History Film / TheMagnificentSeven

''Note: This is about the film. For the ensemble/plot, see TheMagnificentSevenSamurai''.

->'''Vin''': Not for a long, long time. I, uh, I envy you.

Mexican villagers, plagued by a band of bandits, send a few of their number north to the border, to buy guns so they can defend themselves. They end up hiring seven gunmen to help them instead.

''The Magnificent Seven'' is a western retelling (in both senses of the term) of ''[[SevenSamurai The Seven Samurai]]'' (with a brilliant and memorable [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iteRKvRKFA score]], to boot). This film [[RatedMForManly has so much testosterone that a girl risks getting pregnant just by watching it]]. It is widely considered one of the last great westerns.

!!This film provides examples of:

* AccidentalAimingSkills -- Britt kills a bandit fleeing on horseback with a single rifle shot from a long distance. When Chico praises it as the best shot he's ever seen, Britt replies that it was the ''worst'' - he was aiming for the ''horse''.
** Also subverted, because the reason that he was aiming at the horse is that they wanted to take one of the bandits ''alive'' so they could question him about how strong the bandit force really was.
* ActionFilmQuietDramaScene -- Vin and Hilario having the page quote conversation in the middle of a firefight. Also Lee's scene in which he wakes from a nightmare and talks about losing his nerve.
* AdaptationDistillation -- Creator/AkiraKurosawa was so pleased with the result, he gave the director, John Sturges, a samurai sword.
* AdaptationExpansion -- Regarding Calvera, given that the bandits' leader is given zero characterization in ''SevenSamurai'', and only gets about five minutes of total screen time.
* AffablyEvil -- Calvera. Although maybe FauxAffablyEvil, its hard to tell.
* AllStarCast -- Quite possibly the coolest in the history of cinema: YulBrynner, SteveMcQueen, CharlesBronson, RobertVaughn, JamesCoburn, Brad Dexter, and Horst Buchholz are the Seven, and at least five of them went on to become A-list stars, in part thanks to this movie. (EliWallach is no-one to sneeze at, either.)
** Horst Bucholz didn't become an A-list star in America, but he did become exceptionally popular in European cinema, meaning poor BradDexter was the only member of the main cast who didn't become a big star in some way.
* AnyoneCanDie -- It's a western based on a movie by Creator/AkiraKurosawa. What'd you expect?
* AvengersAssemble -- Chris delivering TheCall.
* BeardOfEvil -- Calvera.
* BavarianFireDrill -- Chico, yet again. You have to wonder: Did Chris write a song about him, as promised?
* {{Badass}} -- All the seven, really. Also BadassCrew.
* BadassBoast -- ''We deal in lead, friend.''

* BaldOfAwesome -- This could be said of almost any role YulBrynner has played, but this one stands out the most.
* {{Bandito}} -- Calvera and his gang.
* BatmanColdOpen -- A Western variation (escorting a dead Indian to a cemetery whilst under fire) of the BatmanColdOpen Kambei undergoes in Kurosawa's original. It establishes not only Chris and Vin's creds as [[{{Badass}} awesome gunslingers]], but also solidifies their respect for each other.

* BittersweetEnding -- The bandits are all dead, but so are four of the seven. One of the survivors [[IChooseToStay gives up on adventure]], while the other two ride off to a future without prospects. "The old man was right. Only the farmers won. We lost. We'll always lose."
* BoomerangBigot -- Chico really hates farmers.
** This is directly taken from ''TheSevenSamurai'' film from which ''The Magnificent Seven'' was based. There it explains why the seventh member tries so hard to be a Samurai, constantly boasting and showing off before tearfully admitting he came from a family of selfish farmers.
* CallToAgriculture -- Chico, in spite of explicitly stating in an earlier scene that he had no intention of settling down.
* CatapultNightmare -- Lee scrambles across the room in a panic when he awakens from a nightmare.
* ChangedMyMindKid -- A couple of times during the AvengersAssemble section, but the best example of the trope is [[spoiler:Harry returning for the FinalBattle.]]
* ChekhovsGun -- Subverted with Britt's knife-throwing. In the final gunfight he draws the blade -- and is killed before he can throw it.
* CompositeCharacter -- Chico, whose character combines those of Katsushiro and Kikuchiyo from the original film.
* [[AwesomeMusic/{{Film}} Crowning Music Of Awesome]] -- [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1S34S_rk53Q The main theme.]] ElmerBernstein's Masterpiece.
** Actor Eli Wallach, who delivers a great performance as the bandit leader, Calvera, remarked that if he'd have heard Elmer's music while they were filming the movie, he'd have ridden his horse better!
* DeadpanSnarker -- Vin.
** O' Reilly as well:

* EvilCanNotComprehendGood -- [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming The seven came back for a village like this]]. [[AlasPoorVillain Why?]]

