The Magnificent Seven

The Magnificent Seven (1960)

Runtime: 128 minutes

Directed by: John Sturges

Starring: The titular seven, plus people like Eli Wallach

From: MGM

It's about time I saw this movie again so I could review it for the site. After all, a remake is coming out in a few months... a remake I say is not needed but don't get me started on the whole remake/reboot plague going on in the entertainment field. My review is below:

Wednesday night I watched this film on Turner Classic Movies; of course I had seen it a few times before, but this was my first viewing in HD and that was a great way to see it; this was filmed in Mexico and there's typically plenty of gorgeous scenery in the background.

I am sure everyone knows how this is a remake of Seven Samurai and how this story is about some residents of a poor Mexican town paying seven gunmen to come down and protect them against a ruthless gang that comes each year to steal goods from them, so I'll get to talking about the movie itself. To me it has among the most badass of casts ever: Brynner, McQueen, Bronson, Coburn, Vaughn, Wallach... also, the titular seven are all interesting characters in that they're all different and have their own fears & faults. It's not just them teaching the townspeople to defend themselves against the gang... oh no, the townspeople teach things to the seven as well.

To me that's the important thing of the movie, even above the always enthralling story, the exciting action scenes/shootouts, the performances, the direction, the cinematography, how you care about all the heroes, and even the incredible score from Elmer Bernstein, although that is a very important part of making this work as well as it does. I say that along with making the heroes not infallible (not all 7 make it to the when The End pops up on the screen), it's that they learn from the people of that town, who are not made to be feeble or incompetent and instead it's a relationship that benefits everyone. This isn't an all-time classic like Seven Samurai but that's an almost impossible feat and I'll just love this for what it is.