrible...(did anyone look at, and understand, who/what Linda's character was supposed to be in the first 5 minutes of the movie? She was badly cast and then given a terrible role to play on top of that). Vanel's transition from tough old street thug to corny coward was...well, it was hilarious actually (that was a source of a few laughs, truth be told). I think only O'Brien Luigi and Bimba are well played and we get saved the silly dialogue of the others with these characters. Mario was...such a shallow and repulsive character to me that I won't even go into how out-dated this kind of "hero" is in this day and age. Who should want to watch this movie? Those that want to see what being "cool" meant to a man in the 50's and how women (and a really beautiful one at that) where/should be treated by such macho men like Mario (this is a real women beater's showcase here). All in all a rubbish movie and if I could have those two and a half hours back I would surely ask.

riles-14932 Save 2.2 hours and watch something else. For such a high review, this movie sucked. The biggest problem is that it kept telling us about more interesting events happening off screen that would have been great scenes. Told about an explosion, told about one of the characters narrowly escaping a country, told about locals dying, told about some dude dying. I kept waiting for the action and tension described in the movie summary, but it never happened. It's been 5 minutes since I stopped at the 50 minute mark, and I'm already forgetting the characters and the movie. Not a classic by any mark. Doesn't even stand up to classic movies of the era.

Anon Ymous I absolutely loved this film. First off, the tension must be acknowledged. This is a true edge-of-your-seat film once it gets to the meat. Bsic plot summary; a group of men are stuck in a dead-end town in South America. They have no jobs, no money, no escape and no hope. The town is chained to the American oil company nearby. An sudden explosion at a derrick requires a powerful explosion to extinguish it, and a huge amount of nitroglycerin is the only solution. The only catch; someone needs to deliver a large amount to the remote rig. The job is near-suicidal, so they offer a large sum of money to those in the town who are brave enough to do it. Ultimately, four men are chosen from the town to deliver the incredibly dangerous cargo to the raging oil fire at prices that will deliver the desperate men from their misery in the dying town. Two teams of two men are tasked with driving gallons of unstable chemicals across impossibly rough and dangerous terrain. The slightest wrong move will end their lives in an instant. At face value, this could carry a film on it's own. The washboard scene alone, only a few films have managed to put me on such edge. The rock demolishing scene is another incredibly intense scene; pouring the nitroglycerin into the hole; the fear and risk is absolutely palpable, a credit to the excellent acting, direction and editing. The switchback scene, also, is a memorable event.But, and maybe more importantly, after the initial impact of the plot, you really get into the characters of the film. To me, the most fascinating character was Jo; we are introduced to him as a incredibly self-assured, in-control alpha male who knows how to handle any situation he encounters. The show-down at the cantina solidifies this image. We see Jo as the superior to Mario; a father figure who we expect to lead his younger compatriot. But as the film progresses, the roles switch as we see him for what he truly his; a fearful, risk-averse, cowardly old man. This character progression is so central to the action of the film. We experience what the average person might go through in a similar scenario, we see our weaker side in him when he flees the collapsing wooden bridge. We feel his defeat at the stronger personality of Mario at the crucial moment We understand his utter, fatalist acceptance of his true nature as a flawed human being. Which, at the end, makes his lat scenes so devastatingly powerful. We identify so strongly with him in the face of such impossible odds that it makes his ultimate fate so devastating; he sacrifices himself for his partner despite his numerous failings and the touching finality between the two masterfully brings the two characters together in the most realistically human of ways.I find the ending a bit melodramatic, a little rushed and frankly a little cliched. I won't spoil the ending but I felt like I knew what was going to happen before he even took the wheel of the truck to head home. This is probably my only gripe with an otherwise spectacular film.I'll admit, I find a lot of films from this era hackneyed and melodramatic.This one absolutely blew me away. An absolute classic. Great storytelling, excellent directing, masterful acting for the most part (Linda, imo, overacted a bit and seemed to be unnecessary to the story beyond a stereotypical love interest), gripping tension and a great study on how humans are in the most dire of situations

851222 Greetings from Lithuania."The Wages of Fear" (1953) is highly involving thriller / drama with very simple story and premise, but because of great movie making from director Henri-Georges Clouzot who also wrote the script, this is a must see. Acting was very good by all involved, especially by the 2 leads and 2 supporting characters although Véra Clouzot overplayed her role a bit in my opinion. But again it is the director who did amazing job in creating tense and very involving movie from not maybe very start but when the "delivery job" begins, it is one very tense ride till the very end which i think was cynical, as it is the world we live in.Overall, "The Wages of Fear" is a great film must see for everyone who loves realistic as possible and tense movies. Everything works here greatly making this a true classic.