The Magnificent Seven Reviews

[Highly rated reviewer]

A Classic...only just!!

I have to say that i was a little let down when i revisited this film after having first watched it years ago on the TV as a small boy.

Yes the cinematography, music and cast are first rate but it does show its age.There is a certain artificiality about some of the scenes, and the Chico (Horst Buchholz) interludes i found particularly annoying.

If you take it for what it is then its an enjoyable couple of hours.

Did you know that ,of all the main stars, the gutless Robert Vaughn character and Eli Wallach are the only survivors! Sobering.

The Overpaid Seven

The problem with re-working a classic is that you will be hard pressed to match it. I have never been a fan of re-workings with a few exceptions but The Magnificent Seven sums up everything that is bad about Hollywood. I have given this film three stars just for the amazing score which truly is an outstanding classic on its own. It is just a shame it was not attached to an original western.

Hollywood simply brought together all of the biggest stars gave them a strong script and crossed their fingers. Couldn't go wrong really. Well they did rather well out of it and if you hadn't seen The Seven Samurai you could be forgiven for thinking that it was a simple a brilliant idea. I just cannot watch this film because I truly love the original and it is not a spot on it.

The Hollywood studio system is a simple thing which needs to churn out money winners time after time to survive. This is why you consistently get safe and forgettable films hitting your screens with few but some exceptions. If you haven't seen this movie then please see Kurosawas original first (preferably in a cinema), I am sure you will understand my point of view thereafter.

Hurrah for the last great western

This film was the last hurrah for the cinema cowboy. Television had taken over and the spaghetti western was taking over. The Magnificent Seven is an excellent film with a even greater cast. The script and cinematography is excellent. One of the major surprises was the humour and sentiment that is used. Brenner, Vaughn, Bronson and McQueen are all excellent in their quest to help a small town fight the baddies who try to take over. The runs just over two hours but moves at a quick pace so there is no time to get bored. Excellent Sunday afternoon film that is up there with 'The Great Escape'.

the japanese version's better..

but this is still a fine film, the extras are good too, they tell you tales of how Steve McQueen was obsessed that Yul Brynner was the star of the film and how the Mexicans weren't allowed to get dirty for reasons of national pride.

Anyway this film is very close to the original, right down to some of the lines. As a result the same messages are still there about the pointlessness and reality of the hired gun/samurai life, which means it remains a great film in this version, which at the time when people still thought of westerns as a great means of glorifying cowboys etc must have come as a bit of a shock.

Make sure you see Seven Samurai however to compare.

The extra-feature on the end is twice as much fun as the movie (8 stars!). All about the petty backs & forths between the stars (Steve McQueen & Yul Brynner especially), and the mess of lawsuits & egos & rewriting & politics the whole thing was.

The movie's pretty good but possibly it ruined every western movie since, by making cowboys go around spouting Western philosophy all the time.

A classic like its predecessor and inspiration, 'SEVEN SAMURAI'. Kurosawa`s brilliant stories are fully adaptable to other genres. A great charismatic cast here..some superstars and some future superstars Brynner,McQueen,Bronson,Vaughn,Coburn,Dexter and the surprise newcomer Buchholz! Eli Wallach is on top form as the villain-six years before The Good,The Bad And The Ugly. As I said earlier-A Western classic. A brilliant story is a brilliant story-no matter how you tell it!

Perfect for a Sunday afternoon

Having recently seen Seven Samurai and somehow having managed never to have seen this version, I was curious to see how the two films would compare.

Both films look great with The Magnificent Seven probably just edging ahead because of the wonderful epic, de-luxe colour Western scenery. This holds true in many aspects, the sound, the choreography of the action, the stunts and the editing and pacing of the film which is a snappy two hours compared to the Seven Samurai's three.

However, the performances, apart from the those of the excellent Yul Brynner and Steve McQueen, seem muted compared to the rich performances in the original and the plot loses some of its complexity because of the shorter run time.

Both are excellent films and no doubt both have their aficionados, but as someone coming to both films recently I would have to say I thought Seven Samurai was the superior of the two.

You don't get cowboys like this anymore

I think this is one of the classic westerns of all time.

It's based on an old japanese tale. Seven cowboys are hired by a small village in Mexico to fight the bandits that persist to tear their village apart.

The charisma and strenght of Brynner as the group leader is so amazing as he is a man of few words, but so profound.

This film is packed with great actors on the cusp of fame, wonderful cinematography and some coherent morals that you won't forget.

This is one of the best Western classics. I trully enjoyed it and would recommend it to anyone who loves a movie where the underdog gets revenge and a bit of romance thrown in. There is some sadness but eh you cant have it all.

CLASSIC

one of the classic cowboy flims