Starring Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen, James Coburn, Charles Bronson, Robert Vaughn, Brad Dexter, Horst Buchholz, Eli Wallach, Vladimir Sokoloff, Rosenda Monteros

(7-Very Good Film)

Fun. Rousing. Derivative.

Chris: You forget one thing. We took a contract.

Vin: It’s sure not the kind any court would enforce.

Chris: That’s just the kind you’ve got to keep.

Based on Akira Kurosawa’s masterpiece, Seven Samurai, The Magnificent Seven moves the story to the old west, south of the border, to a small village in Mexico. Terrorized routinely by a nearby gang of thugs, led by Calvera (Wallach), the village has had enough and looks to hire outsiders to come and protect them. They find honorable drifters Chris Adams (Brynner) and Vin Tanner (McQueen) who do the work of assembling a team that includes the soft-hearted local mercenary, Bernardo (Bronson), the mysterious outlaw, Lee (Vaughn), the fortune-seeking friend of Adams, Harry (Dexter), the young hot-head, Chico (Buchholz), and my personal favorite, laconic Britt (Coburn). The Magnificent Seven works from an infinitely promising premise. There have been a number of variations of this theme; the bereaved town, the stranger who comes to save them (or in this case strangers). It’s a thrill and The Magnificent Seven adds to this an iconic score and an indelible cast of some of the coolest guys to ever grace the screen. If it pales in comparison to Seven Samurai, that’s okay, most films do.

-Walter Tyrone Howard-

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