Plot Details: This opinion reveals everything about the movie's plot.

"We deal in lead, mister".

-Steve McQueen in The Magnificent Seven

Akira Kurosawa probably had more influence on American Westerns than any other director, despite never making a western. His films have been remade more than any director I can think of.

His Yojimbo became Fistful of Dollars, and Last Man Standing. Sanjuro was remade as For a Few Dollars More. His work inspired Star Wars (really an oat opera in space, if you think about it), and its sequels. The films inspired by his movies changed how Westerns were percieved, in the U.S. and elsewhere.

Perhaps the best known remake of Kurosawa is The Magnificent Seven, which was drawn from his masterpiece Seven Samurai. (Seven samurai was also the inspiration for A Bug's Life)

The Magnificent Seven was directed by John Sturgis (Bad Day at Black Rock), from a screenplay by William Roberts. It transports Kurosawa's Samurai story to the old west. The Bandits become Mexican Bandits, led by Eli Wallach (The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly). The Samurai become gunfighters, led by Yul Brenner (The King and I). Brenner would later parody this role in Michael Crichton's Westworld.

Brenner is surrounded by young stars including Steve McQueen (The Getaway), Charles Bronson (Death Wish), Robert Vaughn (S.O.B.), James Coburn (Payback), and Horst Bucholz in the role made famous by Toshiro Mifune in the original.

The Seven are hired to protect a small Mexican farming village from a ruthless gang of Mexican Bandits, who steal their food and leave them just enough to survive.

The gun men are morally ambiguous characters, not exactly good guys, but doing a good deed. They each have their own reasons for what they are doing. For some it is greed, for others it is the challenge, and for at least one it is the hope of redemption.

The gun fights that ensue are wonderfully choreographed, and very exciting. One cannot help being drawn into this classic tale of good and evil, it is a morality play of the most basic type.

Kurosawa's original was more layered, more multifaceted. He kept the villagers at arms length, alternating from pity to disgust. It was a complicated awareness of their situation. In the re-make we are allowed only to like the poor farmers, and never led to question why they, with ther greater numbers, cannot stand up for themselves.

The acting is more than adequate for this sort of film. Brenner, despite being surrounded by a talented cast, manages to remain at the center of the film. He was a commanding presence, and I am thankfully that he doesn't say "etcetera", even once during this film.

In the end The Magnificent Seven is fine entertainment, but after seeing it you should find a copy of Seven Samurai and see for yourself what great film is really like.

Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening