The Magnificent Seven remake

My feelings about this one are far more mixed then they should be.

On the one hand, I liked the original, and even the movie the original was based on, Seven Samurai. Both are classics in their own ways, so their seems little if any need for a remake.

On the other hand, it's still a movie with Denzel Washington and Chris Pratt, and when movies with either of them tend to be pretty good, one with both just might be worth seeing. Or it might be like those movies with long lists of famous actors that turn out to be just bad.

I guess I'll be giving this one a shot, whenever it comes out in September.

Based on the trailer, I'm cautiously optimistic. It really looks good, but when I first heard about it, I was also wondering what was driving this idea to remake this? I will have my concerns, but I do plan to have a ticket as well.

jazzact13 wrote:

On the other hand, it's still a movie with Denzel Washington and Chris Pratt, and when movies with either of them tend to be pretty good, one with both just might be worth seeing.

That's where I'm sitting. Denzel doesn't really make "bad" movies, just shades of great or "solid". That and I've loved almost every western that has come out since the mid-late 90's.

In a strange way they feel a bit like the fantasy genre to me. Low tech with dirt and horses, but with guns and dynamite instead of wizard spells.

There was an episode of Strangers and Aliens podcast that dealt with Westerns as an American Fantasy genre.

Also, I saw something a while back that says that the traditional D&D party model (a group of adventurers rolling into town, bringing death and violence in a quest for treasure) has more to do with Westerns than with medieval European tropes.

cleireac wrote:There was an episode of Strangers and Aliens podcast that dealt with Westerns as an American Fantasy genre.

Also, I saw something a while back that says that the traditional D&D party model (a group of adventurers rolling into town, bringing death and violence in a quest for treasure) has more to do with Westerns than with medieval European tropes.

I used to read westerns a lot, mostly Zane Grey, Max Brand, and Louis Lamour. Brand's stories often had a fantasy-like element to them, not necessarily strange creatures or magic, but his heroes were sometimes super-human-like. A few of Lamour's books went into some strange spiritual or metaphysical things.

I don't often get to watch movies right at their first showing, but that happened with The Magnificent Seven.

It was a fair movie. Washington put in a solid performance. I haven't watched many recent westerns, but there were times when it reminded me of some older western movies, especially during the final fight.

There was a surprising amount of religious content in it. One of the seven was a mountain man who would sometimes talk about God. A lot of the movie takes place in or around the town's burnt-out church building, and there is scene the night before the fighting begins with the town's pastor leading the town's people in prayer as they stood outside the church building.

I really can't say this movie lives up the original, let alone Seven Samurai. It was a quickly paced movie, maybe too much because it felt kinda rushed. Still, I enjoyed it. It's not great, but good.

jazzact13 wrote:I don't often get to watch movies right at their first showing, but that happened with The Magnificent Seven.

It was a fair movie. Washington put in a solid performance. I haven't watched many recent westerns, but there were times when it reminded me of some older western movies, especially during the final fight.

There was a surprising amount of religious content in it. One of the seven was a mountain man who would sometimes talk about God. A lot of the movie takes place in or around the town's burnt-out church building, and there is scene the night before the fighting begins with the town's pastor leading the town's people in prayer as they stood outside the church building.

I really can't say this movie lives up the original, let alone Seven Samurai. It was a quickly paced movie, maybe too much because it felt kinda rushed. Still, I enjoyed it. It's not great, but good.

Totally forgot that Holly and I were thinking of seeing this! Thanks for the reminder!