Genre Grandeur – The Magnificent Seven (1960) – MovieRob

For this month’s next review for Genre Grandeur – Re-Made Movies, here’s a review of The Magnificent Seven (1960) by me

Thanks again to Robb of Red Bezzle for choosing this month’s genre.

Next month’s Genre has been chosen by Kira of Film and TV 101 and it is Western Crossover Movies.

Literally any film from any genre with western elements to it; comedy/drama/musical or even thrillers or horror.

Please get me your submissions by the 25th of October by sending them to westerncrosskira@movierob.net

Try to think out of the box! Great choice Kira!

Let’s see what I thought of this movie:

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“Generosity… that was my first mistake. I leave these people a little bit extra, and then they hire these men to make trouble. It shows you, sooner or later, you must answer for every good deed. ” – Calvera

Number of Times Seen – at least 3 times (Cable in the 90’s, 12 Mar 2012 and 25 Sep 2017)

Brief Synopsis – After a village is constantly terrorized by bandits, they decide to hire 7 gunfighters to help stop the bandits.

My Take on it – I decided to choose this film as one of my choices for this month’s GG because it is one of the few real adaptations that IMHO works almost perfectly.

The idea to take a Samurai story and adapt it to the old west was a really intelligent idea and the results are breathtaking to watch.

It doesn’t hurt that there is an amazing cast here who make things thrilling to watch.

The way that this film is translated from the Japanese original is done in such a way that it stays very true to scope and feel of the original yet still feels unique in the way the story is presented.

Loved the way that this film gives us the various perspectives of the warring sides and we kinda understand what they all want out of it all despite it never made perfectly clear.

The way tho that they show the conflicting feelings of the gunfighters who are meant to “check their emotions at the door” works really well as we see the way that they begin to connect more and more with the villagers and their families.

Bottom Line – Great adaptation of another great film that stays true to the scope and grandeur of the original yet still has the feeling of being unique.  Excellent cast helps make this so thrilling to watch.  They give us a nice perspective from multiple viewpoints so we get to almost fully understand the various sides in this conflict.  Loved the conflicting feelings of the gunfighters because as guns for hire, they need to check their emotions at the door, yet the town and townspeople grow on them which changes their perspective on it all. Highly Recommended!

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – Although the film received only mixed reviews, John Sturges got a rave from the one source that really mattered to him. After seeing the picture, Akira Kurosawa was so impressed, he sent the American director a ceremonial sword as a gift. (From IMDB)

Rating – Oscar Worthy

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