"We lost. We always lose." says Yul Brynner in the last line of one of the last great "classic" western tales. A great line from a great film that will stick in the gray matter long after watching it. Sandwiched in-between the fantastic THE SEARCHERS and THE WILD BUNCH, this 1960 American remake of the classic film THE SEVEN SAMURAI launched the careers of a number of Hollywood action stars including Steve McQueen, Robert Vaughn, James Coburn, and Charles Bronson. Director John Sturges' film about seven men who kill for hire, battling banditos to protect a helpless Mexican village, is a study in economy of words and movement. It is also an exploration of the hero's code, alienation, male bonding, and evil.

Apparently Sturges took Kurosawa's script, had it modified by William Roberts, and moved it to a and matched it scene for scene basing the film in a peasant Mexican village. As a director Sturges was taking a great risk, setting himself up for critics' derision, but it all coalesces into an entertaining, intelligent and moving film enhanced by an incredible score by Elmer Bernstein. Some may argue that this version of the story is not as good as Kurosawa's but The Magnificent Seven is well worth the trek to the video store- especially in light of the onslaught of the crap coming our way this summer at multiplex theaters. Also, having Elmer Bernstein score the music wasn't a bad idea either.

Perhaps the magic of this film is the superlative casting of virtual unknowns. Like later films such as M*A*S*H, THE DIRTY DOZEN, THE OUTSIDERS, and PLATOON this film was a great career start for relatively unknown actors. At the time McQueen had done THE BLOB (1958) and Vaughn THE TEENAGE CAVEMAN the same year. Yul Brynner, clean shaven even then and dressed all in black, stands out as Chris, the leader of the group. Other highlights of the cast are McQueen as laconic side-kick Vin, Vaughn as Lee, Bronson as Bernardo O'Reilly, and, especially, James Coburn as Britt the Knifethrower, perhaps the most compelling of the Seven.