Les colts des sept mercenaires

¨Guns of the magnificent seven¨ (Paul Wendkos,1969) with George Kennedy is a thrilling and truly thunderous sequel next to original and considered to be one of the best . Acceptable following co-produced by US/Spain and filmed in Almeria , Andalucía and Hoyo de Manzanares's Western-film town , Madrid , where were shot lots of Paella/Spaghetti Westerns in the 60s and 70s . This is the third in the original series of four "Magnificent Seven" movies , as The magnificent Seven are back and they don't aim to please . This sequel to ¨Magnificent seven¨ is well played George Kennedy as tough gunslinger named Chris who along a misfit group of gunslingers , all of them set off in rescue a Mexican revolutionary . As one day soldiers of the dictator Porfirio Diaz capture a rebel leader called Quintero (Fernando Rey) . His deputy (Reni Santoni) offers a reward to free Quintero and he sets out to look for Chris , the leader of The Seven for help . Chris is decided to take a squad and strike a blow against the Mexican army and free the captured leader of the revolutionaries . To carry out this assignment Chris has to join a misfit bunch of gunfighters . As Chris and his buddies (James Whitmore , Monte Markham , Bernie Casey , Scott Thomas , Joe Don Baker) , each of whom comes for a different reason , must free a Mexican revolutionary imprisoned by nasty Col. Diego (Michael Ansara) . All of them riding to the rescue of yet another bunch of downtrodden evil people and , at the same time , they get a chance to redeem themselves . Later on , the team develops a plan to secure an enemy attack and to pull off their mission against a fort strongly defended .

Chris character was played by Yul Brynner in two occasions and one performed by Lee Van Cleef and George Kennedy . Brynner as a two-fisted Pistolero was very good ; in fact , it was Yul Brynner who approached producer Walter Mirisch with the idea of doing a Western adaptation of Akira Kurosawa's classic , The seven Samurais . Despite bearing no resemblance to Yul Brynner, including a full head of hair , George Kennedy and subsequently Lee Van Cleef took over the role of Chris Adams , played by Brynner in the first two films . Even Chris Adams' trademark dark clothing is gone , what remains is the steel resolve and affinity for cigars . Here George Kennedy as Chris is pretty well , giving a forceful interpretation . Besides , Monte Markham as well as James Withmore are unexpectedly lithe and other gunslingers are quite well defined . The remaining cast is a great help and they hold the picture together when it looks disintegrate after a promising start as did other follow-ups in the series . Wonderful ensemble cast playing unforgettable , moving roles with nice performers such as Monte Markham , Joe Don Baker , Frank Silvera , Reni Santoni and feature film debut of Bernie Casie . Being a Spanish/US co-production , there appears several actors usual in Spaghetti-Paella Western such as the Spanish Sancho Gracia , Jorge Rigaud and Fernando Rey playing his ordinary role as a good man . Rey is the only actor besides Yul Brynner to appear in two Magnificent Seven films , as he also played a priest in Return of the magnificent seven (1966) . The story is similar to previous entry , including customary outlaw band formed by an eclectic gang with diverse characters as well as speciality , as dynamite or guns . The film gets action Western , exciting riding , shootouts , it's fun and entertaining , although nothing new but displays a slight style . Despite the familiar framework of the screenplay , the interesting dialog is studded with memorably quotable lines and the flick arranges to raise some fresh entertainment from the vintage tale of the septet of Pistoleros . The movie contains some moment of violence and even touching on the relationships between the Mexican villagers and the Magnificent . Colorful as well as sharp cinematography in Panavision and Color DeLuxe by Antonio Macasoli , being filmed on location in Colmenar Viejo , and , of course , Almeria , Spain . As always , breathtaking and memorable musical score by Elmer Bernstein ; Elmer , whose score for this movie is one of the best-known ever composed , also wrote the soundtrack for the parody of this film, 'Three amigos' . The classic and stirring soundtrack helps highlight the action in the exciting climax . The motion picture was professionally directed by Paul Wendkos , whose works remain undervalued in USA .

This is a decent though inferior sequel to the original and enduringly popular ¨The magnificent seven¨( John Sturges,1960) that is equally remake of ¨The seven samurais¨ (Akira Kurosawa) . After that , followed ¨The return of the seven¨(Burt Kennedy,1966), again with Brynner and and ¨The Magnificent seven ride¨ with Lee Van Cleef by George McCowan and continued with a TV series and a Television movie realized in 1998 . Although this film revisits the village from the first movie, it was shot in Spain , not Mexico and for once doesn't disgrace the original . Among the many reasons were the difficulties that occurred between the American filmmakers and the Mexican crew and government censors during the shooting of the first film .

