The Magnificent Seven

 Director Antione Fuqua has revived the Western genre with a remake of John Sturges’ The Magnificent Seven, which was a remake of Akira Kurosawa’s The Seven Samurai.

Whereas Sturges’ production had Elmer Bernstein’s music to drive the tension, here Mauro Fiore’s cinematography gives us some beautiful vistas. 

 

Unfortunately, the tension is what is more important to a story of 7 men, who are taking on an army of mercenaries for a rich despot (Peter Sarsgaard), who is trying to drive out the landowners surrounding his gold mine.  

It’s not that the film is not well-done or interesting. Indeed, the development of tactics to take on the despot’s hoards is intriguing and the action, though sometimes chaotic, will please fans of the genre.  It’s only in the last 5 minutes that the film goes off the tracks with a conclusion that seems a bit too altruistic for my taste, as well as seems to forget the main value of the town.  But, that seems to have been forgotten by the Writers after it was setup at the story’s beginning and, perhaps, most of the audience will have forgotten it, as well.

I give The Magnificent Seven a 3.8 out of 5.