The Magnificent Seven

Mr. DuLac4.5

We deal in lead, friend.-VinI think most people can't log The Magnificent Seven without mentioning Akira Kurosawa and Seven Samurai because they know if they don't, someone from the Letterboxd Cinephile Police will mention in the comments how it pales in comparison to Samurai, which is a masterpiece, and how the western apparently owes everything to Kurosawa.What most self-proclaimed cinephiles fail to mention is that one of Kurosawa's biggest influences is John Ford and Hollywood westerns. It's not because their ignorant of the fact or dispute it, it's something that was said by Kurosawa himself. It's because since they don't view Ford as an auteur like Kurosawa, they really don't want to mention him. They only want to talk about how Kurosawa influenced western film makers despite the fact we all know the reverse was also true to the point that he was heavily criticized during his career in his own country for being "too western" (as in films from the west, not the genre). Also anyone who doesn't consider John Ford to be a visionary film maker is way to snobby to talk movies with.I gotta add too that saying that the genre owes a lot to Kurosawa is an odd thing to say considering that by the time his influence was felt the genre was on a rapid decline. I say all this while thinking that he's one of the greatest directors in the history of film and who's influence is still felt today. Even weirder is that this started out with the idea that too many people can't talk about The Magnificent Seven without talking about him and Seven Samurai and I ended up talking about nothing else. I'm a jackass.Point is; Yes this film doesn't hold a candle to Seven Samurai, but it's still one hell of a western. If you're constantly viewing this under the shadow of Kurosawa's masterpiece you'll never be able to appreciate it on it's own terms. It came in during the tail end of the studio westerns when they were mainly just fun adventure films, but had a bit of an edge slightly showing the changing times.The movie is gorgeous, Elmer Bernstein's score is iconic, it's easily one of John Sturges' best films and the cast is a bit amazing. Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, James Coburn... I mean holy shit who the hell would want to go up against these guys? The Expendables don't have shit on the original Seven.Incoherent rant over.'Nuff Said

Channing Pomeroy4.0

Qualitative comparisons to The Seven Samurai are fruitless. Apples & Oranges. However, here are seven magnificent things about The Magnificent Seven:(1) Steve McQueen riding shotgun on a hearse.(2) Idiots who mistake James Coburn’s apathy for cowardice. (3) Yul Brynner’s regal gate. Did he walk like that around the house?(4) Eli Wallach’s menacing practicability and red ruffled tux shirt. (5) The lonesome arithmetic of the hired gun, and the burden of a gun being less than the responsibility of a father. (6) The setting of the peasant’s village in a gorgeous crook in sawtooth mountains, a valley worth fighting for. Elmer Bernstein's rip roaring theme.(7) Glorious widescreen color.

Will Menaker4.5

"You think I am brave because I carry a gun? Well, your fathers are much braver because they carry responsibility, for you, your brothers, your sisters, and your mothers. And this responsibility is like a big rock that weighs a ton. It bends and it twists them until finally it buries them under the ground. And there's nobody says they have to do this. They do it because they love you, and because they want to. I have never had this kind of courage. Running a farm, working like a mule every day with no guarantee anything will ever come of it. This is bravery. That's why I never even started anything like that... that's why I never will."Cried during this scene. The only reason I'm not giving this 5 stars is because Horst Buchholz kind of annoyed me.