|
The Magnificent Seven (Special Edition)
Average Customer Review : 4.5/5 based on 151 reviews
Usually ships in 24 hours
List Price : $14.98
Price : $9.99
Customers who bought this also bought
The Great Escape (2-Disc Collector's Set)
High Noon (Collector's Edition)
Once Upon a Time in the West
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Shane
Editorial Reviews
Akira Kurosawa's rousing Seven Samurai was a natural for an American remake--after all, the codes and conventions of ancient Japan and the Wild West (at least the mythical movie West) are not so very far apart. Thus The Magnificent Seven effortlessly turns samurai into cowboys (the same trick worked more than once: Kurosawa's Yojimbo became Sergio Leone's A Fistful of Dollars). The beleaguered denizens of a Mexican village, weary of attacks by banditos, hire seven gunslingers to repel the invaders once and for all. The gunmen are cool and capable, with most of the actors playing them just on the cusp of '60s stardom: Steve McQueen, James Coburn, Charles Bronson, Robert Vaughn. The man who brings these warriors together is Yul Brynner, the baddest bald man in the West. There's nothing especially stylish about the approach of veteran director John Sturges (The Great Escape), but the storytelling is clear and strong, and the charisma of the young guns fairly flies off the screen. If that isn't enough to awaken the 12-year-old kid inside anyone, the unforgettable Elmer Bernstein music will do it: bum-bum-ba-bum, bum-ba-bum-ba-bum.... Followed by three inferior sequels, Return of the Seven, Guns of the Magnificent Seven, and The Magnificent Seven Ride! --Robert Horton
Spotlight Reviews
2.5 stars out of 4 (2009-01-01)
Customer Review : 3
The Bottom Line:
A mediocre western that doesn't take enough time to develop characters and falls far short of the Japanese original (though it is mercifully shorter), The Magnificent Seven has little to recommend it aside from Eli Wallach's performance and Steve McQueen's iconic cool--if you can make it through the scene where Charles Bronson lectures the peasant children about heroism without laughing, I salute you.
Simply Magnificent! (2008-12-29)
Customer Review : 5
Director John Sturges' remake of Akira Kurosawa's 1954 epic "Seven Samurai" ranks as one of the greatest westerns ever made. Along with Robert Aldritch's shoot'em saga "Vera Cruz," "The Magnificent Seven" exerted considerable influence the look and subject matter of many later Spaghetti westerns. Sturges had gained an impressive reputation in the genre with two contemporary westerns "The Walking Hills and "Bad Day at Black Rock" as well as his frontier oaters "The Law and Jake Wade," "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral," and "Last Train from Gun Hill." Sturges specialized in all-male actioneers with tough guys in the life and death situations. Visually, he relied on low-angle photography to give his pictures a larger-than-life look, and he staged his gunfight sequences as if they were football game strategies.
Sturges began a long association with "The Ten Commandants" composer Elmer Bernstein on "The Magnificent Seven." Not only did Bernstein receive an Oscar nomination for Best Original Score for his music on "The Magnificent Seven," but he also got an Oscar nod when he reprised his score in Burt Kennedy's 1966 sequel "Return of the Seven." Aside from Sturges' masterful direction, "The Magnificent Seven" boasts a top-notch cast. Sturges was largely responsible for these brilliant casting choices.Many of them, including Steve McQueen, James Coburn, Robert Vaughn, and Charles Bronson, achieved superstar prominence during the 1960s. "The Magnificent Seven" was lensed on location by Charles Lang in Durango, Mexico, and on some rather obvious sets at Churubusco Studios, Mexico City. Lang had filmed "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral" as well as "Last Train from Gun Hill" with Sturges and would go on to shoot the unlikeliest Sturges movie "A Girl Named Tamiko."
"The Magnificent Seven" takes place in the late 19th century. The first scene occurs in a small, anonymous Mexican village as a bandit, Calvera (Eli Wallach of "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly"), and his 40 gunmen steal enough food to feed themselves. After Calvera and his gang depart, the campesinos convene in the square to formulate a plan of defense. "If he takes our crop, we might as well cut our throats and be done with it," laments one farmer. They visit the Old Man (Russian character actor Vladimir Sokoloff of "Cloak and Dagger")and seek his advice. "Fight," he urges them. "Go to the border and buy guns."
The frontier west has settled down and our heroes are roaming the land in search of work. Chris (Oscar winning actor Yul Brynner of "The King and I") and Vin cross paths in a dusty little hamlet when the local citizens refuse to let an Indian named Old Sam be buried in a predominantly white cemetery. "How long has this been going on?" inquires a traveling salesman. "Since the town got civilized," remarks the undertaker, Chamlee (Whit Bissell) and tries to give corset salesman Henry (Val Avery of "The Anderson Tapes") his twenty dollars back. Three of the villagers arrive in town as Chris and Vin decide to drive the hearse up to Boot Hill. "Never ridden shotgun on a hearse," quips Vin. Chris wounds two men trying to block their way and the townspeople unload the coffin and bury it.