** TheHero: Chris.
** TheLancer: Vin.
** TheSmartGuy: Harry.
** TheBigGuy: Britt.
** KidAppealCharacter: Chico.
** TheHeart: O'Reilly.
** SixthRanger: Lee.
* ForeignRemake -- Of ''SevenSamurai'', naturally.
* FriendToAllChildren -- Bernardo O'Reilly.
* IChooseToStay -- Chico

** Played straight: Actually not terrible compared to some westerns, but several characters make shots on the run, shoot guns out of hands, etc.
** Averted: Britt, acknowledged to be the best with a gun, takes several seconds to line up a shot that, while not point blank, isn't terribly long range either, and he still claims to have missed his target (whether or not he actually did is debatable).
* InstantFanClub -- Bernardo, though it doesn't do him much good; see StopHelpingMe.
* KnifeNut -- Britt uses a throwing knife in a gunfight. And ''wins''.
* NaiveNewcomer -- Chico again.
* TheGunslinger -- Did we mention this is a western movie?
* TheGunfighterWannabe -- Chico.
* TheMagnificentSevenSamurai -- TropeNamer. Or rather, co-trope namer.
* MeaningfulName -- Chico means "Kid" in Spanish.
* MyFriendsAndZoidberg -- The titular Seven are six actors who became major stars... and Brad Dexter. (Horst Bucholz had a huge career in Germany.)
* NoodleIncident -- Vin answers the question in EvilCannotComprehendGood above with a story about this man he witnessed jumping buck naked into a patch of cactus. "He said it seemed like a good idea at the time."
* NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent -- YulBrynner (a Russian) and Horst Buchholz (a German) both sport their natural accents. Hilariously, the film tries to {{Handwave}} this by making Brynner's character a Cajun and Buchholz's a Mexican.
* TheNotableNumeral -- Guess which?
* PyrrhicVictory -- Lampshaded, as with the original film, with the whole "only the farmers won" speech.
* TheQuietOne -- ''Two'' of them. James Coburn's character 'Britt' (the knife-thrower), with 11 lines total during the 128 minute-long film; and Robert Vaughn's 'Lee' (the gambler), who has a whopping 16 lines.

* RatedMForManly -- It's a very macho movie, in a good sense.
* RedemptionEqualsDeath -- Played straight with both [[spoiler:Lee ''and'' Harry. Lee, who has been struggling with his cowardice throughout the whole movie, is shot to death five seconds after saving a group of villagers. Harry dies saving a cornered Chris from being killed.]]
* SayMyName -- {{Invoked}} by Bernardo [[spoiler:as he's dying.]]
* SettingUpdate -- From feudal Japan to the American West.
* TheSiege -- Of the village, although pretty short.
* SmugSnake -- Calvera.

* SparedByTheAdaptation -- [[spoiler: The Village Elder, who died in Kurosawa's film. Chico is half an example, as a {{composite|Character}} of Kikuchiyo (who died) and Katsushiro (who survived).]]
* TheStoic -- Britt. Also Chris to some extent.
** You could make an argument for everyone (except Chico). The point being that everyone else on the crew has seen so much in their day it takes a lot to make them shocked, surprised, hurt, etc.
* StopHelpingMe -- Bernardo's InstantFanclub follow him everywhere trying to be useful; in the end [[spoiler:they get him killed when they distract him during a gunfight.]]

* TokenRomance -- [[spoiler:Chico and Petra]]

* WallSlump -- [[spoiler: Lee's]] death
* TheWestern -- ''The'' Western, yes.

-->'''Harry:''' "Come on, Lee. If they want to get killed, let 'em."
-->'''Chris:''' "Go ahead, Lee. You don't owe anything to anybody."
-->'''Lee:''' "Except to myself."
* YoungGun -- Chico.
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* BaldOfAwesome -- This could be said of almost any role Yul Brynner has played, but this one stands out the most.

* NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent -- Yul Brynner (a Russian) and Horst Buchholz (a German) both sport their natural accents. Hilariously, the film tries to {{Handwave}} this by making Brynner's character a Cajun and Buchholz's a Mexican.

* AnyoneCanDie -- It's a western based on a movie by AkiraKurosawa. What'd you expect?

* AdaptationDistillation -- AkiraKurosawa was so pleased with the result, he gave the director, John Sturges, a samurai sword.

** Come off it. The Magnificent Seven is hardly the definitive western. That award would probably go to about any Western in John Ford's oeuvre... but not for this film.

