The Magnificent Seven (2016)
(2016)Justice has a number.
Denzel Washington and Chris Pratt make two of The Magnificent Seven in this remake of the classic 1960s Western from director Antoine Fuqua (Training Day). Co-stars Ethan Hawke (Boyhood), Vincent D’Onofrio (TV’s Daredevil), Byung-hun Lee (I Saw the Devil), and Peter Sarsgaard (Experimenter).... More
With the town of Rose Creek under the deadly control of industrialist Bartholomew Bogue (Sarsgaard), the desperate townspeople employ protection from seven outlaws, bounty hunters, gamblers and hired guns – Sam Chisolm (Washington), Josh Farraday (Pratt), Goodnight Robicheaux (Hawke), Jack Horne (D’Onofrio), Billy Rocks (Lee), Vasquez (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Cake), and Red Harvest (Martin Sensmeier, Lilin’s Brood). As they prepare the town for the violent showdown that they know is coming, these seven mercenaries find themselves fighting for more than money.
The characters in this new version are completely different to the ones played by Yul Brynner, Eli Wallach and Steve McQueen back in 1960. The original The Magnificent Seven was also a remake of Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai, which sort-of makes this one a re-remake.Hide
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Directed by Antoine Fuqua ('Training Day', 'The Equalizer', 'Southpaw', 'Olympus Has Fallen')
Starring Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Martin Sensmeier, Peter Sarsgaard
Written by John Lee Hancock, Richard Wenk, Nic Pizzolatto (based on John Struges' film 'The Magnificent Seven', which was based on Akira Kurosawa's film 'Seven Samurai')
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The Magnificent Seven (2016)
BY fairbrother lister
BY KennethP91 superstar
Magnificent Seven is a remake of the 1960’s movie with the same title which is also a remake of a Japanese film called Seven Samurai. Magnificent Seven tells the story of seven individuals who band together to save a town from a heinous bandit with an army.
One of the most crucial aspect a western movie... More should have is the look and feel of it. Glad to say Antoine Fuqua manages to create a western film that delivers in terms of look and feel. The set design for this movie is impressive, the costume design is spot on and and this feels like an old western flick.
Accompanied by amazing cinematography this movie is great to look at, it moves well in terms of pacing, and when the climax hits, it’s a fun action packed shoot-out that will make you bob and weave as bullets fly through the screen.
One of the stand out characters in the film is Chris Pratt, he’s the one character you can enjoy as his overflowing charm and humour outshines the rest of the cast.
Apart from Chris Pratt, the movie suffers from the lack of character development. The rest of our cast are mostly one-note characters. Even Denzel Washington falls into a cliched role displaying very little range. Our main antagonist is the biggest culprit of them all as he is inherently evil for absolutely no reason. Although he manages to make the audience hate him, overall he’s a cliched character with nothing to offer than be a bad guy.
Though the movie manages to keep a fun vibe all through out, the moment of vulnerability for our main characters isn’t really there despite the shoot out that’s happening on the screen. Though we’re supposed to care for our heroes lives, they are portrayed in a very super-human way, having perfect aim and dodging every bullet, you never really fear for their lives.
Overall Magnificent Seven is still a fun film, though it is filled with flaws and problems, it manages to entertain all through out. In a year filled with superhero movies, Antoine Fuqua still manages to deliver an action-packed western that’s worth checking out.Hide
BY Colttany superstar
Love the Cast - Storyline could of been a bit better - but hey it was enjoyable to watch this
BY DanielK superstar
Yep, turns out that 2016’s The Magnificent Seven is, unexpectedly, an uninspired re-hash of not just one, but two different movies - the much-loved 1968 The Magnificent Seven (obviously) and also, for some mind-bending reason, Mel Brooks’ 1974 classic comedy Blazing Saddles. Think about what that means for a moment. The makers of the new Magnificent Seven thought it would be a good idea to strip-mine Blazing Saddles not for its biting satire, trenchant political commentary or hilarious jokes, but for its plot. If you think this sounds like the behaviour of a production team that doesn’t quite know why they’re making the film they’re making, then I can’t disagree.
In principle I’m not against a re-make of The Magnificent Seven (or of most films really), but when I’m watching any film, re-make or otherwise, it’s nice if the filmmakers can convey some sense of why they’ve chosen to tell this particular story. The Magnificent Seven is a movie that doesn’t seem to have any sense of why it actually exists. It re-creates familiar plot beats with no apparent idea of what made them work before. It lumbers from set-piece to set-piece with the sleep-addled befuddlement of someone who has no idea as to why he’s going to all this effort. To me it was like watching someone assemble a piece of kit-set furniture that’s been delivered to his house by mistake - he doesn’t need it and has no place to put the final product, but those empty slots and Allen keys are somehow too tempting to resist.
