Le retour des sept

In some ways, it almost seems unfair to compare a sequel to the original, that we should judge it on it's own merits. However, usually the only reason we are watching a sequel is because of the original, so my review consists primarily in comparison.

The most interesting thing about Return is how hard the makers tried to make it like the original. They were largely successful. Burt Kennedy's direction is good and recreates the visual feel of the original. Of course, Bernstein's score highlights the film. The story, different in particulars, is goes through essentially the same stages: armed men attack the village, the call for help, the gathering of the seven, traveling to the village, defying the villain, the first attack beaten off, a pause where we get to know the characters and their motivations better, the final attack. The only difference is that the villagers do not 'betray' their protectors, as in the Magnificent Seven. A character even sneaks into the enemy camp in much the same fashion as in the earlier movie.

The real weakness of the sequel is the script. Along with the excellent acting and music, the dialogue in the first film was very well written and something of a departure from earlier westerns. It was terse, oftentimes funny, filled with meaning. In Return the delivery and the tone is the same, but the words spoken so solemnly are utterly commonplace and with no humor. Robert Fuller would have been a good replacement for McQueen, but the character is written completely differently and is far less interesting.

The acting, also, is inferior to the first film.

Another problem with the film is the portrayal of the peasants. They are a not characters, as in The Magnificent Seven, but a mass. This film is solely about the 7 Americans riding to the rescue to the rescue of defenseless peasants and at times seems to have a pro-intervention (pro-Vietnam?) political subtext that the in first film, which was a translation of Seven Samurai to the New World, was either absent or more subtle.

All this said and out of the way, film has lots of action, a good score, and Yul Brynner, who is always fun to watch in a western whether it is The Magnificent Seven or Adios, Sabata. Fans of westerns and action films will probably find it entertaining.

Familiar face Emilio Fernandez, who played Lorca, acted in over 70 films, starting in Mexico, and wrote and directed many of them. The relationship between his character, his dead sons, and Chris could have made a very compelling film. Unfortunately it was not expanded on.

This is the second in the original series of four "Magnificent Seven" movies . This sequel to ¨Magnificent seven¨ is well played Yul Brynner as tough gunslinger named Chris who along with Vin , Robert Fuller, and their group set off in rescue some Mexican villagers . One day someone comes and takes most of the men prisoner . The villagers have been kidnapped by gunfighter bandits . Chico one of the remaining members of The Magnificent Seven now lives in the village that formerly helped and being also abducted . His wife named Petra (Elisa Montes replacing Rosanda Monteros) sets out to look for Chris, the leader of The Seven for help . Chris is decided to take a group and strike a blow against the Mexican bandits . Chris also meets Vin (Robert Fuller replacing Steve McQueen) another surviving members of The Seven . They find four other men and they go to help Chico (Julian Mateos substituting Horst Buchhold) , they are a womanizer (Warren Oates) , a revenger (Claude Akins), a highwayman (Virgilio Teixeira) and an orphan named Manuel (Jordan Christopher) . As Chris and his buddies , each of whom comes for a different reason , must free a Mexican village imprisoned by nasty outlaws (Emilio Fernandez , Rodolfo Acosta in similar roles to Calvera's Elli Wallach) who are devastating the small location . All of them get a chance to redeem themselves . Later on , the group develops a plan to secure the villagers defend it against enemy attack.

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 is 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. Yul insisted he would only make this film if Steve McQueen was not involved , McQueen felt the plot was too absurd and for this, and other reasons, was not interested anyway . 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 funny and entertaining , although nothing new but displays a slight style . The movie contains some moment of violence and even touching on the relationships between the villagers and the Magnificent. Being a Spanish/US co-production , there appears several actors usual in Spaghetti-Paella Western such as Julian Mateos , Ricardo Palacios , Elisa Montes , Carlos Casaravilla and Fernando Rey playing his ordinary role as a priest . This is a passable though inferior sequel from 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 ¨Guns of the magnificent seven¨ (Paul Wendkos,1969) with George Kennedy 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 . As always, breathtaking and memorable musical score by Elmer Berstein ; 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'. Appropriate cinematography by expert cameraman Paul Vogel , filmed on location in Colmenar , Alicante , Nuevo Baztán, Madrid, Samuel Bronston Studios, Madrid, and , of course , Almeria , Spain . Although this film revisits the village from the first movie, it was shot in Spain, not Mexico. 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 .

The motion picture was professionally directed by Burt Kennedy .He initially was screenwriter , his initial effort, ¨Seven men from now¨ (1956), was a superb western, the first of the esteemed collaboration between director Budd Boetticher and star Randolph Scott. Kennedy wrote most of that series, as well as a number of others for Batjac, although it would be nearly 20 years before Wayne actually appeared in the film of a Kennedy script. In 1960 Kennedy got his first work as a filmmaker on a western, ¨The Canadians¨ (1961), but it was a critical failure . He turned to television where he wrote and directed episodes of "Lawman" (1958), "The Virginian " (1962) and most notably ¨Combat!"(1962) . He returned to films in 1965 with the successful ¨The Rounders¨ , later producing and directing the pilot for the TV series of the same name and subsequently the notorious ¨Support you local sheriff¨ , it results to be one of his best Western . This good Western is a Yul Brynner vehicle , if you like his particular performance ,you'll enjoy this one .

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.

Though not as good as the original, The Return Of The Seven brings back Yul Brynner for another appealing turn as black-clad anti-hero Chris Adams, with Claude Akins and Warren Oates providing memorable support. However, the rest of the seven are kind of bland, but alright.

Burt Kennedy was one of the best and least heralded directors that the western genre has to offer. Here, he doesn't disappoint, filling the screen with the type of excellent screen composition that his old collaborator Budd Boetticher was known for and from whom he no doubt learned to direct.

The afore mentioned direction, good production values, and exciting action sequences, as well as the performances of Brynner, Oates, Akins and Emilio Fernandez all help make up for the slow spots in the script.

Speaking of Warren Oates, the same year he also starred in the art-house/drive-in western The Shooting. Such a great actor he is, that Oates doesn't even seem like the same person in both movies! Three years later, he and villain Fernandez were opposite each other again in The Wild Bunch.

This was really a disappointment after watching The Magnificent Seven. I know sequels are usually disappointing, but this one had nothing going for it compared to the original. The only character returning was Yul Brenner. he looked as if he was going through the motions to collect a check to pay the rent. The outstanding cast that made The Magnificent Seven what it was was not equaled in any measure by the replacements. Even the addition of Steve McQueen couldn't have saved this film. And the bad guy? Give me a break! Eli Wallach was a consummate outlaw and I don't even know the name of the baddie in this film - he is so forgettable.

This film should not have been made. It shames the memory of The Magnificent Seven.