La furia de los siete magníficos

By-the-numbers western has the chintzy look of a cheap Aaron Spelling made-for-TV opus. A good cast of veteran "heavies"--Luke Askew, William Lucking, Pedro Armendariz Jr., Ed Lauter--can't save this extremely ordinary oater from poor direction and atrocious hack writing. Predictable at every turn,

This ain't your grandfather's western. It's disturbing, cynical, morally ambiguous, and despite the stunningly bright visuals and bouncy themesong by Elmer Bernstein, it's one of the darkest westerns I've ever seen. I couldn't help but wonder if this film served as the template for the Eastwood masterpiece UNFORGIVEN that would come 20 years later.

Unlike your classic westerns where the hero is infallable and can shoot the dandruff off a cockroach at 100 yards, this presents a realistic protagonist: a man who is troubled by questions of morality, one who doesn't always have the perfect plan, one who makes some pretty bad judgements and has to pay the price.

There are some real gems of dialogue that illustrate this human factor, delivered brilliantly by Lee Van Cleef in the role of Chris.

A priest says: "God works in mysterious ways."

Chris retorts: "Yeah, he confuses the heck out of me, too."

And throughout the film we get similar insight into the soul of a man who, despite his decades of experience, still doesn't have any answers--at least none that he can convince himself about, despite his bravado. For that reason alone, I rate this as one of my favourite westerns. Like the aforementioned UNFORGIVEN, this is one of the rare westerns that shows us what real life is about, not comic book goodguy/badguy stuff.

I can only assume that's why this film doesn't seem to be well received. The earlier MAG7 films seemed to be a clearcut war between right & wrong, whereas MAG7 RIDE gives us a war between two different forms of insanity. This presents a much more challenging story to follow. Viewers might be confused at how a "good guy" can leave his friends to die, or how he doesn't fight fair. But to me--and maybe to you--it gives the story a lot more substance. It also makes the story very unpredictable right from the beginning, and as a result it's one of the most suspenseful westerns I've seen.

A word about Stefanie Powers: FREAKIN AMAZING. Good golly miss molly, I didn't know she could act! If you think all she can do is "Hart to Hart" you gotta check this film out for her performance alone. It's a tough role, because she plays the emotional character amidst a backdrop of cold, leathery gunslingers. This formula is nothing new for western heroines; however I've noticed in other films the emotional heroine is too melodramatic, reducing her to the absurd. Stefanie, on the other hand, delivers the perfect subtle performance: very human yet not hysterical. She's smart, wise (in many cases wiser than any other character)... and I gotta say it... what a looker! You'll find your eyes glued to her in every scene.

A final note, for anyone who notices this sort of thing: horses. As with all old westerns we see a fair number of horses getting thrown around. I went back & watched these scenes in slowmo, and I'm pretty sure that these were trained horses who fell without harm. Unlike RETURN OF THE MAG7 which was absolutely brutal (in one case you see a trip wire pop up, sending a 40mph, 2000lb horse onto its head--I doubt that horse ever got up again), these horses always fall to the side and roll safely. It always sucks when you learn how many horses are killed in these old westerns, but this film seemed to be pretty tame in that respect. Well, enough of that. The bottom line is I really enjoyed this film, and if any of this review made sense to you, I think you'll really like it, too. Go Ride(!) to your nearest video store and check it out. (gawd that was a cheezy line. Maybe I'll edit it out later)

Despite sporting "The Magnificent Seven" in it's title, this is basically a B-movie with a budget, albeit a very good B-movie. This throws in revenge elements and a little Dirty Dozen style criminal recruitment to spice up the usual heroics of the title protectors.

After seven or so years of mainly spaghetti westerns, it's nice to see Lee Van Cleef (taking over hosting duties from Yul Brynner and George Kennedy) headlining a major American western.

It's also a lot of fun to see a slew of familiar faces sharing the screen with Van Cleef, like Gary Busy, Luke Askew, Ed Lauter, and William Lucking (who's finally getting some recognition as a co-star on "The Sons Of Anarchy") among others.

It's too bad that second-billed Stefanie Powers isn't given anything much to do besides looking good and kissing Lee Van Cleef, who's wife has been dead less than a week!

Another Dirty Dozen western knock-off, this one being Italian, is Massacre At Fort Holman, also known as A Reason To Live, A Reason To Die, starring James Coburn, Telly Savalas, and Bud Spencer. If you liked this, then that one is highly recommended too.