** TheBumblebee: Chico.

** Chris: No enemies? Lee: ''Alive...''

* AccidentalAimingSkills -- Britt kills a bandit fleeing on horseback with a single pistol shot from a long distance. When Chico praises it as the best shot he's ever seen, Britt replies that it was the ''worst'' - he was aiming for the ''horse''.

-->'''Chris:' You forget one thing. We took a contract.

* BittersweetEnding -- The bandits are all dead, but so are four of the seven. One of the survivors [[IChooseToStay gives up on adventure]], while the other two ride off to a future without prospects. "Only the farmers have won."

** Chris: No enemies? Lee: ''Alive''

** Chris: No enemies?
Lee: ''Alive''

* AccidentalAimingSkills -- Britt kills a bandit fleeing on horseback with a single pistol shot from a long distance. When a witness praises it as the best shot he's ever seen, Britt replies that it was the ''worst'' - he was aiming for the ''horse''.

* AllStarCast -- Quite possibly the coolest in the history of cinema: YulBrynner, SteveMcQueen, CharlesBronson, RobertVaughn, JamesCoburn, Brad Dexter, and Horst Bucholz are the Seven, and at least five of them went on to become A-list stars, in part thanks to this movie. (EliWallach is no-one to sneeze at, either.)

* CompleteMonster: Calvera terroizes paceful innocent villagers, raiding the village and even killing a man simply commenting ''Stupid''. Also when his men count their dead companions he answers: ''Talk! They're all dead anyway. Forget about them''.

* AnyoneCanDie: It's a western based on a movie by AkiraKurosawa. What'd you expect?

* BeardOfEvil: Calvera.

* BadassBoast -- ''We deal in lead, friend''
* BaldOfAwesome: This could be said of almost any role Yul Brynner has played, but this one stands out the most.

* BoomerangBigot: Chico really hates farmers.

* ChangedMyMindKid: a couple of times during the AvengersAssemble section, but the best example of the trope is [[spoiler:Harry returning for the FinalBattle.]]
* CompositeCharacter: Chico, whose character combines those of Katsushiro and Kikuchiyo from the original film.

* ForeignRemake: Of ''SevenSamurai'', naturally.
* FriendToAllChildren: Bernardo.
* IChooseToStay: Chico

* InstantFanClub: Bernardo, though it doesn't do him much good; see StopHelpingMe.

* MeaningfulName: Chico means "Kid" in Spanish.
* MyFriendsAndZoidberg: The titular Seven are six actors who became major stars... and Brad Dexter. (Horst Bucholz had a huge career in Germany.)
* NoodleIncident: Vin answers the question in EvilCannotComprehendGood above with a story about this man he witnessed jumping buck naked into a patch of cactus. "He said it seemed like a good idea at the time."

* RatedMForManly: It's a very macho movie, in a good sense.
* RedemptionEqualsDeath -- Played straight with both [[spoiler:Lee ''and'' Harry. Lee, who has been struggling with his cowardice throughout the whole movie, is shot to death five seconds after saving a group of villagers. Harry dies while saving a cornered Chris from being killed.]]
* SayMyName: {{Invoked}} by Bernardo [[spoiler:as he's dying.]]
* SettingUpdate: From feudal Japan to the American West.

* SmugSnake: Calvera.

* StopHelpingMe: Bernardo's InstantFanclub follow him everywhere trying to be useful; in the end [[spoiler:they get him killed when they distract him during a gunfight.]]

* TokenRomance: [[spoiler:Chico and Petra]]

* TheWestern - ''The'' Western, yes.

* ActionFilmQuietDramaScene -- Vin and Hilario having the page quote conversation in the middle of a firefight.

* SparedByTheAdaptation -- [[spoiler: The Village Elder, who died in Kurosawa's film]]

** Britt's lines also tend to be ''short.'' In his [[EstablishingCharacterMoment introductory scene]], he only speaks seven words.

* CompositeCharacter: Chico, whose character combines that of Katsushiro and Kikuchiyo from the original film.

* CatapultNightmare: Robert Vaughn scrambles across the room in a panic when he awakens from a nightmare.

* AccidentalAimingSkills -- Britt kills a bandit fleeing on horseback with a single pistol shot from a long distance, which a witness describes as the greatest shot he has ever seen. Britt describes it as the ''worst'' shot; he was aiming for the ''horse''.

* [[AwesomeMusic/{{Film}} Crowning Music Of Awesome]] -- [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1S34S_rk53Q The main theme.]] Elmer Bernstein's Masterpiece.

* [[AwesomeMusic/{{Film}} Crowning Music Of Awesome]] -- [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iteRKvRKFA The main theme.]] Elmer Bernstein's Masterpiece.

[[redirect:TheMagnificentSeven]]