47 years after it's release in 1960 I finally watched The Mag 7 for the first time ... kind of anticlimactic. One of the problems with ratings is that an iconic movie like this one has no place to go but down. That said I have to say that the movie was pretty good ... the problem was that it wasn't great. I thought that the movie was a bit long and a bit campy. It started strong with the gathering of the Seven, moved a bit slow in the middle and never really gathered back the steam it started with. It paled compared with The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, my all-time favorite western. Eli Wallach was in both movies ... his role in this movie paled against Ugly Tuco in the other movie. Here are a few good quotes from the movie:
"Only the dead are without fear." - One of the men of the village responding to one of the Seven who had a bad dream.On a scale of 10 I give this movie ★★★★★★★
"Only the farmers won. We lost. We always lose." - Yul Brynner's character lamenting the fate of hired guns.
My son and I recently watched the Seven Samurai, on which this movie is supposed to be based. I've not seen the Mag 7.
ReplyDeleteThe Seven Samurai is also as you describe. It has a fun beginning, with the gathering of the all the talent, and a slow middle. But is a delight to watch. The characters really are characters, and it's just a lot of fun. It's long, but you might enjoy seeing the original some time.