Customer Reviews

Return of the Magnificent Seven

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Anyone who liked the original THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN, I mean really liked it, should find this movie to be an excellent sequel. However, many people do not seem to like this movie and find it dull. They are missing the point. In this film the producers did not want to repeat exactly what they did in the original. Instead, they picked up characters and events several years later and gave us a new story. It was not about Mexican farmers trying to struggle for survival while cultivating their land. Nor was it purely about gunmen seeking redemption for past sins. It is a story about good vs. evil and the film tends to examine both sides. Lorca, the villain of the piece, essentially wants to subjugate all humanity for his failure as a father. Enter the seven to the rescue, an even more mixed bag than in the original. Their motives are much more diverse and even more difficult to fathom. That is what makes this an interesting film. To appreciate it you really have to get into it and the whole mystique of THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN. On the surface there are still many things to recommend it. Yul Brynner returns in the role of Chris and he is still as cool as ever. Warren Oates and Claude Akins give excellent performances as members of the `seven' and could even have held their own in the original. This movie was filmed in Spain, not Mexico like the original, yet the production designers made every effort to duplicate Mexican architecture and find locations to match the original. The final battle is well staged and photographed and packs a good emotional punch. Last but not least is Elmer Bernstein's brilliant and powerful score adding prestige to this production. This film deserves a second look.

Scratching deeper beyond the surface one can find RETURN OF THE SEVEN to be significantly different from its predecessor, THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN. It is much more than a thematically framed sequel which it can easily be mistaken for. RETURN OF THE SEVEN is a dark film and it does not offer the hope of a truly optimistic future for any of its characters. In this respect it is a complete inversion of THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN. Through their catharsis in the original we saw an attempt at redemption through an act of nobility on the part of the seven. They truly were noble and I believe were redeemed for their transgressions as gunmen. Some thought they could start their lives over again but inevitably they could not. That film had to end as it did with the seven ultimately all committed to their singular code of ethics and morality in an emotionally charged finale. In this film there is very little emotion on the surface. Instead director Burt Kennedy gives us a thought provoking study into the human psyche and the very nature of defeatism of the human spirit. In this film there are no pretensions on the part of the seven. For most of them this is just another gun job. There are no higher aspirations that they are cognizant of. If it were not this job, it would be the next. To tell his story Burt Kennedy focuses almost entirely on the character of Chris the leader, perfectly portrayed again by Yul Brynner. This is not really a tale of the seven. Instead Kennedy uses Brynner with all his aplomb and apparent stoicism to curiously examine and probe the motivations of the other six, Lorca the villain (pompously played by Mexican director Emilio Fernandez) and several other key characters. In effect Kennedy takes what was apparently a happy or satisfactory ending from THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN and asks what if. What if 10 years later the remaining characters are not so contented as prior events led us to believe they would be? Would friends be willing go up against innumerable odds? Would strangers once again sign on to go up against those same innumerable odds? Do the strong still have to help the weak? And who really are the strong and the weak? When 50 or more marauding vaqueros whisk away Chico (Julian Mateos) and other Mexican farmers from surrounding villages Chris and Vin (Robert Fuller) agree to come to his aid. However it is Chris alone that recruits the members of the "seven" this time out. Kennedy singularly endows Chris a sense of morality and level headedness in this film that comes from his wisdom and manner of nobility. In effect this is Brynner's film all the way. Just as John Sturges' directorial style was so smooth that his own storytelling glossed right over the depth and complexity of his own work so is Burt Kennedy's. However, Kennedy is challenged with a very dark and brooding tale to tell. Where Sturges' THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN could easily have been taken on a purely action film level and still been successful, Kennedy does not have that luxury. Kennedy has to deliver an action film built on previous events and he also has to approach the story from a different perspective to remain fresh yet keep it thematically to the concept of the original "Seven." Not an easy task! If the viewer does not look deeply into this film it may just appear as a well produced `dud.' However, I believe Kennedy succeeds far beyond expectations the more times I view this film. Again it comes back to Brynner. He makes members of the seven (Vin, Chico and Colbee) all come to realizations about themselves with his subtle yet profound dialogue. He gives Riker and Luis a chance at redemption even though both men come from total opposites of the spectrum. He helps the failed priest rise from his failures "at least as far as his knees." Chris even gives Lorca, the villain a chance to ride out because when Chris was younger he gave him the same chance. However, Chris refuses to let Lorca now bathe his personal grief as an ineffectual father "in other men's blood." Yet even Lorca is literally redeemed by the end of the film. When Petra tells Chris that the farmers will never forget them he simply replies, "That's all a man can ask." That is the mystique and legacy of the "seven." Even the character of Chris is endowed with human flaws. He recklessly took on the young Manuel rounding out the seven "for luck" with tragic results and we see Brynner deeply grieved on the screen. This is a film of hard lessons learned. Technically this is a well-made film. The cinematography is full of crane, dolly and tracking shots, which gives it both perspective and movement. Bernstein's score is full and lush and this is the single cohesive element that keeps the seven together. The set designs are dark, grim and rustic giving the film a pensive psychological depth. The payoff for Brynner and the viewer comes in the final shot. Looking at the farmers rebuilding the village he comments, "I'll be damned." Vin looks at him and responds, "I doubt that. I doubt that very much." They both ride off. They just don't make heroes like that any more.

