Huh. Hadn’t heard of this one, but it has some quality actors who look to be chewing scenery with a vengeance. But I love how the first line of the wiki’s fictional elements section notes “The film is only loosely based on reality.” I’ll say! I was reading the plot while shaking my head and snorting . It’s so absurd it would either annoy the crap out of me or entertain me in a this-is-so-stupid sort of way.
Since it seems to have disappeared without a trace and to be so very, very earnest, I fear it will annoy me. But maybe some day when I’m bored…
Although I love The Magnificent Seven (especially Elmer Bernstein’s wonderful score), The Magnificent Seven felt as if it cut away too much that was essential, and coalesced roles. And there’s no way that the very anglo-looking Horst Buchholz was right for that role as what should have been a Mexican (something they actually fixed for the sequel, casting Julian Mateos in the role) (But I have to admit they really did a good job casting James Coburn in the role that was Seiji Miyaguchi’s as Kyuzo, the ascetic expert. The two guys even look similar)
“The Magnificent Seven”, by the way, one one of the titles used for The Seven Samurai wghen it was first released in the US.
I remember an interview with Coburn where he said they’d approached him about the part and he said, “Wait. I get to play the guy who was the greatest swordsman in all Japan? Sign me up!”
While it’s probably not a contender for the “best”, the Season 1 Mandalorian episode deserves a mention. It’s probably the most recent Seven Samurai homage and it’s not bad.
I chose The 3 Amigos, which is hilarious, but would also be fine with the original Magnificent 7. I have a huge bone to pick with the recent remake however, which I will spoiler tag.
I think that the most important character arc in the original is Kikuchiyo (played by Toshiro Mifune), who is not selected as part of the team by the leader Shimura, but who tags along anyway. Until the big finale, Kikuchiyo simply cannot understand why the samurai are helping the townspeople. They aren’t paying nearly enough, and they arguably don’t even deserve the help. But he earns his place with the team at the final fight when he accepts that being a samurai means standing against evil. I could go on waaaay longer with this, but the point is that the samurai are helping simply because they believe it’s the right thing to do.
But in the 2016 remake, there’s a huge twist at the end - it turns out that Denzel Washington (as Sam Chisholm, the leader of the Magnificent 7) is secretly out for revenge! The bad guy is responsible for his family’s death! Justice is served! Except, of course, that this completely destroys the whole point of the original film. Shimura teaches Kikuchiyo that he can’t be a samurai until he accepts that they do what they do because it’s simply, fundamentally, right to do it. But Denzel can’t impart that lesson, because he’s secretly just hoping to strangle some dude to death.
I generally liked the remake - solid cast, good pacing. But the twist ending felt like it was aimed directly at fans of the original film(s). You think you know where this is going, but you don’t! Which is fine, except that they ruined what was supposed to be the whole point of the movie.
I can think of some worse ones…
Hercules (2014) - The version with The Rock
The Thirteenth Warrior - Really supposed to be a retelling of Beowulf, but ends up being more a Viking Seven Samurai
Every episode of The A-Team
I might even add The Lord of The Rings: The Two Towers to the list of Seven Samurai influenced films.
. It’s so absurd it would either annoy the crap out of me or entertain me in a this-is-so-stupid sort of way.