The three villagers approach Chris and ask him to help them buy guns. "Men are cheaper than guns," Chris advises them and they assemble six men. The pay is a double eagle for four to six weeks with food and board thrown into the bargain. So moved is Chris by their earnestness that he decides to help them. "I've been offered a lot for my work," he assures the Mexicans, "but never everything." Initially, Vin is reluctant about joining up. When he learns the job pays twenty dollars, he shrugs, "Would pay for my bullets." The third man to join up is gold-seeking Harry Luck (Brad Dexter) who believes that there must be more to it if the Cajun-speaking Chris has decided to him the villagers. Bernando O'Reilly (Charles Bronson) is chopping wood for his breakfast when Chris offers him twenty dollars. "Right now that's a lot of money," he agrees. Britt (James Coburn) and Lee (Robert Vaughn) and a Mexican farmer turned gunfighter, Chico (German born actor Horst Buchholz), follow. At first, Chico doesn't make the grade but later he proves his worthiness.
The seven teach the villagers to defend themselves with rifles they obtain from Calvera's men sent to spy on them. They also erect new walls in the village. "They won't keep me out," Calvera surveys them on his return to the village with his forty gunmen. Chris explains, "They were made to keep you in." A gunfight erupts. All seven survive the first foray, but the triumphant villagers are caught off-guard when Calvera's men hang around. When combat breaks out again, the villagers split into fractions. Half decide hiring the seven constituted a mistake. Chris and company change tactics, mount an offensive against Calvera, but find his camp empty. When they arrive back in the village, the seven discover that one fraction has sold them out, but Calvera refuses to kill them. He fears that their friends from up north might retaliate so he takes their guns and lets his men escort them to the border.
"The Magnificent Seven" brims with irony. The Old Man advises the villagers to buy guns, but Chris tells them that men with guns are cheaper. Although the hiring price of twenty dollars is low, the high-priced O'Reilly joins because "right now twenty dollars is a lot." Similarly, Chris signs on because nobody has ever paid him everything. Lee suffers from paranoia so he decides to hide out in the worst place imaginable. "The final supreme idiocy," he confesses, "a deserter hiding out on a battlefield." The performances are memorable as is William Roberts' dialogue. In one scene, Vin observes, "It took me a long time to learn my elbow from a hot rock." "The Magnificent Seven" qualifies as my favorite western.
This DVD contains two commentary tracks that provide a wealth of information and trivia, especially Sir Christopher Frayling's commentary.
CORN, CORN, AND MORE CORN (2008-11-13)
Customer Review : 1
This movie was made in the days before film-makers realized that people were sophisticated enough to recognize corn when they saw it. Horz Bucholz's impetuous kid act was just total corn. Talk about bad acting. Robert Vaughn deliberately affects some kind of bizarre weakling voice quality.
The whole premise of the movie was that the villagers were wothless cowards but Bronson goes off his head proclaiming how brave they are because they're dirt scratching farmers. The 40 banditos ride into the village and the hired guns(the seven) expose themselves in positions where they could easily be shot by less than half of 40 banditos.
The banditos get the drop on the seven when the seven return to the village and the ultimate in movie absurdity happens. The banditos let the seven go on their merry way AND give them their guns back. Any self respecting Mexican bandito would have slit their throats, but not in this fantasy universe. This is truly one of the worst westerns I've ever seen. I just don't understand why this movie has gotten the hype that it has. Probably simply because it had Yul Brynner and Steve McQueen in it.
Seven Stars (2008-09-20)
Customer Review : 5
Whilst this probably isn't the best western ever made its certainly up there amongst the top flight. It was fortunately made a few years before 'A Fistful of Dollars', which changed westerns and what was expected from them.
Take the classic Kurosawa film 'Seven Samurai' (which is given its due in the opening credits) and reinvent it in the American west. Then add the staggeringly good cast of Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, Eli Wallach, James Coburn and Robert Vaughan and what you have is a near perfect piece of Cinema. Some of these guys (like McQueen) were not the bigshots they would later become, but they are incredibly cool. Just a look is enough for these actors. For example, James Coburn hardly says a word throughout the film, and he has arguably the best scene - the knife vs gun moment.
Sure its not a great film in the way 'The Searchers' is, but for straightforward entertainment this is hard to beat. And for those who criticise it as being dated and slow, I'm afraid you've been watching too many modern Hollywood blockbusters. What makes The Magnificent Seven substantially better than a lot of modern films, is that its a simple morality tale, and in the end you do care about the villagers and the Seven.
As a simple comparison the film I watched prior to this one was 'Swordfish' a 2001 film starring John Travolta and Hugh Jackman. Not a bad film. It has a great start. But its not in the same league as The Magnificent Seven. After the start it becomes an exercise in CGI, explosions, car chases and computer screens. Its worth seeing, just, but its a largely souless, depressing piece of filmmaking. Saying that of course there are much worse films than Swordfish out there...
A final word on The Magnificent Seven, listen to the wonderful music score by Elmer Bernstein. There haven't been many more evocative soundtracks than this one.
My favorite Western of all time (2008-09-06)
Customer Review : 5
My all time favorite Western. I first saw it as a little kid and have watched it a number of times since. It's the values that it portrays and the character that it inspires that makes it such an enduring classic for me. The fact that these seven hired guns knew (most of them) that they're doing a dirty job and that there is so much better out there and they admired it more then their own glory is simply great. In a way they went to save the village from the bandits as a way of their own redemption. Wonderful movie.
|
|
