Red Sun (1971)

Charles Bronson is Link, an outlaw double-crossed by his partner, Gauche, when they steal $400,000 from a train that just happens to be carrying Japan’s ambassador to the United States.

Gauche makes the mistake of stealing a sacred Samurai sword, intended as a gift for the president. And of killing one of two Samurai guarding the ambassador.

That means he not only has Link on his trail, but a skilled Samurai named Kuroda who has seven days to get the sword back. Otherwise, he must commit suicide in disgrace.

Link first tries to shake Kuroda and track Gauche on his own. He fears the Samurai will kill Gauche on sight before he can find out where the loot is hidden.

But the samurai won’t be shaken, and Link grows to respect Kuroda’s courage and skills in battle.

Of course, they have to find Gauche before they can find the loot and the golden sword.

And Link decides the key to finding Gauche is to kidnap his girlfriend, a lovely whore named Cristina (Ursula Andress).

What no one counted on was a band of blood-thirsty Comanche warriors.

Charles Bronson as Link, catching his first glimpse of a samurai in Red Sun (1971)

Toshiro Mifune as Kuroda, assigned with retrieving a one-of-a-kind sword in Red Sun (1971)

Review:

Director Terence Young was also responsible for “Dr. No,” “From Russia with Love” and “Thunderball.” He goes for a touch of humor early on here, as Link constantly underestimates Kuroda’s samurai skills.

Then the action kicks, culminating with a well-done three-way showdown as the reunion between Link, Kuroda and Gauche is interrupted by a Comanche attack, part of which takes place in a burning field of cane.

This was the first — and probably the best — of the East meets West films that cropped up during the 1970s; several Spaghetti Westerns along the same vein followed.

Of course, this one benefits from the presence of Andress, who flashes most of her body on a couple of occasions and seems constantly in danger.

French beauty Capucine has a bit role as Link’s lover and the owner of the whorehouse where Cristina works. She starred in John Wayne’s “North to Alaska” a decade earlier.

Alain Delon as Gauche, a man with a prize sword, a new enemy and a missing mistress in Red Sun (1971)

Ursula Andress as Cristina, gets an unwelcome visitor in Red Sun (1971)

Directed by:
Terence Young

Cast:
Charles Bronson … Link
Ursula Andress …. Cristina
Toshiro Mifune … Kuroda
Alain Delon … Gauche
Capucine … Pepita
Monica Randall … Maria
Barta Barri … Pace
as Bart Barry
Guido Lollobrigida … Mace
as Lee Burton
Anthony Dawson … Hyatt
Gianni Medici … Miquel
as John Hamilton
Georges Lycan… Sheriff Stone
Luc Merenda … Chato
Satoshi Nakamura … Ambassador
Joe Nieto … Mexican farmer
Hiroshi Tanaka … Second samurai

Runtime: 112 min.

aka:
Sole rosso
The Magnificent Three

Music: Maurice Jarre

Anthony Dawson as Hyatt, one of Gauche’s men, in Red Sun (1971)

Capucine as Pepita, Link’s girl in Red Sun (1971)

Memorable lines:

Gauche, encountering two samurai: “What do I do with these two?”
Link: “Well, unless you have some use for men dressed up as women, I’d let them go.”

Kuroda, as a rancher is being threatened by bandits: “What’s he saying?”
Link: “They want him to tell them where he’s hidden his daughters. He’s not talking.”
Kuroda: “Brave man.”
The brave man is shot in the head.
Link: “Stupid man.”

Link to Kuroda: “I’m concerned about a fortune. That money’s mine. I stole it.”

Monica Randall as Maria, presents herself to Kuroda in Red Sun (1971)

Tetsu Nakamura as the Japanese Ambassador with Toshiro Mifune as Kuroda in Red Sun (1971)

Pepita, when Link draws a gun as she wakes him: “Do you always shoot your bed partner in the morning?”
Link, smiling: “Depends on how good she was?”
Pepita: “Me?”
Link: “We’ll let you live.”

Link: “Cristina, you’re a whore. You’ve always been one. You’ll always be one.”
Cristina: “You always did know how to speak to a woman.”

Cristina: “Why should I cook?”
Link: “You cook, you eat. I cook, you get whipped and go to bed hungry.”
Cristina: “The thing I like about you, Link, the older you get, the sweeter you get too.”

Ursula Andress as Cristina finds herself captured as bait in Red Sun (1971)

Charles Bronson as Link, making sure his captive is comfortable in Red Sun (1971)

Toshiro Mifune as Kuroda, accepting his mission in Red Sun (1971)

Alain Delon as Gauche, finds the real prize during a train robbery in Red Sun (1971)

Capucine as Pepita, wondering why Link (Charles Bronson) brought a gun to bed in Red Sun (1971)

Toshiro Mifune as Kuroda, issuing a challenge to Gauche in Red Sun (1971)

Ursula Andress as Cristina, finds a rare reason to smile in Red Sun (1971)

Charles Bronson as Link, watching the Indians from afar in Red Sun (1971)