Yes this one is darker than the first, but I don't think that's a bad thing. It's a very good film if accepted for it's what it is: a great Western. I'm glad they didn't just copy the first but came up with a different and darker approach that really drew me in. I know that the party line has been to dislike this sequel, but man is it great! Some have said on here that there's no character development. Not true! There's plenty of depth here. Not as much humor as the first perhaps, but it's gritty and really entertained this Western fan. Great cast. Great action. Plenty of absorbing character elements that drew me in. Much better than some say it is. I loved every second of this movie.

Return of the Magnificent Seven is a good sequel that picks up ten years after the first one ended. The story follows Chris, the gunman in black, who is trying to free Chico, from the original seven, from a bandit who has kidnapped the men from several small villages. Joining Chris is another group that he puts together to help him free his old friend, Chico. This is an exciting movie that examines several questions about the Old West. What if ten years after it happened these men are beginning to think if they have accomplished anything or what is their value? The movie poses this question as the seven ride to Chico's rescue.

The only returning star from the original is Yul Brynner who takes the role of Chris again and plays it to perfection. Robert Fuller takes the role of Vin, previously played by Steve McQueen. This movie could have been much better with McQueen in the role. Other members of the Seven include Warren Oates, Claude Akins, Julian Mateos, Virgilio Texiera, and Jordan Christopher. Also starring are Emilio Fernandez, Elisa Montes, and Fernando Rey. Part of the problem with this sequel is that the characters are not as likable as those in the original. The film is still very good, but just doesn't reach the same level of the first one. Elmer Bernstein's music is still one of the greatest movie soundtracks of all-time. The DVD is pretty good with a widescreen presentation and theatrical trailer included. Different tone than the original Magnificent Seven(still a classic) but a good movie nonetheless. Check it out!

This is a favorite along with the first, "The Magnificent Seven". There is a good plot and plenty of action. Both this movie as well as the first one have moral messages. Also both movies are really about the Vietnam War. The Magnificent Seven relaesed in I believe 1960 when our military advisors were in Vietnam. Remember the villagers asked for help from the Americans? The seven trained the villagers just like our forces in Vietnam did. Also the second movie released in 1966, just two years after official combat in Vietnam for our troops. Again strong parallels with the seven against the tyrant bully (North Vietnamese communism) and the seven (America). Who said Hollywood can't disguise a movie and subliminally give a message by the government to help influence us. Again the movie is great and with great performances by Yul Brynner, Robert Fuller Warren Oates, and Claude Akins. Good performnce by Emilio Fernandez as Lorca and Fernando Reyes as the priest, others also. I enjoyed this one better than the first one.

This surprisingly engrossing sequel isn't as friendly on the surface as the original film but that's it's strength. Things are more grave this time around and that's the point. Kudos to Kennedy and Cohen for giving us a rougher and edgier sequel.

Yul Brynner is back as Chris. Steve Mcqueen is not back as Vin. If you watch the documentary on the Magnificent Seven Special Ed. DVD, you can see some reasons why he did not return. The movie is finally in widescreen format and the picture looks pretty good, but the sound is awful. Why would MGM go through all of the trouble of doing a widescreen transfer of this movie and not clean up the hissing and static that you hear when the actors are talking in some of the scenes. I could not hear the static and hiss when the musics playing though. A good movie, but MGM should have done something with the sound, also my copy had no booklet or a chapter list insert. DVD only.

