 "Extreme suspension of disbelief required" | 2009-09-08 |
| - Reviewed By russcow |
I know this is considered a classic. The theme music is sublime, and it features some great Hollywood actors in their prime. And I am not comparing the film to Kurosawa's, because I think that is an unfair comparison (apples and oranges, so to speak). But after watching this again as middle-aged adult, I found it impossible to suspend my disbelief in the face of one silly situation after another.
First of all, a shaven-headed man as pale as Chris Adams (Yul Brynner), living and riding along the Texas/Mexico border? The back of his neck isn't even pink, much less red! He could have single-handedly terrified the evil bandito Calvera and his men into surrendering without firing a shot. They would have thought he was a spectral emissary from some unknown world and fled in panic at the site of him. But wait, there's more. This ghostly chrome-dome has a Russian accent, but one of his buddies refers to him as a Cajun. Huh?
Even more confusing is the presence of a young white guy with a strong German accent, named... wait for it... "Chico" (Horst Buchholz). Early in the film, Chico demonstrates his lack of skill with a pistol and his inability to hold his liquor, yet Chris Adams later lets him join the Seven, apparently because Chico is good at catching and cooking fish. (Presumably Chris isn't concerned about facing a hail of Mexican bullets with an inept greenhorn at his side, as long as he can die with a bellyful of tasty trout caught fresh from the river).
The film gets progressively weaker as the peaceful Mexican villagers
are given more and more lines, as the adult actors are even worse than the child actors. The accents are inconsistent, and these supposedly south-of-the-border thespians look as if they have never plowed a single furrow or picked up anything heavier than a taco.(However back in the day it may have been much harder to find the excellent caliber of Mexican-American actors that we take for granted today).
The ultimate insult to the viewer's intelligence comes when Calvera (Eli Wallach with some bronzer on his face) runs the Seven out of the village, but then kindly gives them all their weapons back once they are a couple miles outside of town. Suddenly Calvera seems far from the ruthless villain we need him to be, in order for the proper amount of bloodlust to be generated for the final battle to have the neccesary cathartic quality.
Another disappointing feature is the annoyingly frequent appearance of the simpering Horst Buchholz, as compared to the unfortunate underuse of the considerable talents of James Coburn. (Coburn's lines can be counted on one hand, with fingers left over). Some of Buchholz's scenes (clowning around with a complacent bull, mooning at an inexplicably smitten senorita) have a painfully Disneyesque quality that erodes the fine edge that McQueen and Brynner bring to the film.
It just seems like the authentic locations and the several fine actors here could have been put to much better use. Be prepared to enjoy this one merely for the Hollywood nostalgia and overall Wild West atmosphere, but don't try to take it as a serious film or you will be very disappointed.
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 "Classic Western" | 2009-05-24 |
| - Reviewed By daveinoakland |
Based off the Japanese 7 Samurai story. This movie has a great blend of characters with good acting and a great soundtrack. Classic western and among the favorites of many people who enjoy the genre.
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 "ONE OF THE GREAT WESTERNS" | 2009-05-22 |
| - Reviewed By User: A3LQ0X04C6AWXB |
| THE SEARCHERS HIGH NOON RIO BRAVO RED RIVER AND M7 5 GREATEST WESTERNS EVER MADE. |
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| "A classic museum piece" | 2009-05-17 |
| - Reviewed By knichols3 |
| Seeing some stars from my youthful moviegoing at the peak of their careers almost always gives me a pleasant twinge of nostalgia. On that level, The Magnificent Seven works well, but only for about 30 minutes. After that, the load of Hollywood hokum that was injected into what was already a pretty uninspired job of writing and directing gets in the way. As others have noted, it's jaw-droppingly unlikely that a vicious bandito will turn loose a handful of gringos who have just slaughtered half the bandito's crew. And why does James Coburn need to nap at every opportunity, and why does he take a switchblade to a gunfight? Why is Robert Vaughn taking on a task for which his cowardice makes him unsuited? And why do three kids for no apparent reason adopt, and ultimately cause the death of, Charles Bronson -- how come no one else gets a retinue? How is it that Horst Buchholz can amble into the banditos' camp without being spotted as an outsider? The answers are of course that these sorts of illogical dramatic expediencies where part and parcel of moviemaking until fairly recently. Today's clichés involve computer-generated effects, I guess. |
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| "Some thoughts on a classic film" | 2009-04-26 |
| - Reviewed By gpc1021 |
Last year, a theater in Manhattan was doing a retrospective of United Artists films. I decided to see "The Magnificent Seven" again on the big screen. Seeing it left me with a stange feeling of sadness.
This film was released in 1960. At the time, Yul Brynner was still a superstar and Eli Wallach was a fairly established actor. The rest of the cast were still young and fresh. Steve McQueen was still doing "Wanted-Dead or Alive" on TV. He was still three years away from superstardom with "The Great Escape." Charles Bronson would continue guest-starring on shows like "Combat" and "The Fugitive," as well as appearing in supporting roles in popular epics like "The Great Escape," "Battle of the Bulge" and "The Dirty Dozen" He would not become a massive superstar until "Death Wish" in 1974. Coburn also did tv and supporting roles in films like "Americanization of Emily" and "Charade." He became "Our Man Flint" in 1965. Robert Vaughn became "The Man from UNCLE" in 1964. Now, with the exception of Vaughn and Wallach, they are all gone. It seems sad.
The thing that always surprises me about this film is that despite having a great action director in John Sturges, (one of my favorites,) the action scenes are really quite average. Other than McQueen flying through the air firing his pistol, there really isn't anything spectacular about the action sequences. The deaths of Bronson, Vaughn and Coburn, (gee I hope I haven't given anything away,) are especially uninteresting. One minute Coburn is shooting, the next minute he is shot, we don't even actually see him hit. I love so many of Sturges' films, especially "The Great Escape "and "Ice Station Zebra," however the action scenes really are disappointing.
I watched the deluxe dvd last night with the audio commentary by film historian, Sir Christopher Frayling. The commentary was good, although I did enjoy his commentary on the dvd of "Once Upon a Time in the "West" musch better. How Frayling could fail to mention once Sturges' all-time classic "The Great Escape" is beyond me. The dvd has a nice retrospective and some other featurettes including one on Elmer Bernstein who composed the magnificent music for this film and "The Great Escape" (as well as two great Duke Wayne scores "The Sons of Katie Elder" and especially, "The Comancheros."
I enjoyed watching the dvd again. It brought me back to a time, 1960, when show-biz legends like McQueen and Bronson were just beginning. It also brought me back to a time when American school children were still being taught American history in our schools and not just being taught to hate their own country. If only we could return to that time again. |
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| "Magnificent Seven VHS" | 2009-04-13 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2EM8AUGSUDALN |
I was looking for a VHS for the subject film for a very specific reason. I received an excellent copy as described by the seller. I received it on schedule to meet my specific need.
Much Thanks.
Marvin Krotenberg |
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