The Magnificent Seven (1960)

[titoli]

want Calvera to NOT act like an idiot, I would never have returned their guns to them !!

want calvera not to act like an idiot he must try to get rid of them, not simply bring them to the door unarmed. scroll some pages back.

[stanton]

If I remember correctly, this scenario does not happen in Seven Samurai as the bandits never take control of the village. I wonder why they deviated from the original here?

The one thing that Mag 7 does better than 7 Samurai is that Calvera becomes a human being and therefore becomes a kind of a tragic character, I feel a bit sad for him, while I don't care for any of Kurosawa's bandits. They are all plain ugly and plain bad.

[Novecento]

I don't think Kurosawa wanted to focus on the bandits at all. The focus was just on the villagers and the samurai with the bandits just being the "other". It's interesting how Sturges modified this. As much as I love Wallach as an actor, I don't know if I agree with shifting the focus in this way.

[drinkanddestroy]

I love watching Wallach and enjoy watching him as much as or more as the good guys - as is the case in many movies with a bad guy that I like watching. In WHITE HEAT, do you enjoy watching Cagney or Edmond O'Brien more? But I disagree that Calvera becomes a sympathetic character. The character is pure evil. But great fun to watch, so of course I hope he stays alive as long as possible and has as many scenes as possible so that I can watch him as long as possible.

There are indeed movies where they give the bad guy time to tell his side and you can understand his position. One prominent example is SHANE, where the main Riker brother gets time to tell his story and you can understand his position. But not Mag7. Calvera is a plain and simple murderer and thief, I don't see any redeeming value to the character, even though it is played (to perfection) by one of my all-time favorite actors.

[stanton]

I don't think Kurosawa wanted to focus on the bandits at all. The focus was just on the villagers and the samurai with the bandits just being the "other". It's interesting how Sturges modified this. As much as I love Wallach as an actor, I don't know if I agree with shifting the focus in this way.

Most of the Seven are not that interesting, play out too much as typically clichéd characters, so it is good for the film that Wallach can give his character more space, can give him more edge. It doesn't turn him in a complex character, but he is still more interesting by that

[Novecento]

Definitely prefer "Seven Samurai" myself.

Having said that, I'd take "Fistful of Dollars" over Yojimbo.

[noodles_leone]

Is there a thread somewhere for the remake?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shnGH2yi2rc

[dave jenkins]

Is there a thread somewhere for the remake?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shnGH2yi2rc

Yes, indeed: http://www.fistful-of-leone.com/forums/index.php?topic=12491.0

[noodles_leone]

Thanks, I thought so but our search engine refused to believe me.

[drinkanddestroy]

Thanks, I thought so but our search engine refused to believe me.

the thread should be placed in the AW index, if it isn't already ...

[Moorman]

To be perfectly honest. . . I'm not that big a fan of this movie.  IMO, it's more of a collection to good-to-great scenes than a great movie.  The cast is spectacular, but the only characters I really liked were Vaughn, Coburn, and Wallach. 

I personally think that a much better film of this type is "The Professionals".  Maybe it's because there's no weenie newcomer; just Lee Marvin, Woody Strode, Burt Lancaster, and Robert Ryan, older professionals who don't whine but kick ass and take names.  Those guys are real men's men, working for money and not pretending to work for anything else.  (Plus the gunfights were better and Claudia was in the film. ) It's more of a personal preference than anything else, to be sure.  Plus the screenplay was better.  I can name off the top of my head maybe five or six lines from "The Magnificent Seven", and probably twice that from "The Professionals".  Some particular favorites of mine:

"Do I have to kill you to prove I like you?"

"I wouldn't do that!  My friend would die of a terrible headache - and so would you!"

Dullworth: "Hey Chiquita!  How's your love life!"
Chiquita: "Terrific!  You want some?"
Dullworth: "Do you EVER say no?"
Chiquita: "Never!"
Dullworth: "Anybody?"
Chiquita: "EVERYbody!"  

And the classic:
Fardan: "So what's on your mind besides 100-proof women, 90-proof whiskey and 14-karat gold?"
Dullworth: "Amigo. . . you just wrote my epitaph!"

I will not deny the importance or influence of "The Magnificent Seven", and I am in no way saying it's a bad film.  I just can't see it as being one of the greatest Westerns of all time.

Hi folks. My very first post here.  Let me say that Westerns are my favorite movie genre.  At one time,  gangster movies were my favorite, but Westerns having taking over the number 1 spot for me.   Now, my personal opinion about this movie, the magnificent Seven done in 1960.  Like the poster above, i think this is movie is overrated. I saw it for the first time about 6 months ago.  The good things that i liked about the movie were the script,  the cast, and the cinematography was ok.  The major flaw with the movie was the gunfights themselves.  The gunfights were rated E for everyone.  It was like you have this big movie, with this big cast, and for the grand finale, they all come out with  pop guns.

Sam Peckinpah himself said that he made the Wild Bunch's fight scenes brutal in response to the lackluster effort in the Magnificent Seven.  You had this great build up, only to be let down.  In a ironic twist, the 2016 remake was the very opposite. It had what i called a hurried, lackluster buildup,  followed by a over the top gunfight.  I will continue to watch both films because neither were bad, they both just left what could've been masterpiece material, on the cutting room floor...

[drinkanddestroy]

Hi folks. My very first post here.  Let me say that Westerns are my favorite movie genre.  At one time,  gangster movies were my favorite, but Westerns having taking over the number 1 spot for me.   Now, my personal opinion about this movie, the magnificent Seven done in 1960.  Like the poster above, i think this is movie is overrated. I saw it for the first time about 6 months ago.  The good things that i liked about the movie were the script,  the cast, and the cinematography was ok.  The major flaw with the movie was the gunfights themselves.  The gunfights were rated E for everyone.  It was like you have this big movie, with this big cast, and for the grand finale, they all come out with  pop guns.

Sam Peckinpah himself said that he made the Wild Bunch's fight scenes brutal in response to the lackluster effort in the Magnificent Seven.  You had this great build up, only to be let down.  In a ironic twist, the 2016 remake was the very opposite. It had what i called a hurried, lackluster buildup,  followed by a over the top gunfight.  I will continue to watch both films because neither were bad, they both just left what could've been masterpiece material, on the cutting room floor...

Welcome aboard, pal 

[dave jenkins]

Yeah, welcome. Good comments! 

[Moorman]

Thanx for the comments. I wish i knew about this forum years ago. Gonna have a great time discussing movies here...

[noodles_leone]

Welcome!