Review of The Magnificent Seven (1960) by Kyle20Ellis — 09 Apr 2022

The Magnificent Seven has everything going for it, a near-perfect cast, a truly magnificent score and the fact it is very exciting as a western. Maybe not as good as Seven Samurai, but boy it is by far one of the better remakes out there. If you want a bad remake, see Psycho, starring Vince Vaughan or The Wicker Man, starring Nicolas Cage, in my opinion they should never have been made. The Magnificent Seven is an example of how a remake should be made, it was one of those pleasant surprises for me of as soon as the first note of the score blared I knew hey this is great stuff.

The plot is simple, but I like simplicity, sometimes simplicity is good, but it is a great concept and very well constructed. It really helps as well that the action sequences are tremendously exciting, and that the landscapes are truly dazzling. Elmer Bernstein's score has a lot to do with The Magnificent Seven's success I think as well, it is rousing, triumphant and bombastic and very like the score for Lawrence of Arabia it sticks in the mind for a long time afterwards. If I were to choose to which score I preferred over this and the Great Escape, I think this score, The Great Escape was great but I have always found that whenever I hum both tunes people are less annoyed by The Magnificent Seven.

The screenplay is focused, humorous and wise, maybe a little stilted on occasions but it develops the characters well and has heart. And the actors are wonderful. Yul Brynner is the epitome of coolness here, I do think he was better in The King and I, where he was absolutely magnificent, but he does a great job here. Eli Wallach is suitably slimy as the villainous Calvera, who is more than a cardboard cut-out, and Steve McQueen, James Coburn, Charles Bronson and Robert Vaughn are all great. Overall, this is a great film, very exciting, great to look at and has a magnificent score. 9.