Today, a very special remake with heaps of stars is on TV: it’s the remake of a real cult western, which itself was already a remake.
There can’t be enough westerns, but opinions are divided on The Magnificent Seven. It could be because the remake doesn’t even come close to the original with its absolute cult status. Despite the incredible star cast. Today you can see for yourself during the TV broadcast
This is what The Magnificent Seven is all about
The story is a classic: a village is threatened by a hostile superior force. In desperation, the inhabitants turn to a bounty hunter, who in turn hires a whole troop to protect the village. Together, everyone prepares for the big showdown until the explosive finale
This motley crew of protectors is not made up of conventional heroes with white vests. No, on the contrary: we’re dealing with outlaws and mercenaries, classic gunslingers of the darkest kind. On behalf of Emma Cullen (Haley Bennett), they take on the villain Bartholomew Bogue (Peter Sarsgaard).
The antiheroes are embodied by an incredible star cast: Joining them are Josh Farraday (Chris Pratt), Sam Chisolm (Denzel Washington), Goodnight Robicheaux (Ethan Hawke), Billy Rocks (Byung-hun Lee), Jack Horne (Vincent D’Onofrio), Red Harvest (Martin Sensmeier) and Vasquez (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo).
(Of course, The Magnificent Seven does not skimp on Wild West romance.)
The Magnificent Seven is a remake of a remake and wasn’t particularly well received
The Magnificent Seven already existed in 1960. The film starring Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen and Charles Bronson was itself a remake of The Seven Samurai by legendary director Akira Kurosawa. The story remains almost exactly the same and was a little flat even back then, but that didn’t stop the film from becoming an absolute cult.
This is unlikely to happen with the new version. It lacks both its own ideas and reverence for the genre, the original or the actual themes. The whole thing feels more like painting by numbers and shows no great interest in the subject matter. All we get is solid action, a line or two, lots of characters who remain shadows of their former selves and plenty of clichés.
This could be because director Antoine Fuqua is not a particularly big genre fan. He doesn’t really care much for westerns. Secondly, according to his own statement, he has never seen the original (via: Spiegel Online ). Together, these two factors create the worst possible conditions for reviving a true genre classic.
A superstar deliberately wrecked his car for this Western masterpiece
Exclusively on Amazon: The Magnificent Seven in a limited edition collector’s box with sheriff’s star and hip flask
