Number 456 on the top 1000 films of all time is John Sturges' 1960 Western The Magnificent Seven.
A poor Mexican village is constantly being exploited by the cruel Calvera (Eli Wallach) and his gang of bandits. Having had enough, the villagers rally a posse of seven cowboys led by the Cajun gunslinger Chris Adams (Yul Brynner) to battle against Calvera's gang.
The Magnificent Seven is a famous remake of Akira Kurosawa's epic 'the Seven Samurai.' At three hours long, the Seven Samurai is not for casual film fans or even supposed film fanatics like me. Thankfully, the Magnificent Seven managed to tell the same story in a far more palatable two hours.
And it was certainly a great story - seven of the biggest actors of the time including Brynner, Steve McQueen and Charles Bronson team up to face off against Eli Wallach. Even for casual Western fans like me, it was certainly entertaining.
The on-screen, and at times, off-screen, rivalry between Yul Brynner and Steve McQueen underpinned much of the film, but all of the cast were good. Despite having a large ensemble cast and a limited two-hour run time, John Sturges took the time to develop each character into somebody interesting. You had the young upstart Chico (Horst Bucholz) as well as Lee (Robert Vaughn) who is haunted by a troubled past. Vaughn was a dark horse as he brought a quiet intensity to the role.
Eli Wallach's villainous Calvera wasn't as memorable as he could have been. Although it was probably overshadowed by his later and most famous role of Tuco in Sergio Leone's iconic 'The Good, The Bad and the Ugly.'
Nevertheless, John Sturges directed a fun and entertaining film, which balanced humour, heart and terrific set-pieces with a palatable two-hour run time.
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