The producers of the Return of the Seven just banked on the name,on Yul Brynner and on Elmer Bernstein's great score and the result is a very dull ,exhausting western. Westerns like these are the ones that hurt the genre. This sequel not only lacks the magnificent cast,plot,character development,but imagination as well. Whoever sees the Magnificent Seven and decides then to watch the Return of the Seven will be saying what Vin (Steve McQueen's character in the original) said at one point in the film:"It seemed like a good idea at the time". So follow Yul Brynner's advice."Ride on..." and see THe Magnificent Seven over and over these seven will never disappoint you .

RETURN OF THE SEVEN was made when sequels to popular films were seldom made. RETURN OF THE SEVEN was a true sequel and not just another story made in the spirit of the original. RETURN OF THE SEVEN revisits characters and the setting of THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN ten years hence. Yul Brynner as Chris tells Vin, now played by Robert Fuller, that he hasn't been going anywhere for ten years. Chico, now played by Julián Mateos, is captured and rounded up with the rest of the men from the village and mysteriously taken off into the desert by the wealthy land owner Emilio Fernández' hired cohorts. Chris and Vin now take up where they left off forming another band of "Seven" and search for Chico and the others. Both Chris and Vin no longer have any aspirations of settling down yet Chris is still the noble gunman while Vin now questions the purpose of his existence as a gunman. The mold can not be broken or so it would seem. Emilio Fernández is Lorca the misguided villain of the piece. Fernández' unlike Eli Wallach's Calvera is not a down and out bandit but a wealthy landowner looking to literally construct a monument to his past failures. Chris and Lorca's paths have crossed once before and the much now wiser Chris must try to set him back on a moral path. Of the seven, they seem to have more specific reasons, consciously or unconsciously, for "coming along for the ride." Claude Akins must put both his conscience and life to rest. Warren Oates learns he has more value as a man than just living a rough and roguish lifestyle and someone like himself must help the downtrodden in the world. Chico wishes to leave his seemingly humble existence as a farmer and return to making a living with his gun. Bandit and killer Virgilio Teixeira finds it is time to repay those he has transgressed and be able to ride with respect and not disdain. The young Jordan Christopher wants to accepted and welcomed into the village and leave his orphaned background behind him. Brynner once again is the cohesive force and strong individual representing rational judgment and reason while Fernández' self destruction threatens harmony but makes the irony of all their oblique ambitions possible.

This one has the odds stacked against it - it is the sequel to one of the best known of all westerns, most of the stellar cast from the original film didn't return and it was shot in Spain at the start of the spaghetti western cycle.

But guess what, it is still a great deal of fun and works, if its taken on its own merits. Or put more simply, there could be worse ways to spend two hours than spinning "Return Of The Magnificent Seven" on your DVD player.

Yul Brynner, he of the bald head and steely stare, is the only one of the original seven to return (this film's original title was "Return Of The Seven" - it didn't even have the 'magnificent' in it) and director Burt Kennedy is in no way in the same league as John Sturges, who helmed the original.

"Return..." was made six years after the original, but is set 10 years after the events of that film. Chico (played in the original by Horst Buchholz and by Julián Mateos in this sequel) is happily settled in the village when his idyllic life is shattered by the men of rich landlord Francisco Lorca (Emilio Fernández), who kidnaps hundreds of men to rebuild a church as a memorial to his dead son.

Chico's wife tracks down Chris (Yul Brynner) and seeks his help. Chris teams up with old pal Vin (played here by Robert Fuller) and rounds up four more men (okay they aren't a patch on the original seven, but Claude Akins and Warren Oates are pretty solid) for the rescue mission. And the seventh man? Well that's Chico.

That leads to the climactic shootout, and things lead up to it pretty speedily, with a few pitstops in between to reveal the back-story between Chris and Lorca.

The Spanish locations are nice and colourful, but the video on this DVD has quite a few specks and scratches. On the plus side it is anamorphic. The video is extremely bare bones - just Dolby two-channel mono - and full of hiss and pops.