The Magnificent Seven Film Review

Essay by nsbhsJunior High, 7th grade March 2007

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The Magnificent Seven is a classical western directed by John Sturges. It was a direct remake of The Seven Samurai which was directed by Akira Kurosawa. It is a great film starring Yul Brynner and co-starring Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, Robert Vaughan, James Coburn, Brad Dexter, Horst Buchholz and Eli Wallach. It tells the story of how a poor village is constantly been robbed by a group of bandits until the villagers ask for the help gunmen.

All of the actors played an excellent role in playing their character. John Sturges was able to combine their different personalities and construct a group of heroes. However, the heroes were not entirely heroes. None of the characters are perfect heroes. For example, Harry did his job only because of money and Vin did his job because of the competition and challenge.

The film techniques were well used and with the music, the director was able to create different atmosphere for different scenes.

The music is a remarkable aspect of this film. A perfect example of this is when Calvera rides in with his men. The dark and grim music added to low angle shots immediately signified Calvera as the antagonist of the film. The different angles of the camera contributed to allowing the audience to follow the story of the movie.

The themes of The Magnificent Seven were vividly expressed throughout the film. Some of the themes were that good prevails and the themes of the underdog and perseverance. It also questions the meaning life in one of the scenes.

However, the film has limited depth and a simple story. Also, there are some minor flaws. For example, in the scene where Chico’s hat was shot down, the hat flew away but as the camera changes angles, the hat was suddenly...