Akira Kurosawa had a major international hit in the mid-50s with Seven Samurai. The film was about seven warriors hired to protect a small village from bandits wanting to steal the harvest. The film played cinemas in major cities that appealed to audiences that enjoyed international fare. A Samauri story wouldn’t have much appeal in small towns and drive-ins, a few producers in Hollywood realized that they needed to transplant the story into a more commercial time to have a hit. Instead of the Sengoku period of Japan, the basic story could easily take place in the Wild West. Why not a small Mexican farming village dealing with bandits needs to hire seven gunslingers to protect them? The Magnificent Seven translates the Far East to the Old West.
A remote Mexican farming town finds itself being victimized by Calvera (The Good, The Bad and The Ugly‘s Eli Wallach) and his crew of 35 bandits. He warns the locals that he’ll be back in a few weeks to collect enough food to keep his outlaw crew fed while they winter in the mountains. The towns people have had enough of being used and abused so they send a crew off to a border town in America to buy guns. But when they arrive and make a hook up with Chris Adams (Westworld‘s Yul Brynner), they’re talked into not merely buying guys, but hiring gunslingers. They need people who know how to shoot. So they agree and Chris hooks them up with six other gun for hires: Vin Tanner (Bullitt‘s Steve McQueen), Bernando (One Upon A Time In The West‘s Charles Bronson), Britt (Pat Garrett and Billy The Kid‘s James Coburn), Lee (The Man From U.N.C.L.E.’s Robert Vaughn), Harry Luck (The Asphalt Jungle‘s Brad Dexter). The seven mercenaries do their best to figure out a way to defeat Calvera. But can they really hold the bandit force back with six-shooters and rifles?
The Magnificent Seven has become a landmark film for many reasons. The biggest is that they had one of the greatest macho casts of all time. Besides going against the bandits, Yul has to keep Steve McQueen from looking like the real star. Plus during the ’60s, Robert Vaughn was hot property. Coburn doesn’t seem eager to compete to be the real star of the film, but he does dominate the scenes with his knife skills. This charsima clash seems perfect for a film about seven gunslingers not known for being team players coming together. It’s like a basketball team made up of only shooting guards. Brad Dexter was the assist guy.
This is a rather fine adaptation of the Seven Samurai. There are quite a few differences between the films. The Magnificent Seven is nearly 80 minutes shorter than the original. Director John Sturges keeps the film popping instead of Americanizing ever scene in Kurasawa shot. The head bandit has a larger role. Even how the Seven come together is altered. In Japan, the townspeople want to find ronin. The Mexican townspeople originally just want to buy guns to protect themselves but get talked into hiring the gunfighters. The making of documentary explains that this change was because the Mexican censor didn’t want the locals to look like they needed Americans to save them. While this could be seen as an intrusion, it works. The gunslingers are eager for a gig and sell themselves. You won’t get confused at which version you’ve seen.
Over the decades there have been sequels, a remake and a TV series, but this is the only version of The Magnificent Seven that matters. You can’t top the crew working with Yul Brynner. The movie is called Magnificent for a reason.
The Video is 2.35:1 anamorphic. The transfer is a restoration of 4K scan taken off the original camera negative. The Audio is Original Mono DTS-HD MA. There’s also a remixed 5.1 Surround and 2.0 Stereo DTS-HD MA soundtracks. The movie is subtitled.
Blu-ray with the film and bonus features.
Audio Commentary by James Coburn, Eli Wallach, Walter Mirsch (producer) & Robert Relyea (assistant director) has all the men talking together. They talk quite a bit about director John Sturges.
Audio Commentary by Film Historian Sir Christopher Frayling goes into elements of the film. He’s written a few books on Westerns. He points out how the theme to The Magnificent Seven was used in Marlboro cigarettes.
Gun For Hire: The Making of The Magnificent Seven (46:55) is from a previous release. Eli Wallach, Robert Vaughn, James Coburn, Brad Dexter, Horst Bucholz, Elmer Bernstein and other cast and crew go in-depth on the production. Steve McQueen had to wreck his car to land the role. There’s great tales of their time in Mexico. Eli Wallach and his 35 bandits became their own unit.
Elmer Bernstein and the Magnificent Seven (14:49) has music historian Jon Burlingame talk more about Bernstein’s score in relation to the scenes. His themes are the eighth most magnificent member. Also interesting is how Bernstein mentored under Aaron Copeland whose “Rodeo” rivals the theme to the film.
Sir Christopher Frayling on The Magnificent Seven (20:22) has him talk about the importance and influence of the movie. The film historian sees the film as the launching pad to the Spaghetti Western and Sam Peckinpah.
The Linen Book: Lost Images from The Magnificent Seven (14:49) has them dig out the photos that were stashed in a salt mine in Kansas. The assistant director gets to flip through the pages. Eli Wallach is proud to show off pictures of his gang.
Original Theatrical Trailers (5:52) has the first trailer open with the crew standing in a seven shape. There’s also song with lyrics. The second feels like it was done for a home video release.
Still Gallery (4:09) has posters, key art, press photos and behind the scenes shots.
Shout! Factory presents The Magnificent Seven. Directed by John Sturges. Screenplay by William Roberts. Starring Yul Brenner, Steve McQueen, Robert Vaughn and Elli Wallach. Running Time: 128 minutes. Rating: Unrated. Release Date: February 21, 2023.
