There is no romance in the film, except for a completely unbelievable contrivance at the very end, and this straightforward accent on action keeps the film moving when it does not bog down in specious philosophy and repentance.īrynner is satisfactory in the leading role, although he tends to stick to one expression, perhaps playing it laconic. These men, in the current version, are really, and if this fact had been faced and maintained it would have made a diverting and different picture. In the first place, western badmen are not samurai, and to turn them into the equivalent of knights in armor, a good deal more character and exposition is necessary than is given. By the time they are through, they have become better. The point of the screenplay is that by turning idealist for money, the goodness of their position rubs off on the men. For a fee, these soulless men agree to protect the town and run off Wallach and his band. To protect themselves from his periodic plunderings, the villagers, headed by Rico Alaniz, hire a group of gunmen - Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen, Horst Buchholz, Charles Bronson, Robert Vaughn, Brad Dexter and James Coburn. The story now has a bedraggled Mexican village terrorized by a petty bandit chief, Eli Wallach. It was a good idea but it has not worked out. It was associate producer Lou Morheim’s idea that this Japanese film would make a good western. The William Roberts screenplay is adapted to the screen from the Japanese film of some years ago, Seven Samurai. Robert Sturges produced and directed the Mirisch production for United Artists. 'Star Wars: Return of the Jedi': THR's 1983 Review
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