Return of the Magnificent Seven

Rating:
Summary: Hollywood made needless sequels even back in the 1960s
Review: This lackluster sequel to John Sturges' classic, "The Magnificent Seven", is missing that combination of humor, drama, and bravado that made its predecessor a film to remember. The plot revolves around Chris (Yul Brynner) and Vin (the talentless Robert Fuller) -- Steve McQueen is sorely missed in this role -- rounding up a new gang of altruistic gunfighters to rescue one of their original members who has been abducted (along with the rest of his village) as slave labor for a ruthless Mexican land-baron. The film is given one star only for its use of Elmer Bernstein's rousing score from the original. Otherwise, as the previous reviewer mentioned, the character development is non-existent, the story is trite, and by the end we really could care less what happens to this new seven. Sadly, this film marks the steady decline of the great Yul Brynner's cinematic career as he followed this performance with more mediocre westerns such as "Invitation to a Gunfighter" and "Westworld". Do yourself a favor and, like Steve McQueen, skip this flick. Instead, pop in the original and enjoy a true classic.

Rating:
Summary: excellent- just different than the first
Review: This surprisingly engrossing sequel isn't as friendly on the surface as the original film but that's it's strength. Things are more grave this time around and that's the point. Kudos to Kennedy and Cohen for giving us a rougher and edgier sequel.

Rating:
Summary: MISUNDERSTOOD SEQUEL THAT ENTERTAINS
Review: Yes this one is darker than the first, but I don't think that's a bad thing. It's a very good film if accepted for it's what it is: a great Western. I'm glad they didn't just copy the first but came up with a different and darker approach that really drew me in. I know that the party line has been to dislike this sequel, but man is it great! Some have said on here that there's no character development. Not true! There's plenty of depth here. Not as much humor as the first perhaps, but it's gritty and really entertained this Western fan. Great cast. Great action. Plenty of absorbing character elements that drew me in. Much better than some say it is. I loved every second of this movie.

Rating:
Summary: Good Movie, but the Sound is terrible.
Review: Yul Brynner is back as Chris. Steve Mcqueen is not back as Vin. If you watch the documentary on the Magnificent Seven Special Ed. DVD, you can see some reasons why he did not return. The movie is finally in widescreen format and the picture looks pretty good, but the sound is awful. Why would MGM go through all of the trouble of doing a widescreen transfer of this movie and not clean up the hissing and static that you hear when the actors are talking in some of the scenes. I could not hear the static and hiss when the musics playing though. A good movie, but MGM should have done something with the sound, also my copy had no booklet or a chapter list insert. DVD only.

Rating:
Summary: Good Movie, but the Sound is terrible.
Review: Yul Brynner is back as Chris. Steve Mcqueen is not back as Vin. If you watch the documentary on the Magnificent Seven Special Ed. DVD, you can see some reasons why he did not return. The movie is finally in widescreen format and the picture looks pretty good, but the sound is awful. Why would MGM go through all of the trouble of doing a widescreen transfer of this movie and not clean up the hissing and static that you hear when the actors are talking in some of the scenes. I could not hear the static and hiss when the musics playing though. A good movie, but MGM should have done something with the sound, also my copy had no booklet or a chapter list insert. DVD only.