Monday, September 19, 2016

MOVIE REVIEW: The Magnificent Seven

I have vague memories of the original 1960 Western, which in itself is the remake of the 1954 Akira Kurosawa Japanese classic Seven Samurai. I only remember two things: the all star cast (Steve McQueen, Yul Brynner, Charles Bronson and Eli Wallach among others) and it's iconic theme by Elmer Bernstein.
The spirit lives on in the remake and with Antoine Fuqua as it's director, this is a more modern, diverse, violent but nevertheless fun Western that does not disappoint on it's 132 minute running time. With a rich businessman (Peter Sarsgaard) as the villain this time, harassing a poor village, it mirrors current events and personalities that we know and are familiar with.
And speaking of all star cast, it's great to see Denzel Washington who plays the groups de facto leader Chisolm and Ethan Hawke reunited on the big screen after Training Day which no doubt is Fuqua's most prestigious film which gave Washington his Best Actor Oscar. Chris Pratt is also in the cast as one of the members of the group with his trademark wit ever so present in the movie. Byung-hun Lee, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Martin Sensmeier and Vincent D'Onofrio complete the most diverse Magnificent Seven cast among the three films.

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