It is this that makes the film more nasty for me than Django.
actually Lloyd Battista´s eyes were burned (by Baldassare), if you meant that scene in the end
'a long ride from hellâ
good cast and many sw faces in small roles
the first 50 minutes was very good but the second 35 minutes not so well
and the ending i feel miss something,
3 stars
I watched Dances with Wolves last night as my last movie of 2011. Beautifuuly shot, epically directed, it is slightly trite in places and too po-faced for its own good, but the sheer sweep of the movie combinded with the impressive directorial debute by Kevin Costner make it hard to resist.
I did, Iâve mixed up these names more often in the past
The Magnificent Seven (Sturges / 1960)
Watched this one with the family tonight. First time viewing for them, umpteenth for me. Still very enjoyable although I notice the dodgy post colonial politics a lot more these days. All the lads are still cool to watch though and worth a regular revisit just for Eli Wallach alone in my book. And then of course thereâs that soundtrackâŚ
Flaming Star (Siegel / 1960)
Elvis actually gets to act in this one and with Don Siegel at the helm it turns out to be a pretty decent vehicle for him. A proper film starring Elvis rather than an Elvis film is how Iâd describe it. Good supporting cast for an oater too. Steve Forrest, John McIntyre, Richard Jaeckel, L.Q. Jones and Dolores Del Rio. Only one song for Presley too which presumably crimped the opportunities for soundtrack album sales.
[quote=âPhil H, post:9266, topic:141â]The Magnificent Seven (Sturges / 1960)
I notice the dodgy post colonial politics a lot more these days.[/quote]
I havenât seen it in years, so perhaps my memory is at fault here, but I donât seem to remember The Magnificent Seven being anymore than it was on the surface.
Probably so but then even on the surface it is a story of helpless third world people looking north to white Americans to come down with guns and sort out their problems because they are incapable of doing so themselves. Like I said, dodgy and post colonial. However, like I also said, its still pretty enjoyable all the same.
Right. I donât think it was done deliberately, which makes it even worse if you think about it. There are often discussions about these things, that is: the way âothersâ (Chinese, Japanese, Mexicans) are depicted in movies. I noticed some of these things yesterday night in Lost in Translation and checked a few things this morning. There was no intend on behalf of Sofia Coppala to be disrespectful, let alone be racist, but many Japanese were offended by some of the movieâs aspects, and not without reason.
Good point; I had never really seen it as anything but a bug bedget Hollyood Western and thus never fought about its implications. However, I would note taht Akira Kuroswawaâs Seven Samurai has the exact same plot. Surely any critism of the story of The Magnificent Seven can be levelled at its predessor. yes, in the earlier movie they come from the same county, but the âsimpleâ villigers have to go to the big, advanced, sophisticated city to find their protectors. Could it not be argued that the farmers are depicted as not wholly sympathetic and even manipulative in Seven Samurai? I think any dubious political point The Magnificent Seven has, it inherited it from Seven Samurai (however, that is no excuse for The Magnificent Seven containing that).
Recently I watched The Price of Power with Gemma, The Bounty Killer with Milian and Five Man Army. Loved all three. 8)
I think the fact that the outsiders are foreigners makes a big difference. Especially as the âforeignersâ in Mag 7 are âusâ whereas in 7 Sam it is a story about Japanese by Japanese and mostly for Japanese. The politics in that scenario are therefore very very different.
Itâs always difficult to ârelocateâ a story. Seven Samurai (and Yojimbo) are about ronin, samurai who had become wanderers after historic developments (such as the introduction of fire arms) had made them redundant. Directors like Kurusawa and Kobayashi (Hara Kiri, Samurai Rebellion) deplore this situation, their movies are about the loss of classic values and virtues. In the final scenes of Seven Samurai, the samurai, leaving the place, look down on the farmers and say that not the samurai but they, the farmers, have won. This is a statement: The time of the samurai is over, the future belongs to the farmers (cfr. The Searchers with the doors who locks the Indian fighter out: his time is over, he will wander forever between the winds). These aspects are absent in The Magnificent Seven. Itâs all very enjoyable, but instead of Kurosawa socio-cultural study, it has become a sort of High Ho Silver Seven!
I spent a few words on this subject in this artile (under Yojimbo):
It would be indeed very different if they had hired Mexican gunfighters. But it still would be a simpler film compared to 7 Samurai.
Mag 7 is just a white washed action movie which was more or less effectively done. Richard Brooksâ The Professionals is in every respect the better film.
There is a large difference as you say, but I just wanted to point out that some of those rather dubious politics have a precedent in Kurosawaâs original.
jonathan of the bears, BOREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!! :o :o :o
horrible acting, trash action scenes, worst music ever!!,even franco nero look soooold!
the first 45 minutes was sooo boring i really canât believe in my eyes!!
0 out of 5 and a winer top 20 crap in my collection, i will burn the dvd
Four of the Apocalypse.
Forgot what a grim tale this is, still not fond of songs being played most of the time. What a contrast to say the Provvidenza films Milian starred in the 70âs.
Vogeler: Jaiderâs Gang[url]http://www.spaghetti-western.net/index.php/Verflucht,_dies_Amerika[/url]
-Quite odd eurowestern about bunch of no-good european immigrants trying to live in the west. Mostly boring film with no action but lots of talking. Ending is quite effective though and the cast has some familiar sw faces like William Berger and Eduardo Fajardo.
There are a lot of SW actors in it! Would you recommend it?