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Click above to purchase "The Magnificent Seven:
Special Edition" at amazon.com
The Magnificent Seven
Special Edition
review by Anthony D.
Running Time: 129 minutes
Directed by John Sturges
Studio: MGM
Retail Price: $19.98
Features: Audio Commentary, Documentary, Photo
Gallery, Trailers
Specs: 2.35:1 Anamorphic Widescreen, English Dolby
Digital 5.1, English Mono, French Mono, Spanish Mono, French
Subtitles, Spanish Subtitles, English Closed Captions, Scene
Selections (16 Scenes)
Released: May 5th, 2001
The farmers of a small, Mexican village know that when
their crops are harvested, a band of bandits (led by
accent-affected Eli Wallach) will come and take everything.
Upon the advice of a village elder, they decide to hire
gunfighters to lead them into battle, with little hope of
monetary compensation. They stumble upon a wise, aging
gunslinger, Chris Adams (Yul Brynner, a long way away from
Siam), who is touched that he villagers would sacrifice
their harvests, leaving them on the verge of starvation.
Adams is joined by Vin (a career-defining turn from Steve
McQueen), who has come to his aid before in a tight
situation. Circumstances add five more fighters to their
league, including the soft-spoken, knife-wielding Britt
(future Oscar winner James Coburn), Lee (future Man from
U.N.C.L.E), Harry Luck - an old friend of Chris' (Brad
Dexter), money-hungry Bernardo O'Reilly (a sinewy, youthful
Charles Bronson) and Chico (Berlin born Horst Bucholz making
his American film debut following a stunning turn as a
murderer befriended by Hayley Mills in Carol Reed's "Tiger
Bay) - a young, quick-tempered gunslinger-wannabe. These
magnificent seven, go to the village and teach the villagers
the way of the gun to prepare them for the next time that
the bandits wreak havoc.
If the plot of "The Magnificent Seven" sounds familiar,
though you have never seen it, it is because screenwriter
William Roberts based his western on a Eastern classic,
Akira Kurasawa's 1954 epic, "The Seven Samurai." Roberts has
masterfully, and successfully, taken the framework of
Kurasawa's film and filled it with thoroughly American
western brush strokes. Like its source, "The Magnificent
Seven," is a character study, where we come to understand
that each of the seven takes part in the defense of the
village for a personal reason, and it is these distinct
motives that make each individual interesting and
sympathetic. Each man's personal code of ethics comes
through, one of the chief themes inherent in nearly all of
the great western films. Where indeed would Will Kane be in
"High Noon" without his personal code of ethics?
Roberts' script was handed to the ever-reliable John
Sturges to direct. Sturges has not reached the pantheon of
great directors, and is rarely discussed outside of this
particular film, but his "The Great Escape" bears a striking
resemblance to "The Magnificent Seven;" and his "Ice Station
Zebra" is said to have been Howard Hughes' personal favorite
film. There's nothing truly special about Struges'
direction, though, and with the rare exception, his films
seem to be fueled by major injections of testosterone. With
"The Magnificent Seven," it is ultimately the shared
machismo, and the strongly characterized acting - along with
its Robin Hood-like tale - that has made "The Magnificent
Seven" into a long lasting, classic American film.
The transfer of "The Magnificent seven," though
anamorphic (YEAH!),could probably stand a major digital
overhaul. The problematic Color by DeLuxe creates unique
shifts in tone which weren't the cinematographer's intent:
watch how Yul Brynner's brilliant, black, shiny shirt
radically goes from deep, rich black to nearly navy blue
pigments; fortunately not in the same scenes! The entire
film seems to be a lot on the soft side, with a wash-out,
faded look to it: skies which normally appear blue, are near
white with cream colored clouds floating about. That said,
the digital domain does offer up a startling clarity as far
as details within the frame are concerned, and Sturges
certainly knew how to fill a Panavision frame.
Yippee-kay-ay! Metro has gone all out with a newly
mastered 5.1 Dolby Digital soundtrack, mastered from the
original theatrical mono source material, and it is a
re-mastering that isn't too trick oriented. (Purists may
want to listen to the tinny-sounding original mono track,
which fortunately is an option for them). The reason that I
would head for the 5.1 track is that is brings an expansive
range to Elmer Bernstein's all-too-familiar (and often
imitated) score. I know that several viewers in my age range
(let's just say that I was alive when the film was released,
and leave it at that) will fondly recall "The Theme from
'The Magnificent Seven'" as being an omnipresent part of
growing up and seeing cigarette commercials on television.
"Come to where the flavor is," the ads urged, and lo and
behold, the bold, brassy sounds of Bernstein underscored the
presence of the rugged Marlboro men. When the soundtrack
does rely on trickery, however, it is not subtle - - but
thank goodness it is very infrequent, as exemplified by the
buzz around bullet shots in Chapter Five. Dialogue is far
too often recognizable as ADR-produced, but even with the
vast array of accents, always comprehensible. For foreign
ears, there is an alternative Mono track in French; though
Spanish and French Subtitles are provided as well as
literate English Closed Captioning.
Two humorous, by today's standards, trailers hit off the
Special Features. Trailer A is even more washed out than the
film itself and in pretty ragged shape with loads of grain,
but a minimal amount of scratches. In addition to showcasing
Elmer Bernstein's classic theme, the trailer features a fine
introduction to the cast. Nearly falling out of my chair,
watching Trailer B is just this side of parody with its
unnecessary song: "Seven, seven, seven. But they fought like
seven hundred. The magnificent seven. Hmmm....They fought
for the future to wipe away their past," intoned against
Mexican guitars by a serious set of baritones and basses.
The Still Gallery, not self-playing, offers a treasure of
Behind the Scene shots, Off the Set shots, Portrait Art,
Classic Production Art as well as Poster Art. There are some
mighty fine photos to be seen there, thus worth checking
out. I thoroughly enjoyed the anecdote laden commentary
track with several untold tales (largely about John
Sturges). The Commentary reunites co-stars James Coburn and
Eli Wallch, and is largely conducted by producer Walter
Mirisch. This commentary is highly recommended, as it makes
a nice companion piece to the brand new Documentary, "Guns
for Hire: The Making of 'The Magnificent Seven,'" which is
hardly the promotional, nor reverential fare which we're
used to seeing on DVD. There's quite a bit here, with
interviews from John Carpenter (HUH?) and Chazz Palmenteri
(double HUH?) though at least Lawrence Kasdan with his
"Silverado" belongs in the documentary. I would have liked
to have had this documentary chapter encoded, but it
deserves to be seen; preferable after the film since
ultimate fates of several characters are given away. The
documentary also features several 1970's interviews with Yul
Brynner as well as current interviews with his widow as well
as McQueen's widow, Nelie. This documentary stands tall, and
is always fascinating without being patronizing nor
self-congratulatory.
Westerns like this one don't come along every day. With
it's budgetary pricing, "The Magnificent Seven," and its
extras should please genre fans, as well as Kurasawa fans.
If you're looking for a retreat from the revisionist
westerns of the past decade, one which favors
characterization as well as action, there's no denying the
magnificence of "The Magnificent Seven." Macho men, classic
musical score, wide open spaces and a fine, deft combination
of action and adventure, this classic film should reach a
brand new audience with this delightful DVD release.
 (4.5/5 - NOT included in
final score)
 (3/5)
 (4/5)
(3/5)
(4/5,
NOT an average)
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