Magnificent Seven, The (1960) Review

"The Magnificent Seven" Japanese Theatrical Poster

Director: John Sturges
Writer: William Roberts, Walter Newman, Walter Bernstein
Producer: John Sturges
Cast: Yul Brynner, Eli Wallach, Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, Robert Vaughn, James Coburn, Brad Dexter, Horst Buchholz
Running Time: 128 min.

By HKFanatic

Even now, 50 years later, the debate rages on: “Seven Samurai” or “The Magnificent Seven”? Of course, there’s no reason that film fans can’t enjoy both. But I say if you’re a red-blooded American raised with a healthy appreciation for Westerns and a time when Hollywood actors were men and not boys, then you just gotta give it up for “The Magnificent Seven.” I mean, look at that cast: Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, James Coburn. Rarely has such an all-star ensemble of testosterone-laden actors been brought together on the screen, let alone for a film with as much action and style as this.

Director John Sturges built a reputation on making terse action pictures for men, sort of a precursor to Walter Hill (“The Warriors,” “Southern Comfort”). By 1960, he had already proved himself in the Western genre with the Academy Award-nominated “Bad Day at Black Rock” and the box office hit “Gunfight at the O.K. Corral.” There’s nothing flashy about Struges work behind the camera but as both producer and director he ensured that “The Magnificent Seven” looked fantastic and kept his actors (and their egos) in check. Well, egos almost in check.

Main star Yul Brynner helped pick Steve McQueen to fill the role of his right hand man Vin but ended up regretting it when the two built up something of an on-set rivalry. Brynner got the feeling that McQueen was constantly trying to upstage him whenever they shared a scene together, since McQueen loaded his character with a lot of interesting tics like blowing on shotgun shells before reloading his gun or dipping his hat into the water for a drink while riding a horse. Supposedly Brynner ended up hiring an assistant just to keep count of how many times McQueen touched his hat while Brynner was delivering dialogue in the same frame. Brynner should have relaxed – while McQueen may have had a more fun and laid back character, I don’t think anyone could have stolen this film from Yul. His commanding voice, all black wardrobe, and fluid cowboy stride meant that he was the definitive hero and bad-ass of the picture.

Oh well, what can you do? Actors will be actors. What’s important is that everyone involved delivered an excellent performance, including Eli Wallach as the central villain, and every character is given their chance to shine. James Coburn is the lanky gunslinger who’s just as good with a knife as he is a gun but more often than not he just loves to nap. Robert Vaughn is the coward who needs to rediscover the courage that made him a lethal killer in his prime. Brad Dexter is a gambler who remains convinced to the bitter end that the Mexican villagers the Seven have signed on to protect are hoarding gold or precious stones. Director John Sturges put Charles Bronson’s rough masculinity in relief by having him spend most of the film interacting with children, which works surprisingly well. Horst Buchholz is merely alright in his role, mostly because – as you can tell from his name – he was a Berlin-born German asked to play a young Mexican gunfighter; his accent is all over the place during the entire film.

Arguably even more memorable then the performances in “The Magnificent Seven” is the score by Elmer Bernstein. The main theme is punchy and heroic, the kind of iconic melody that filmmakers seem to explicitly avoid these days. The idea of a ‘motif,’ or a melody that repeats itself throughout a score, is also feels forbidden; but it’s used to wonderful effect in “The Magnificent Seven,” rousing the audience whenever the Seven do something particularly daring and punctuating their long horseback ride to Mexico. Bernstein’s music is truly one of the best scores ever composed for a Hollywood film, let alone a Western.

Director Sturges would reunite with several “Magnificent” cast members for his 1963 hit “The Great Escape” but the appeal of “Seven” is undeniable, even if you’re in love with Kurosawa’s original. It’s difficult to put into words just why actors like Yul Brynner and Steve McQueen had a particular magnetic screen presence. Neither guy even cracked 6 feet and yet they came across as true man’s men, unlike many of our contemporary young actors.  Maybe it’s that in those days, actors actually lived life before they ever made it to the silver screen instead of arriving into the world as pampered socialites. You can tell from the gait with which the Seven walk, their laconic delivery, the fact that they never backed down in the face of death. “Nobody throws me my own guns and says run. Nobody,”  James Coburn’s character says. It’s a matter of honor. Nobody fights for honor in the movies anymore. These guys are larger-than-life heroes, the perfect distillation of our nation’s romanticized notion of cowboys and gunslingers. Vintage Hollywood.

“The Magnificent Seven” has just been released on blu-ray this month (August ’11) by MGM/United Artists. The picture is nearly flawless and the score feels triumphantly loud. There’s a noticeable degradation in visual quality whenever a scene makes a dissolve transition to the next, but that’s a problem I’ve noticed in other films of this era and probably can’t be helped. Overall, discs like this are the reason why hardcore blu-ray enthusiasts tend to get more excited about catalog titles than new releases: when the studios take their time with the transfer, the end result is typically the best a film has looked since its theatrical debut. There is no better time to experience “The Magnificent Seven.”

HKFanatic’s Rating: 10/10