Review of The Magnificent Seven Ride! (1972) by Jeff L — 25 Sep 2016

The Magnificent Seven Ride! is a baffling sequel in a series that had run out of steam after the first film. It has a "here we go again" vibe as Chris Adams (now played by Lee Van Cleef) is dragged once again into a situation where he needs a posse of seven to save a Mexican village. Seriously, how many times should we be subjected to the exact same premise?

I have a feeling the filmmakers wanted to ride Sam Peckinpah's coattails following the success of The Wild Bunch. There is even a pathetic scene where the seven descend on a hacienda guarded over by a machine gun that can't even compare with The Wild Bunch. I believe they were also trying to imitate the darker tone of Peckinpah's western, with lots of references with rape, rape and more rape. Van Cleef's much younger wife is raped and murdered, and he finds a recently widowed rape victim to team-up with. There's a creepy scene where the seven are paired up with women in the town to be their helpers, with an implication they could help in any way imaginable. It almost feels like a straight-to-video exploitation film. Elmer Bernstein's rousing theme clashes uncomfortably with the material.

This movie is also painfully missing an "assembling the team" sequence. We don't really get to know the characters. Chris goes to a prison and recruits his team Dirty Dozen-style and tells them important things about their characters: "You are good with explosives." Why would he need to tell them that? It is almost like he's explaining this to an unseen observer, while promising them there will be explosions later, so don't walk out on the film.

I did like Van Cleef as Chris. He has a sinister intensity that makes him exciting to watch. Overall, this was a misguided film that feels like a cynical attempt to cash in on the Magnificent Seven brand while imitating better movies.