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The Wages of Fear has two major protagonists named Mario and Luigi. They wear some kind of uniformed outfits (one with a cap) for half the movie. That made me laugh. And just so you know, the Super Mario Brother names were inspired by an Italian restaurant. At least that's what I found online.

But this movie is far from cartoonish! Although it is a little bit hard to decipher the locale, it's actually set in South America, in a place that one might call the middle of nowhere. Nearby there's oil, and the town serves as a home for the internationally diverse. They all came to the town where the prices were low, and now that the prices are so high, none of them can afford to go back home to their own countries. From France are Mario and Joe, who become friends, to the dismay of Mario's roommate Luigi, when Mario spends all of his time with Joe. A lot of tension builds up between these men.

Finally, the break that many of the people have been waiting for arrives, although it's not much of a lucky break. There is a fire at the oil site three hundred miles away, and men are needed to drive trucks over high, curvy, and bumpy roads to deliver nitroglycerin to the workers so the fire can be put out. The reward is $2000 - enough money to get out of the country. Of course, Mario and Joe are paired in one truck, and Luigi is paired with a German man named Bimba. They have to ride the distance without jarring the trucks too much in order to avoid exploding themselves.

The movie takes a while setting up the situation, the characters, and the relationships. But it's all necessary for the dynamics to play into the driving sequence, which is wonderful. The tension builds up more and more the closer they get to their destination. There are encounters with a cliff-lined road, a bumpy stretch of road called "the washboard", a giant pool of petroleum, and a massive boulder in the middle of their path. All of these are wonderfully filmed scenes, and the actors are all great in them.

Overall, The Wages of Fear is a very good movie and one worth checking out. It covers all sorts of themes, especially that of making a deal with the devil and (obviously) the wages of fear. With its acting, action, and great cinematic view, it certainly proves itself as a Criterion Collection film.