kellym40 film review

‘The Magnificent Seven’ … A classic story retold…again

Rating 2/5 

When Akira Kurosawa’s 1956 film The Seven Samurai was remade into a stirring Western (The Magnificent Seven) and released in 1960, John Sturges directed a fun, colorful, and exciting adventure and one of the great classic Westerns of all time. Although I found the 1960 film version a bit slow at times during the first act, there was enough to keep me interested and entertained. This 2016 Antoine Fuqua directed version kept the story of the original, but with some character and setting changes.

The story begins in 1879 in a small frontier town in Rose Creek. Enter the antagonist Bartholomew Bogue (Peter Sarsgaard), who is operating a gold mining business, and he comes into town to a church during a service and offers money to the residents for their land. They can take the offer or suffer the consequences. After burning the church and killing a few citizens, a widow, Emma Cullen (Hayley Bennett), decides she isn’t going to accept Bogue’s tyranny. She searches for some men who could help her people stand up to Bogue. She soon meets an officer of the court Sam Chisolm (Denzel Washington), who agrees to help her. The group in this version is much more diverse than in the 1960 original. Chisolm brings on Josh Faraday (Chris Pratt), a Mexican (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo), a Civil War sharpshooter Goodnight Robicheaux (Ethan Hawke) and his Asian pal, Billy Rocks (Byung-hun Lee). They soon find Jack Horne (Vincent D’Onofrio) and a Comanche Indian Red Harvest (Martin Sensmeier).

Like the original, it had some big names with a few relatively unknown actors in the roles. Washington delivers a decent performance, but it lacked energy and the personality to really care enough about the character. Pratt brought his usual charm and charisma, but the character still remained insufficient to truly feel for the character. The remaining five also failed to provide any real connection. However, Sarsgaard nearly shines as the greedy villain. He provides a performance that makes you want a satisfying character death.

There were aspects I liked about this film, and it had its highs and lows, but it seemed to lack the energy and overall pace of the original. On its own, this film is a decent Western. But viewing it as a remake, it lacks something from the original. I did like the fact that the protagonist (Chisolm) and antagonist (Bogue) had more of a background connection and the bad guy’s demise was a little more satisfying in this version than the original. Additionally, the film had a decent build up as the seven were rounded up and the tension was building until the final confrontation, it didn’t have the same impact as the original. And while the final climactic battle between Bogue and his army of men and the citizens of Rose Creek and the seven was cinematic, it seemed a little more than just the underdog beating the odds and coming out victorious. I wanted to like this film more, but overall, it just didn’t catch my interest as much.

I have yet to view the original source (The Seven Samurai), but with an acclaimed remake in 1960 that spawned three sequels, it hardly seems another remake is needed here.

kellym40 film review

‘The Magnificent Seven,’ a classic story of good and bad

Rating 3/5

I’ve said many times that they just don’t make movies like they did in the 40’s, 50’s, and 60’s. I mean I haven’t come across too many (from the films I have seen) that have not delivered in some fantastical way to say, “That was a great film.” And while this film was a great film and I did enjoy it, something missed for me in its final production.

Some may say this is one of the greatest films of all time. They may even say it’s one of the best westerns of all time. Either way, I can’t really argue. What missed for me were parts of the first act and small portions of the middle seemed to drag a little, which then threw the pacing off for me. Not enough to take me out of the film entirely, but just enough skew my impression of the film. But I figured with the recent remake released, I would take a look at this one (which is an Americanized version of the Japanese film, Seven Samurai).

The story is set in a small farming village, just south of the border. A bandit named Calvera (Eli Wallach) rides in with his army of bandits and steals most everything he can get his hands on. The villagers decide they should fight back. A few head north to buy guns so they can fight back. Instead, they meet Chris (Yul Brynner), a gunfighter who recommends they hire men to help with their problem rather than buy guns. Chris then agrees to help, recruiting six other gunfighters, each with different backgrounds. He ultimately rounds up the six others and together they ride back to the village. The odds seemed stacked against them, but with faith and determination on their side, well…odds be damned.

The acting lineup was superb and each actor brought his own to the characters and commanded the use of dialogue from writer William Roberts. Most of these actors were relatively unknown at the time, with the exception of a few. But they played their roles well and commanded the screen with their presence. Brynner leads the cast with Steve McQueen, James Coburn, Robert Vaughn, Charles Bronson, Brad Dexter, and Horst Buchholz rounding out the Magnificent Seven. Taking his turn as the antagonist is Wallach. These character portrayals are genuine and bring individuality, which adds to the unique chemistry between them. They don’t really have any other commitments. They go along from job to job just living their lives, which propels them to do the best job they know how.

Director John Sturges blends together the action, dialogue, and story into a thrilling, nearly linear, adventure (except for those aforementioned parts of the film). This straight forward approach to the film brings the characters to the forefront that much more with each character’s varied and interesting backgrounds. The story, character interactions, and the gun fights are what kept me wanting to see the film to the end. The cinematography and music, helmed by Charles Lang and Elmer Bernstein respectively, added much to the film while underscoring key elements such as the gun fights or the lower, deeper music played when the bad guys entered the frame. And the fact the film was Oscar-nominated for Best Musical Score, proves the great effect it had on the film and audiences.

The Magnificent Seven runs 128 minutes (which might account for some of the slow pacing moments), but it gets into the story and characters quickly and gives the audience what it needs to go along for the ride. It might be just shy of magnificent, but it holds its own and has become an instant classic.