|
Rating:  -
Return of the Seven is great Saturday afternoon entertainment. Pass the popcorn, more Coca Cola please. I really didn't expect much heavy thinking and I got relaxation and beautiful Southwest scenery. That's what I paid for and I'm a happy customer. Not as good as the first "Seven" but good enough.
Rating:  -
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.
Rating:  -
This movie has been sadly underrated for many years. Compared to the first one which underlined humorous optimism, this movie conveys far more complex undertones. The cinematography captures a tight, tense ambiance compared to the original film which was full of sunshine, light and an openness.
This is a movie I watch often and see something different each time. The story line is almost tragic, Yul Brynner delivers a dialogue that reflects how each gunfighter is facing his own inner vulnerabilities and there is the real battle. This movie is poignant though more gripping in a King Lear sense. Even the bad guy is a tragic person who strangely has two people who try to guide his consciousness, the priest and his close friend who warns him "The fields will die and the cattle will die."
The final battle scene is epic in a sense and I actually found it disturbing. Such a complex, underrated film.
Rating: -
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.
Rating: -
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.
Television Show
Collectibles
Movie Searches
|
|
|
Search for posters,
art prints, photos, collectables, merchandise, toys, t-shirts
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Join the Nielsen//NetRatings Research Panel and you could win a new car, a dream vacation, a dream home makeover or $50,000 Cash!
TV Guide
Program listings, celebrity profiles, industry
gossip, movie reviews, puzzle.
More
Entertainment
& TV Magazines
This site is
Hosted
by Bluehost
Read
my Bluehost Review
Original Superhero & other designs for t-shirts, bumper
stickers, prints, mugs, and other cool merchandise. |
|