This is the last sequel to ¨Magnificent seven¨ with the skinny Lee Van Cleef as tough gunslinger named Chris (whose character was played by Yul Brynner in two occasions and one performed by Lee Van Cleef and George Kennedy). He's nowadays as sheriff , Marshal Chris Adams , who turns down a friend's request to help stop the depredations of a band of Mexican bandits , but then his spouse (Mariette Hartley) has been kidnapped by a gang . When his wife is abducted by bank thieves and his friend is murdered capturing the last outlaw , Chris feels obligated to take up his partner's cause . Then Chris along with a journalist (Michael Callan) set off in pursuit bandit gunfighters (Gary Busey among them) , as he recruits five prisoners to track down the desperadoes . Besides , Chris helping his buddy (Ralph Waite) must free a Mexican village (inhabited by women as Stefanie Powers , among others) besieged by nasty outlaws who are devastating the small location . Lee van Cleef is decided to take a group of prisoners and strike a blow against the Mexican bandits . He goes to Tucson Territorial Prison where a bunch of misfits , murderers , robbers , rapists and other prisoners (with a TV star-studded cast such as Pedro Armendariz , Luke Askew, William Lucking, Ed Lauter, and James B. Sikking ) get a chance to redeem themselves . As Chris recruits various Magnificent Men and once again defending hapless people from their oppressors . As a brand of new seven , doing their number , they put their lives on the line and let it ride .

The last in the original series of four ¨The Magnificent Seven¨ movies , here Lee Van Cleef as Chris , substituting Yul Brynner , who played the role in two occasions , and one performed by George Kennedy . Yul Brynner insisted he would only make the sequels if Steve McQueen was not involved , McQueen felt the plot was too absurd and for this, and other reasons, was not interested anyway . Van Cleef as a two-fisted avenger sheriff is good as well as his role of ¨Sabata¨, meanwhile Yul Brynner left the Chris character for playing the ¨Cleef's Sabata¨ role in ¨Indio Black¨ . The story is similar to previous entries , adding ¨Dirty dozen¨ wake , including customary outlaw band formed by an eclectic gang with diverse speciality , as dynamite or guns . The film gets action Western , exciting riding, shootouts, it's funny and entertaining , although nothing new but displays a television style . The movie contains some moment of grisly violence and even touching on the relationships between the women and the Magnificent . This is a drab , inferior sequel from the original and enduringly popular ¨The magnificent seven¨ (John Sturges,1960) that is equally remake to ¨The seven samurais¨ (in fact , it was Yul Brynner who approached producer Walter Mirisch with the idea of doing a Western adaptation of Akira Kurosawa's classic) . After that , followed ¨The return of the seven¨(Burt Kennedy,1966), again with Brynner and ¨Guns of the magnificent seven¨ (Paul Wendkos,1969) with George Kennedy and continued with a TV series and a Television movie realized in 1998 . As always , breathtaking and memorable musical score by the great Elmer Berstein. Elmer , whose score for the series is one of the best-known ever composed , also wrote the soundtrack for the parody of this film, 'Three amigos'. Appropriate cinematography by expert cameraman Fred J. Koenekamp (Patton, The inferno towering, Papillon) . The motion picture was regularly directed by George McCowan , a usual TV episodes director (Charlie's Angels , Banacek , Cannon , Starsky and Hutch) . The film will appeal to Lee Van Cleef fans .

The final chapter of the original series (as there was a short-lived TV series that came out decades later), but despite the recurring Chris character (this time portrayed by the steely Lee Van Cleef) and the Mexican bandits. "The Magnificent Seven Ride!" didn't feel like a magnificent seven film but more a western take on "The Dirty Dozen". Well when it starts it plays on a more personal, if adventurous note (Chris now a town Marshall seeking vengeance on a couple of bank robbers) before settling on the winsome, but safe story mechanics of the previous entries. A village (of women) in need of rescue from Mexican bandits. After chasing one of the bank robbers over the border, he finds himself accidentally getting involved as originally he knocked down the offer from an old friend to help in some shape. "He did my job. I'll do his." A team is hand-picked by Chris… this time it's criminals not bounty hunters. The same shtick, but still rather diverting. Arthur Rowe's story moves by quick enough, never becoming overly preachy but held together by some engaging dialogue passages and solid performances (Michael Callan, Luke Askew, Stefanie Powers, Pedro Armendáriz Jr. and Ralph Waite) that share a good rapport on screen. Also some familiar faces (James Sikking, Ed Lauter and Gary Busey) show up. Director George McCowan takes time to set it up with moments of reflection and humour, but there are well pieced shootouts with violence bursts and red sauce going around. The efficient direction stays grounded, even though it had that made for TV back-lot feel. The music score is recycled but still feels at home with the action. "Ride" won't blow you away, but I found it a slightly better effort over the last two instalments; "Return" and "Guns".