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Guns of the Magnificent Seven
In this third remake of legendary Japanese director Akira Kurosawa's hugely influential The Seven Samurai, the seven gunslingers (George Kennedy, Michael Ansara, Joe Don Baker, Bernie Casey, Monte Markham, Fernando Rey and Reni Santoni) liberate Mexican political prisoners, train them as fighters and assist them in a desperate attack on a Mexican fortress in an attempt to free a revolutionary leader.
Release : | 1969 |
Rating : | 5.7 |
Studio : | United Artists, The Mirisch Company, |
Crew : | Art Direction, Director of Photography, |
Cast : | George Kennedy James Whitmore Monte Markham Reni Santoni Bernie Casey |
Genre : | Western |
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Reviews
For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!
Don't listen to the negative reviews
Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.
I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.
Guns of the Magnificent Seven is directed by Paul Wendkos and written by Herman Hoffman. It stars George Kennedy, James Whitmore, Monte Markham, Reni Santoni & Joe Don Baker. Music is by Elmer Bernstein and Antonio Macasoli is the cinematographer. It's the second sequel to The Magnificent Seven which was based on Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai. Plot finds Kennedy and his assembled group of gunmen hired to rescue a revolutionary from a Mexican dictator. Routine but very watchable entry in the "Seven" franchise. It's nicely cast with Kennedy, Whitmore, Baker and Bernier Casey effective, and the photography from Macasoli is pleasing and makes the Spanish location feel period Mexico. There's also good value in the writing as regards the characters and their hang-ups, while the climax is high on noise and adrenalin. Clearly not a patch on the original film, and when it all comes down to it this film wasn't wanted or needed. But as it is, it's a decent time filler for those after a bit of standard gunslinging adventure. 6/10
Still riding high from his Oscar win for Cool Hand Luke, George Kennedy steps into the role that helped make Yul Brynner a bona fide western star. Thankfully George kept his hair and doesn't attempt an eastern European accent, taking the role of Chris Adams and making it his own.It's nice to see him at this point in his career, getting to play the hero instead of the amoral guy or the villain.Although no match for the original seven, a neat cast of familiar character actors, including James Whitmore, Joe Don Baker, Bernie Casey, Reni Santoni, and Fernando Rey are still a whole lot of fun to watch.Like all the sequels to the original Magnificent Seven, this is basically just a good, solid studio B-western, with a healthy enough budget, picturesque locations, excellent Elmer Bernstein score, and some well-staged action scenes. However, some fans of the Mexican Revolution themed sub-genre of spaghetti westerns might find the storyline a bit familiar.My favorite part is early on, with Monte Markham's near hanging, George Kennedy's introduction, Markham's trial by horse, and subsequent shootout. It's a really compelling sequence.
In a word, this is the Kennedy/Rey sequel. I liked it more than the first sequel (the one with Oates, and where Rey was a priestin this one he is Quintero, a respected political and revolutionary leader). This one seemed to me the most politicized one. Anyway, the small army is funny and certainly more likable than the one in the previous filmhere, we get Chris (played by a fat blonde slouch); PJ (a romantic loner, probably sick with _phthisis); Levi; Keno; Cassie (a Herculean punchy AfroAmerican); Slater (a fake Buffalo Bill, and a Southerner that will learn to appreciate the values of racial tolerance, etc.); Max (this is the Mexican element).So, it's a pretty multiracial army. A few of them survive at the end. As I've hinted in a paragraph below, Valerii made a similarly themed comedy western, much better crafted. And if you appreciate political history, I see no reason why you shouldn't appreciate fully the presence of Emiliano Zapata as a kid in this G. Kennedy/Rey movie.The two sequels are both Spaghetti western approaches. The second sequel might look slightly more stupid than the first, one could concede that, but it's certainly more funny and less ugly.One wouldn't exaggerate if he would state that the best thing in the Kennedy sequel (or, the second sequel) is the machine-guna machine-gun, a fortressthis reminded me of a Valerii comedy made with Coburn and B. Spencer.The decision of replacing Brynner with Kennedy was sinister. Poor Kennedy must be here the most ridiculous lead in a heroic part in a Spaghetti western. And, as in the Oates film, here as well one gets the impression that the actors disliked each other, or hadn't a very good time togetherlack of chemistry, some might call it.This approach is sometimes funny; otherwise, it's insulting in its naive (let's hope) underestimating of its audience.There is a certain change of perspective; in the McQueen film, the army was one of elite gunmen; in the first sequel (the Oates/Rey one), the gunmen are convicts, lowlifes, outlaws, anywaynothing very fine (this was Burt Kennedy's way of amplifyinghundreds of peons and vaqueros, and a few bums as gunmen). The G. Kennedy film marks a return at the elite modelwe understand that Levi, PJ, Cassie, Slater are legendary. Max is willing to learn (he is, if one might say so, the new Chico, the Chico of this film ); and Keno is simply weird and spooky.Kennedy is involuntarily funny and dis-likable throughout the film. But after he does his job, he surely looks as pleased as Punch.The McQueen film and its two sequels have practically one thing in common: the Elmer Bernstein score, so that the sequels could almost be qualified as Bernsteinexploitation.Both the sequels have, in essence, the nature of a commando action film.
GUNS is the second sequel to MAGNIFICENT SEVEN, and George Kennedy takes over from Yul Brynner in the lead. As unlikely as this may sound, Kennedy is reasonably convincing as a steely-eyed hired gun who ends up doing good for good's sake and rescues an imprisoned rebel leader south of the border. In the end, he doesn't even take the money. The group that ends up riding with Kennedy is a mixed bag, as this was shot in Spain and some of the performers are clearly foreign. Watch for an almost-unrecognizable Joe Don Baker as one of the Seven. Monte Markham and James Whitmore are two others. The action sequences are well done for the time, but there's an awful lot of talking and sitting around in between. I hate to say it, but even with Kennedy playing the Brynner character and the use of the original theme music, this supposed sequel is in name only.