The Magnificent Seven (DVD)

This is a review of the double-DVD Ultimate Edition. This is one of my favourite Westerns. While it doesn’t have the savagery of The Wild Bunch or the beauty of Once Upon A Time In The West, it’s a hell of a lot of fun, and I’ve loved it ever since I was a kid. Made in 1960, it’s a good, honest, totally unpretentious and rather old-fashioned tale of good gunmen protecting helpless villagers from bad gunmen. Like all Westerns, it’s about the process of civilising lawless frontier communities and the sweeping away of the now-obsolete gunfighters of old. It’s also a remake of Akira Kurosawa’s superb Seven Samurai. A small village in Mexico is ...

This film has been a favourite of mine for years. I can remember it magically appearing on telly on several rain soaked afternoons throughout my childhood. It still happens every once in a while. I'll be channel surfing and suddenly I'll come upon that unmistakable theme tune. The screen will be made golden by some fantastic Mexican vista and I’m off, lost into a world of gun-fighting and gallantry for the afternoon. The film itself is actually based on Akira Kurasawa’s 1954 film the Seven Samurai. Pursuing my interest in all things seven I’ve got hold of a copy of this film, which also makes compulsive viewing. Very few ...

I know what a Western is, believe me, I’ve seen approximately five during my not so short lifetime. Heehee, of course I know that you expected to see a bigger number, but there you are. As if this weren’t enough to disqualify me, I’ve never written a film review so far - do I see your fingertip moving down to click yourself away from this site? Wait, I really don’t intend to take the Mackey out of this category, dooyoo is about opinions, isn’t it? An opinion I have, and I’d burst if I couldn’t share it with you. Isn’t it fascinating how our brains work? I’m not a fan of Westerns as you know now, not ...