You know how oftentimes men won’t communicate with their words, and instead will just give a look, or a nod, or a hand gesture, and the other man just ‘gets’ it. That’s what I call “manspeak” and The Magnificent Seven is chock full of it! Since there’s no subtitles for this subtle language it’s often up to me to interpret exactly what’s being said in these situations.
For example, in The Magnificent Seven when Steve McQueen asks Brynner how many men he has, he responds by holding up his index finger.
Translation: It’s just me, man, but that’s all right because I believe in what I’m doing. It’s a good cause and these people need help.
McQueen follows up by holding up a two. Translation: I respect you for your balls of steel and I will now help you. I’ve got your back. Let’s do this. (For more examples of manspeak see Pale Rider, which has so much manspeak it should be listed as a bilingual movie.)
Seven Samurai, a Japanese film, was so influential in the U.S. that an American version was made, The Magnificent Seven, and quickly became a favorite and a classic as well. The plot? A village of farmers in Mexico send for a group of badasses to protect them from bandits who have been ravaging their village for some time now. They hire Chris (Yul Brynner) who then recruits six more of the best gunfighters to help him, risking their lives to help the small village for only $20 a week and three meals a day.
The Magnificent Seven were played by magnificent men and served as a breakout role for many of them. Yul Brynner played the lead, supported by manly men Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, Robert Vaughn, Brad Dexter, James Coburn, and oh so pretty Horst Buchholz.
In the behind the scenes video, they talked about how each person was constantly trying to steal more screen time away from Yul Brynner, especially Steve McQueen. Whenever he was onscreen with Brynner, he was constantly moving and taking off his hat or whatever to draw attention to himself. It works too! I found myself watching McQueen as he fidgeted with stuff rather than watching Brynner as he talked.
For a western from 1960, the action really was outstanding. Under the modern perspective of ‘more bullets + more blood= more better’ it was still top-notch action, there just wasn’t all that much of it. There was plenty of wonderful choreography and stunts, too. Lots of trick revolver shots and horseback riding. Plus seeing seven good guys take out 40 always gets me pumped up.
The Magnificent Seven isn’t just an “action” film though. Being from the time period that it is, it was the only kind of “action” film that existed, but it goes deeper into the souls of the gunfighters. It dives into how lonely and unfulfilling that kind of life is, which you didn’t see a lot in those films. So I really enjoyed seeing the character development of these manly men. Yes, I said it. I enjoyed some character development, and I can’t believe it either.
Baddies: Mexican bandits led by Calvera (Eli Wallach)
Best Line: “Once you begin, you better be prepared for killing, and more killing, and still more killing until the reason for it is gone.”
Rating: Magnificent 1 ½ , out of 5
It has a reputation as being a fun romp of a Western, partly because of the rousing score and the star power on the screen, but to me it’s one of the bleakest Westerns.
Practically everybody dies, the one who wants it the most goes back to being a farmer and the last line is :”We lose, we always lose.”
I view it as a classic Vietnam film. A bunch of heavily armed Americans go into a Third World country to resacue the natives from themselves. Take the last line of the film in a Vietnam setting, adds a whole new dimension to it.
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Magnificent Seven is the greatest western of all time. James Coburn’s death, just throwing the knife down goes down in history as one of the top ten deaths. Found you through the 411 awards. Voted you up! We’re up for Best Sci-Fi if you feel like voting for us. 🙂
Too bad Stallone didn’t go back and watch this classic before doing THE EXPENDABLES, he would’ve know that a man-on-a-mission movie requires those men to die heroically in the process. Especially if they’re called THE EXPENDABLES, for pete sake!! Sheesh.
Now if only someone would go remake BATTLE BEYOND THE STARS (the sci-fi version of this movie) only not suck so much this time…
I agree with the response that this is a bleak Western. That was part of it’s groundbreaking nature. Westerns up to that point were simply “good guys always win” fantasies. This movie was a precursor to the extreme realism that came along in the late 60’s.
The character development was exceptional, but another truly magnificent feature of this movie is its musical score. It was the first to be played as concert literature by symphony orchestras. It was the first one to really capture in deep ways the development of the story. It complements the “man-speak” in incredible ways. As you’ve alluded above, this movie could work without any dialogue at all. Take the score and the visual subtleties and you still have a wonderfully powerful movie.
Good job, Action Flick Chick!
I do enjoy the Magnificent Seven, but I am kind of obsessed with Seven Samurai. it’s easily in my top 2-3 favorite movies of all time.