A cowboy retelling of Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai, The Magnificent Seven marked the transition from the old style John Ford/John Wayne films to the spaghetti westerns starring Clint Eastwood that would change the genre forever. Released in 1960, The Magnificent Seven contains elements that audiences at the time were used to—gunfights, and bandits—however, unlike previous westerns; the good guys aren’t without their faults.
A small farming village just south of the border is preyed upon each year after harvest by a terrible Bandito, Calvera (Eli Wallach) and his gang of forty thugs, who take most of their crops, leaving them just enough to live in abject poverty. Tired of getting pushed around, several men consult the resident wise old man. ‘Fight, you must fight,’ he says.
The men head across the border to the United States in the hopes of finding guns. While riding through one quiet town, they see two hombres, Chris (Yul Brenner) and Vin (Steve McQueen), who, facing gunfire and dire odds, manage to give an Indian a proper burial. Impressed, the villagers ask him to help them obtain guns, but he convinces them to hire men who can defend their village properly.
Chris recruits five men—the greedy Harry Luck (Brad Dexter), the righteous cowhand Bernardo O’Reilly (Charles Bronson), the fugitive Lee (Robert Vaughn), the aspiring groupie Chico (Horst Buchholz), and the expert knife thrower Britt (James Coburn). They then have only a few weeks to train and prepare the villagers to fight before Calvera comes back…but can they possibly overcome such long odds?
The Magnificent Seven is extremely well directed by John Sturges (The Great Escape), a man adept at never overplaying a scene, and making sure his heroes—flaws and all—were cool and laconic. Beautifully shot by cinematographer Charles Lang (Some Like It Hot, Charade) many shots look like beautiful paintings. Action scenes, when appropriate, are fast and convincing. All of the actors do a fine job here, seizing the cameras attention when necessary. Amazingly, even though all these guys have big egos and very different acting styles, never once do their styles clash. Sturges has effectively given them room to do their own thing without sacrificing any of the story.
Aside from the stellar cast, what makes The Magnificent Seven so compelling is the fact that John Sturges and writer William Roberts actually humanize the gunmen. These guys do have fears and regrets; they just hide them a lot better than most. Understanding that, makes these guys much easier to root for.
Framed in the 2.35:1 aspect ratio, this 1080p transfer looks quite good. The image is fairly clean, with only a few white flecks and spots of dirt sprinkled throughout. While there are moments of softness in the image, the detail is quite impressive for a title that’s just over fifty years old. There are some minor color fluctuations, but the film’s dusty palette has been reproduced nicely, with rich neutrals, creamy sky blues, and vivid reds. Black levels are nicely balanced, and the grain structure remains intact. MGM has done a nice job with the transfer on this catalog title.
The Magnificent Seven features a solid DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track. While not overpowering in terms of surrounds, what’s here is surprisingly effective. As you’d expect, the most obvious uses for the rear speakers are for cross-channel gunfire and composer Elmer Bernstein’s now-iconic main theme. Dialogue is always clear and understandable.
We get the following special features:
Commentary by Producer Walter Mirisch, Assistant Director Robert Relyea, and Actors James Coburn and Eli Wallach: Owners of prior DVD releases will be familiar with this interesting track, which finds the participants revealing filmmaking details, yes, but mostly reminiscing about all those years past.
Guns for Hire: The Making of The Magnificent Seven (SD, 46:54) Everything you’d ever want to know about the film, from the process of adapting Kurasawa’s Seven Samurai to refit a distinctly American idiom, to the on-set competitiveness between Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen, and the rest of the cast. Featuring interviews with Eli Wallach, executive producer Walter Mirisch, and others.
The Linen Book: Lost Images from The Magnificent Seven (SD, 14:47) Maggie Adams, head of MGM’s photo archive, shows off an enormous photo book that was discovered in storage in a salt mine in Kansas.
Elmer Bernstein and the Magnificent Seven (SD, 14:48) Jon Burlingame, film music historian, guides us through each of composer Elmer Bernstein’s themes for the film.
Trailer A (1080p, 2:46)
Trailer B (1080p, 3:03)
Stills Gallery (1080p, 4:05)
