Full Movie Reviews
Rating of
2.5/4
"The Magnificent Seven" by Yojimbo
Yojimbo - wrote on 11/25/2017
A small town held to ransom by an unscrupulous mining baron enlists the aid of seven gunfighters to help reclaim their land and rid themselves of their oppressor.
The original version of The Magnificent Seven was that rarest of beasts; a remake of such quality that it became a classic in its own right. The differences between that film and this reinvention are obvious from the very start; rather than the original's scene-setting opening where Yul Brinner and Steve McQueen stand up for the rights of a deceased and unknown native American, instead we have a pantomime villain doling out ugly violence and not only that, the only native American onscreen murders a fleeing innocent woman in cold blood. In fact every change to the original story serves to diminish it; instead of poor peasant …
Rating of
3/4
Yeehaa ... The Seven notorious cowboys ride again
ikkegoemikke - wrote on 12/21/2016
"If God didn't want them to be sheared, he wouldn't have made them sheep."
Anyone who made an effort to read one of my writings, knows about my opinion on remakes and milestones in film history. I'm not a supporter of digging out hit movies from the past, dusting them off and giving them a new look. In most cases nothing new will be presented. In the worst case the result will fail terribly and the final product is a lamentable bad movie. "Ghosbusters" was such a monstrosity in my opinion and confirmed my assertion that certain milestones are untouchable in film history (I'm afraid the remake of "Jumanji" will end up in that same alley). However, there are exceptions like the recent film "The Jungle Book". Although this is not a remake in the strictest sense of the word, but rather an …
Rating of
3/4
Still Magnificent a Second Time Around
Chris Kavan - wrote on 09/24/2016
I'm always wary of any reboots that come along because of how mixed the results have been in the past. But The Magnificent Seven was different. For one, director Antoine Fuqua has proven himself a competent and talented director - especially when teamed with Denzel Washington (and Ethan Hawke for that matter). For another, Fuqua assembled an equally-impressive cast - with Washington and Hawke being joined by Chris Pratt, Vincent D'Onofrio, Byung-hun Lee, Haley Bennett, Peter Sarsgaard and two relative newcomers in Manuel Garcia-Rulfo and Martin Sensmeier. Some people might say the cast is too PC what with the overwhelming diversity - but it works out in the film's favor for sure. Lastly, this is the final film for composer James Horner, who finished the film shortly before his death. …
