I have seen Magnificent Seven in the TV way too many times. I own the VHS version (which like a good wine, has aged wonderfully) and recently indulged myself to the DVD version as well. I really enjoyed watching the movie one more time with my friends and thought it would only be fitting to write a quick review of this classic film.

Possibly the most famous Western ever made, director Sturges' energetic, elegantly composed remaking of Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai (itself a translation of the Western tradition) is justly celebrated for its high quota of stars and fervent commitment to big cinema non-realism. So, if for some unearthly reason you have managed to avoid the movie for your whole life, you should lie back and watch a splendid tale of seven hired guns defending a tiny Mexican village from Eli Wallach and his gang. The best of it is in Brynner's hiring of the amoral shooters and the powerful and fast-paced action that ensues, featuring the finest in shooting, riding and shooting-while-riding. Inevitably, the existence of so many characters in one film, boils the characterization down to thin gestures (Robert Vaugh the neurotic has-been, Bronson the repressed father figure, Horst Bucholz the peasant-in-denial etc) but it never lacks colour.

Daft as it may seem today, the likes of Coburn, Bronson, Vaugh and even McQueen were the hotshot 'freshmen' of the moment, as opposed to an all-star cast. Still, each (plus the even-forgotten Buchholz and Brad Dexter) gives enough to launch a hefty career afterwards. The movie does manage to work up some thematic noodling in the script with gunfighters, driven not for money, but for purpose and belonging, developing a subtle envy for the settled lives of the farmers. Then again, it's the yee-hah score and top class 'bandito' shooting that keeps it cropping up on TV infinitely. Numerous sequels followed which I can barely remember, plotwise. I might buy one or two, I curious as to how they managed to form the band again, since most of the seven died in the first film. . One funny detail I spotted in the commentary was that Mexican censors at that time, required peasants to always be wearing clean clothes.

The movies has a 128 minutes runtime. The DVD special edition is a new version remastered from a High-Definition transfer and it includes nice documentary, 'Guns for Hire', charting the making of the movie in great detail. All the living members of the cast (bar Bronson) give brand new interviews and the on-set footage is priceless. There is also a competent, if dawdling, commentary from Wallace, Coburn and the film's writer William Roberts. One of the funniest little facts about the film is Yul Brynner’s obsession that Steve McQueen was trying to steal his limelight in the scenes. McQueen would do things when on screen with Yul (such as shacking his shot gun shells, straightening his hat, leaning off his horse to wet his hat in the river when the band crosses into Mexico. In the end Brynner hired an assistant to count how many times McQueen touched his own hat when Brynner was speaking. I loved the collectible booklet that comes with the DVD as well! With so many of the key players now deceased (with the death of Charles Bronson on 2003, Robert Vaughn is the last survivor of the seven main stars), this is about as good a set of extras as you could ask for.


Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 9 - 12