Why create an (admirably) racially diverse new Seven and then give them nothing interesting to do or say? (So they can look good on the poster?) Why amp up the courage, resourcefulness and screen-time of your sole female character if you’re going to dress her in a succession of ridiculous sexy-western-cosplay outfits? Why hire a first-rate cast and then (with the exception of Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke) provide their characters with absolutely no motivation for anything that they do? And if you do decide to go to the effort of giving your lead character a motivation, why make it a standard plot-o-matic revenge beef that completely undercuts the central dramatic thrust of the story you’re re-making? (None of the original Seven needed or wanted a revenge motive - they were cynics and mercenaries who ultimately found something profound and redemptive by sacrificing their lives for a group of good people they barely knew. Okay, that may sound corny and a little thin to you, but at least it’s something.) Why painstakingly set up the geography of the final showdown only to have it descend into a chaotic, ludicrously overblown, poorly-edited and tension-free re-staging of Saving Private Ryan’s Normandy landing sequence? Why, why, why?
In fairness, the movie is reasonably good fun in the early going, and there are many little bits-and-pieces to enjoy throughout, mainly courtesy of the actors - anything that features Denzel Washington in the lead role isn’t going to be completely without entertainment value or interest. But The Magnificent Seven is a film that takes a tried-and-tested formula that has survived lesser budgets and much more modest talents, only to deliver a loose and soulless jumble that never threatens to come together at any point. One thing no movie formula can ever overcome is a lack of purpose or conviction.Hide
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The Press Reviews
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There's a fine line between a slowburn and dull, and this Magnificent Seven frequently finds itself on the wrong side. Full Review
Slick but forgettable, Fuqua's suicide squad is a macho posse movie that could use a jab of fun. It's The Magnificent Seven, but the "magnificent" is silent. Full Review
A vehicle for wall-to-wall action, and an unambiguously fond farewell to the Obama years. Full Review
Nothing particularly original or fresh has been injected into this competently made, violent but uningratiating remake of the star-studded John Sturges Western, which itself was a redo of Akira Kurosawa's imperishable 1954 classic, Seven Samurai. Full Review
Hits all the right buttons but misses the fun of the original. Full Review
Not quite magnificent but certainly Fuqua's best since Training Day and a rare remake that actually delivers. Yee-haw! Full Review
The new movie is as moth-eaten as the serapes strewn through the 1960 film, but there's no denying the appeal of the image of Mr. Washington riding a horse, shooting a Colt and leading a posse of vigilantes to save a mostly white Western town. Full Review
You don't "remake" a film like The Magnificent Seven by simply recreating some of the original's action scenes and adding a couple of new characters. That's just imitation. Full Review
It does, however, earn its spurs with an entertaining ensemble led by Washington, whose black bounty hunter never gets called out because of his race because clearly he's just way too cool. Full Review
BY Aaron Yap Flicks Writer
The Magnificent Seven is an agreeable remake, not bad for an Antoine Fuqua flick, if ultimately an unmemorable movie. Written by Nic Pizzolatto (of True Detective infamy) and Richard Wenk (of The Expendables 2 infamy), this update of the iconic 1960 John Sturges western - itself a redo of Akira Kurosawa’s classic Seven Samurai - is evidently informed by a surface-level “wokeness” that’s attuned to our sociopolitical zeitgeist.... More
The core cast of motley gun-for- hire drifters is drawn from a more diverse ethnic pool than previously managed. It also locates a headstrong female character in Jennifer Lawrence dead ringer Haley Bennett, who plays vengeful boss to the men while acquiring enough badass moves for us to imagine what Katniss might’ve been if she ever set foot in the wild west.
However, nothing about the film’s handling of race issues comes close to the bristly provocations of Tarantino’s last two westerns, Django Unchained and The Hateful Eight. This Seven mainly hews to its time-tested source template, with Fuqua ticking off familiar crowd- pleasing beats - those grand notions of brotherhood and selflessness that come from strangers banding together to liberate poor, God-fearing villagers from capitalist oppressors.
Even if he remains one of the least distinctive, graceless, action directors on the planet, Fuqua feels more present in the set-pieces than he’s ever been, lending a Peckinpah-esque ferocity to the bullet- strewn, high body count climax.
The flinty, leathery cool of the original ensemble is missed, but Denzel Washington and Chris Pratt, both staying well within their comfort zones, are fine in the Yul Brynner and Steve McQueen roles, and a few character revisions, like Vincent D’onofrio’s scalp-hunting man-bear, give this one the colourful kick it needs.Hide
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