'The Magnificent Seven', directed by John Sturges is a remake of Kurosawa's 'Seven Samurai', only the venue has been changed to the Old West, and the seven samurai are now seven gunslingers. Bandits who come for their crops every season are tormenting Mexican villagers, and since they are left with barely enough to live on, they decide to seek protection from these attacks.
Three of the villagers go into the nearest town to try to purchase guns, but instead end up hiring a drifting gunslinger instead (Yul Brunner) who ends up recruiting six others to help defend the village.
The cast is pretty much a who's who of badass male actors from the time; Yul Brunner, Steve McQueen and James Coburn lead the 'good guys' and the always great Eli Wallach plays (surprise) the villain. The story is certainly entertaining, and I definitely enjoyed myself, but I unfortunately watched the original, 'Seven Samurai' after it, so my opinion changed a bit. As a stand-alone film, 'The Magnificent Seven' is pretty harmless fluff; as corny at times as most other films of the era. In terms of the western genre, it was pretty typical; Sergio Leone still hadn't made his mark with his intensity-driven westerns.
Unfortunately, though one should judge a film on its own merits, even a remake, it is hard to not compare the two. Where 'Seven Samurai' is dramatic, beautiful and was pervasive in its intelligent comedic elements, 'The Magnificent Seven' was a typical Hollywood offering that often dumbed-down what made 'Seven Samurai' so striking and groundbreaking. I found 'The Magnificent Seven', while a decent film, to be so white bread that I was actually shocked that the 'good guys' didn't all wear white hats.
'The Magnificent Seven' is not a bad film, and it is certainly entertaining at times, but it is a pale comparison to its predecessor. This doesn't entirely surprise me, but that doesn't make that fact any less disappointing. Like other remakes, most recently 'The Manchurian Candidate', the risk one runs in remaking a classic, even if it was just originally done six years earlier as in the case of 'Seven Samurai', is that there are going to be inevitable comparisons. In the case of 'The Magnificent Seven', if the film were just a little less decent, it would have been vaguely insulting. But this was a pretty entertaining film that deserves a look; just watch 'Seven Samurai' at your own risk because you may seem short-comings, as I did.
--Shelly
Three of the villagers go into the nearest town to try to purchase guns, but instead end up hiring a drifting gunslinger instead (Yul Brunner) who ends up recruiting six others to help defend the village.
The cast is pretty much a who's who of badass male actors from the time; Yul Brunner, Steve McQueen and James Coburn lead the 'good guys' and the always great Eli Wallach plays (surprise) the villain. The story is certainly entertaining, and I definitely enjoyed myself, but I unfortunately watched the original, 'Seven Samurai' after it, so my opinion changed a bit. As a stand-alone film, 'The Magnificent Seven' is pretty harmless fluff; as corny at times as most other films of the era. In terms of the western genre, it was pretty typical; Sergio Leone still hadn't made his mark with his intensity-driven westerns.
Unfortunately, though one should judge a film on its own merits, even a remake, it is hard to not compare the two. Where 'Seven Samurai' is dramatic, beautiful and was pervasive in its intelligent comedic elements, 'The Magnificent Seven' was a typical Hollywood offering that often dumbed-down what made 'Seven Samurai' so striking and groundbreaking. I found 'The Magnificent Seven', while a decent film, to be so white bread that I was actually shocked that the 'good guys' didn't all wear white hats.
'The Magnificent Seven' is not a bad film, and it is certainly entertaining at times, but it is a pale comparison to its predecessor. This doesn't entirely surprise me, but that doesn't make that fact any less disappointing. Like other remakes, most recently 'The Manchurian Candidate', the risk one runs in remaking a classic, even if it was just originally done six years earlier as in the case of 'Seven Samurai', is that there are going to be inevitable comparisons. In the case of 'The Magnificent Seven', if the film were just a little less decent, it would have been vaguely insulting. But this was a pretty entertaining film that deserves a look; just watch 'Seven Samurai' at your own risk because you may seem short-comings, as I did.
--Shelly