A Volta dos Sete Homens

Yul Brynner returns as gunfighter Chris, who is recruited by old friend Chico(now played by Julian Mateos, taking over from Horst Bucholz) to return to his village that has been raided by a powerful landowner, who has kidnapped the men for his own purposes. Chris agrees to help, and enlists old friend Vin(Robert Fuller, taking over from Steve McQueen) and new members of the "7", including actors Claude Akins & Warren Oates.

Disappointing sequel has some good action, but a limp plot, and is generally an inferior rehash of the first, though Brynner is still good, and Fuller a decent substitute for McQueen.

This must have done well though, since two more sequels were made(without Brynner!) Haven't seen them, don't plan to.

"The Magnificent Seven" was an exceptional remake of Akira Kurosawa's "The Seven Samurai". But, unlike the Japanese film, it was set in the West. Because of a terrific musical score and excellent cast, the film was a resounding success. Now, years later, the studio is whoring out the name in a remake. I know it sounds very harsh, but there is so much that disappoints in "Return of the Seven".

The biggest problem in this film is that of the three survivors at the end of the last film, only one is played by the same actor in both films (Yul Brynner). The other two are played by new actors. These two plus the new members of the group are all lightweights compared the the fine cast in the first film. Think about it--here we have the likes of Claude Akins, Robert Fuller and Warren Oates instead of actors like Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson and James Coburn! The second biggest problem in the sequel is that the film is pretty much the same as the first film. The SAME great music is once again here and the plot is pretty much the same, as the seven rescue the exact same town that was terrorized in the first film! It cheapens the name of the franchise and offers nothing particularly new.

Now the actors do try their best and the film is worth seeing as a time-passer. But, it's just not a worthy sequel to one of the best westerns of the 1960s--it's only a pale imitation. Interestingly, the next film in the series, "The Guns of the Magnificent Seven" is actually a bit better even though NONE of the actors playing the seven are back because at least the plot is a tiny bit different.

One of my all-time favourite music scores is Elmer Bernstein's thrilling theme from 'The Magnificent Seven'. I was practically dancing in my seat when I got to hear it again during the opening sequence in 'Return Of The Seven', the first of 3 sequels to John Sturges' classic western. My enthusiasm was short-lived. Bernstein and star Yul Brynner are the only major players to return for this 1966 rehashing of the first picture. Their work is solid---even though they just do the same things they did in Sturges' film---but writer Larry Cohen and director Burt Kennedy don't have any new ideas of their own.

It's impossible to replace actors like Steve McQueen, Eli Wallach, James Coburn, and Charles Bronson with Warren Oates, Fernando Rey and a slew of unknowns, but that must have been the best they could do. It's just as foolish to remake the remake (let's not forget that 'Magnificent' was a redo of Kurosawa's 'The Seven Samurai'). A completely different story might have worked better. Since only 3 of the original 7 survived---and neither McQueen or Horst Buchholz return as Vin or Chico)---you can't help noticing that the B team is just not good enough to match what the A team did with Brynner in 1960.

So brace yourself as Chris Adams (Brynner) and company ride into battle against Mexican bandits all over again. This time they've got to save Chico and the other male villagers they saved years before. Same result? Not telling, but there are 1 or 2 fun moments along the way. Any excuse to hear Bernstein's music is a good excuse, especially when the movie is on free TV. All the same, I think I'll skip the other sequels. 'Return Of The Seven' isn't horsepoo, but it's certainly not worthy of riding with 'The Magnificent Seven' either.

A friend of Chris is living peacefully in a small village. One day all the men are kidnapped and Chico's wife comes to Chris for help. Chris puts together a group of men and rides to rescue the villagers. They find that the men have been kidnapped and are being used as slaves to build a village church.

Basically, following any classic film is very difficult. This does it by rehashing the basic elements as best they can without copying it letter for letter. This time the quest of the seven (well, six for most of it) is a bit more noble but it is essentially the same. We even have Chris talking down the merits of his job as well as the farmers claiming they are cowards etc. just like the first film.

However that fresh feel of fun and style the first film had is worn thin here. The action is less exciting and are just like any other western. Whereas the first film had a mix of sweeping grandness as well as a sense of fun – this has both but in lesser quantities. The dialogue is OK and has some nice lines but it'll never match that used in the first film. The outcome is obvious and no real surprise.

The characters are less well defined. In the first movie all of the seven had a presence – mainly due to them all trying to outdo Brynner (watch McQueen – very few lines but he is always doing something in the background). Here most of them are nameless and you would struggle to name more than three, they all seem happy to let Brynner be the star – only Fuller and Oates really stick in the memory. Even the bad guy is poor – before he was an oppressor without care or reason, here he is a slave trader but he also has a history that gives him a sympathetic edge – but do you want that in a bad guy?

Overall this is an OK western but when you match it up with the original film then you automatically put it in a huge shadow that it can't get out of. As a sequel the flaws just scream off the screen because you know how much better it was last time round.

Do you remember how the first Magnificent Seven ended? Yul Brynner and Steve McQueen rode off after polishing off Eli Wallach and his group of bandits. Horst Bucholtz as Chico stayed in the village and married a girl from there. The other four also stayed in six by four graves.

Flash forward now to the present. One day another group of bandits sweep down on the village, they take Chico and the rest of the men as workers on a little project. They've taken the men from two other villages as well.

The call is sent out for help again. Yul Brynner and Robert Fuller in Steve McQueen's role recruit four others and ride back to where they fought that battle many years earlier.

Instead of the eminently practical Eli Wallach whose interest in these poor villages was for supplies during the winter for his gang. This time we're dealing with a fanatic played Emilio Fernandez who Yul Brynner has had dealings with before. He's got all these peasants working as slave labors to rebuild a church as a monument to his two dead sons. The man's trolley has definitely slipped his tracks.

I guess I miss Eli Wallach from the original. I found Fernandez's character to be just too off the mark for me. I can't believe his own men are standing for what he wants.

Just as Steve McQueen came from western television so does his replacement Robert Fuller, fresh from the Laramie series. Fuller is competent enough, but does not have McQueen's charisma by a stretch. Too bad they couldn't get Steve McQueen to repeat his role.

The other four of the new Seven are Jordan Christopher, Claude Akins, Warren Oates, and Rudolfo Acosta. All of them fill roles that we've come to expect of them. Julian Mateos takes Horst Bucholtz's part, a more mature Chico to be sure.

You could not have done this film without that wonderful Elmer Bernstein theme again. What I can't understand is why his score was nominated again as there was nothing original in it.

Return of the Seven is a decent enough remake, but it ain't a patch on the original.