First I watched "The Magnificent Seven" with just one eye, I thought it was a boring remake, but when I really watched it seriously I enjoyed almost everything in it. It is not as good as the fantastic Kurosawa-original, but who cares? 'The Magnificent Seven' is good entertainment with several cool actors.
Chris Adams is the perfect role for Yul Brunner even if it seems like John Sturges have problems to use his whole potential. Eli Wallach is made for the role as Calvera (he copied that role in Sergio Leone's last dollar-movie), in a sense a smart bandit with some sort of understanding for others. Steve McQueen is bigger than life as Vin! It was the most suitable role he ever played. Horst Buchholz is the biggest disappointment. He is not good as Chico, and Chico is not an interesting character either. Chico has also too much screentime. Charles Bronson is not bad as Bernando O'Reilly, but Sturges hardly uses his full potential as Sergio Leone later would do in 'C'era una volta il West'. Robert Vaughn is simply powerful as Lee, but maybe he should have carried two guns! Brad Dexter is tough enough, even if he isn't the hardest of the seven. My favorite James Coburn is Britt, not the best character-name (Not a male name here in Sweden ...) but he is a solid cowboy. Maybe Sturges should have let him be more like Sean in 'Giù la testa' (Note: Fact is that Yul Brunner would have matched in the role as Britt).
'The Magnificent Seven' should be seen in it's original format: panavision. I have a copy in TV-format (Terrible).
Elmer Bernsteins score is a piece of music that makes you smile and feel good!
'The Magnificent Seven' is the Western that inspired Sergio Leone's dollar-movies the most. He got the idea to base a Western on a Kurosawa-film, and he saw that he had the possibility to make a Western in similar environments as "The Magnificent Seven". He also used several actors from 'The Magnificent Seven' (He wanted Bronson for 'Per un pugno di dollari' when he didn't get Henry Fonda, later he worked with booth Bronson, Eli Wallach and James Coburn).
'The Magnificent Seven' is an American Western, nothing else. Therefore it shouldn't be called a 'spaghetti-western' even if it is similar to Leone's dollar-movies.
Rating: 7+ of 10.
Chris Adams is the perfect role for Yul Brunner even if it seems like John Sturges have problems to use his whole potential. Eli Wallach is made for the role as Calvera (he copied that role in Sergio Leone's last dollar-movie), in a sense a smart bandit with some sort of understanding for others. Steve McQueen is bigger than life as Vin! It was the most suitable role he ever played. Horst Buchholz is the biggest disappointment. He is not good as Chico, and Chico is not an interesting character either. Chico has also too much screentime. Charles Bronson is not bad as Bernando O'Reilly, but Sturges hardly uses his full potential as Sergio Leone later would do in 'C'era una volta il West'. Robert Vaughn is simply powerful as Lee, but maybe he should have carried two guns! Brad Dexter is tough enough, even if he isn't the hardest of the seven. My favorite James Coburn is Britt, not the best character-name (Not a male name here in Sweden ...) but he is a solid cowboy. Maybe Sturges should have let him be more like Sean in 'Giù la testa' (Note: Fact is that Yul Brunner would have matched in the role as Britt).
'The Magnificent Seven' should be seen in it's original format: panavision. I have a copy in TV-format (Terrible).
Elmer Bernsteins score is a piece of music that makes you smile and feel good!
'The Magnificent Seven' is the Western that inspired Sergio Leone's dollar-movies the most. He got the idea to base a Western on a Kurosawa-film, and he saw that he had the possibility to make a Western in similar environments as "The Magnificent Seven". He also used several actors from 'The Magnificent Seven' (He wanted Bronson for 'Per un pugno di dollari' when he didn't get Henry Fonda, later he worked with booth Bronson, Eli Wallach and James Coburn).
'The Magnificent Seven' is an American Western, nothing else. Therefore it shouldn't be called a 'spaghetti-western' even if it is similar to Leone's dollar-movies.
Rating: 7+ of 10.