George Kennedy is no Yul Brynner and Monte Markham is no Steve McQueen and on and on and on. Guns of the Magnificent Seven went in a slightly different direction than the two Magnificent Seven movies that preceded it.

What's the same?

Mexico. Farmers. An injustice. Seven fighters. Pretty Mexican woman falling for one of the fighters.

What's different?

The enemy. The cast. The run time.

The differences aid the movie a lot more than the similarities with the exception of the cast. It's not that the cast was bad, it's just that they weren't the original Magnificent Seven and that will always be a negative.

After a revolutionary by the name of "Quintero" (Fernando Rey) is captured by the Mexican army and his small band is subsequently murdered, a lone survivor named "Max" (Reni Santoni) goes to a bandit leader by the name of "Lobero" (Frank Silvera) for assistance in helping to free him. Although the bandit leader has the men and the weapons, they lack a person with the leadership abilities to complete the mission. Likewise, nobody trusts Lobero to keep his end of the bargain. For that reason, the decision is made to have Max try to persuade "Chris" (George Kennedy) to lead the mission for $600 in gold. Naturally, he also needs some good men he can trust so he recruits a few of them on the way to Mexico. But even then the odds are not in his favor and when Lobero pulls out at the last minute the chances of success decrease even more. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was an okay western which managed to keep my interest for the most part. Of course, it suffers in comparison to the original film, "The Magnificent Seven" but that probably goes without saying . Be that as it may, I have rated it accordingly. Average.

After the let-down that was Return of the Seven, it's good to know that the Magnificent Seven are in safe hands again. Dropping Yul Brynner and bringing on Georege Kennedy to pay Chris was a risky move, but it pays off. He may not look anything like the Chris from the previous two films, but Kennedy brings confidence and gravity to the role that strangely deserted the ill-at-ease Lee Van Cleef when he played him the for the final sequels, The Magnificent Seven Ride. There is a Zapata-like plot with Chris freeing a Mexican revolutionary, but to be honest, that's about it for Spaghetti Western influences. A Euro-Western it might be labelled, but it's closer to John Wayne than Clint Eastwood. So, don't expect a bloody, gritty Spaghetti with priests ears being cut off and forced to eat it, but an enjoyable Sunday afternoon western that, while it isn't as good as the original and not a violent, savage and sickening death of beating in sight, as you get in the really good Spaghetti Westerns, it can be liked and remembered with fondness.

Okay, so it's not as good as the original, but it's definitely better than the "Return of the Magnificent Seven" and a gazillion times better than "Magnificent Seven Ride!" (which I had to turn off 30 minutes in because it was too painful to watch). The previous reviewer feels "Guns" is long and boring...I agree it is too long, but it's far more interesting than the second and fourth films. I feel "Guns" must be separated and stand on its own. If compared to the original, it is a sub-par sequel, but as a stand-alone Western, it has some really nice moments.

Most of the actors are young and inexperienced, which wouldn't be as noticeable if they hadn't cast James Whitmore...the guy is a brilliant character actor...you can't take your eyes off of him...his scenes with a little Mexican boy who has been burned out of his home and whose father has been imprisoned are wonderful...every scene Whitmore is in is charged with energy and life...I have always been befuddled why he never became the huge star he deserves to be. There is something about Monte Markham I have always liked...he doesn't have the screen presence for films, but I always felt he could have been a huge TV star given the opportunity...unfortunately, after the opening scene, the script gives him little to do. I thought Reni Santoni was fun to watch...he veered into over-acting a few times, but overall I enjoyed his performance...he had a few really nice moments. I enjoyed the relationship between Joe Don Baker and Bernie Casey and felt they had some nice moments, too. For whatever reason, the script leaves less-than-nothing for Scott Thomas to do...he is the most forgettable one of the group. In spite of the atrocious blonde toupee, I was surprised to find that I enjoyed George Kennedy as Chris. Few men could ever come close to having the screen presence of Yul Brynner, but if one takes this movie on its own, Kennedy does a good, solid job.

I fully concede that this is a mediocre film, but I can't help but smile whenever the theme starts to play. For some reason I have fun watching this movie and if you are in the mood for light entertainment, then I really think this one is worth a try.