A remake of Japanese master Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai, this plays like a Reader’s Digest version of that great epic, in which a small farming village terrorized by a pack of bandits seeks out seven hired killers for protection. The pleasure of the remake lies in the casting. Yul Brynner may make for a strange cowboy – he’s from Santa Fe via Siberia – but his authoritarian style is just right for the leader of this ragtag bunch. At his side is an affable Steve McQueen, a shockingly lanky James Coburn and a surprisingly charming Charles Bronson, among others. Eli Wallach, who would go on to star in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, brings comic bite to the role of the lead bandit, while veteran director John Sturges (Gunfight at the O.K. Corral) guides them all with an assured hand. The result may not hold a candle to Kurosawa’s picture, but as Westerns go, it’s magnificent.
