inspectors71 I saw from George Kennedy in this pale and inconsequential sequel to The Magnificent Seven? I can't make up my mind on this. Kennedy had a shallow but pleasant repertoire of gimmicks in his acting. He radiated a pensive, pent-up fury that would boil over when he played a good-guy. His words would tumble out when provoked, and you knew the baddie would be taking a light shower when he got in the antagonist's face. I think that made him very believable. Unfortunately, it doesn't (he doesn't) seem to fit in this lazy, quiet Seven Samurai Go to Mexico Again outing. When confronted with one atrocity after another, perpetrated by evil Mexican soldiers against virtuous Mexican peasants, you're waiting for that fire to light. It probably fits the story of the character Chris, but you want some evil-doer to suffer a bit while Kennedy clenches down on his cigar.Director Paul Wendkos is no John Sturges, but he understands the basics of what made the Seven so appealing, and he keeps the movie moseying along to its inevitable shootemup climax.Lots of great old character actors here. Monte Markham does a Steve McQueen impression and fails (but we forgive him). Bernie Casey and Joe Don Baker bring along their respective backstories, and they do their The Defiant Ones shtick (more forgiveness). James Whitmore is an old knife-fighter, and I appreciated his yearning to drop all this killing stuff and go home.Michael Ansara is bad (behavior), Reni Santoni is worse (performance), and I'm sorry, I loved the little part of the worthless bandito leader, Frank Silvera. What a sleezoid!I kept wondering where I had seen him. It dawned on me--Hombre! "I wud like to know hees nay-ame."For all its not-even-a-a-blip-on-the-radar-ness, I liked the movie. Kind of like the way I like Mrs. Freshley's Honey Buns from the Dollar Tree. Totally devoid of anything other than some satisfaction.

morrison-dylan-fan With a friends birthday coming up,my dad decided that due to him being a fan of the first Magnificent 7,that he would give him one of the sequels as a present. Since neither me or my friend had seen any of the other titles in the series,we decided that it was time to once again join the Magnificent Seven.The plot:Building momentum in rallies against President Díaz dictatorship, Quintero and his fellow dissidents are arrested and placed in a maximum security prison.Just before he is sent to jail, Quintero gives fellow dissident Maximiliano O'Leary $600,and tells him to buy weapons so that the battle can continue.Ignoring Quintero's suggestion, O'Leary secretly crosses the board to search for legendary cowboy Chris Adams.Locating Adams just after he has helped a fellow outlaw to escape a hanging, O'Leary offers Adams $600 to help him free Quintero. Adams accepts the offer but on one condition,that he is able to gather a gang of cowboys and pay them $100 each,so that they can take on the full force of President Díaz army.View on the film:Backed by returning composer Elmer Bernstein rousing score,director Paul Wendkos gives the film an elegant appearance,with Wendkos cowboy silhouettes setting the Western mood,as Wendkos tightly-held shootouts allow the bullets to fly across the screen.Along with the Western kicks, Wendkos also gives the movie a surprisingly eerie horror edge,thanks to Wendkos using stark wide shots to show prisoners hanging from the prison walls,and bringing the camera down to the ground ,to show prisoners getting their heads crushed by horses.Giving each of the gang a moment to display their talents,the screenplay by Herman Hoffman gives the film an interesting real life element,as a young Emiliano Zapata helps the gang in their battle to free Quintero.After the origins of the gathering of the cowboys leads to the title having a light,playful atmosphere,Hoffman takes an impressively dark turn for the films blistering final shoot out,as Hoffman reveals that the gang were magnificent enough to survive the battle with Diaz,but were not magnificent enough to survive the war.

davorinlonac Guns Of The Magnificent Seven is the best of the 4 films. It takes a huge leap from the dullness of the 2nd film to an action packed hit! This one has a better storyline from the original 2 and yet do many disagree, they are all wrong. This film is as good as any Western film. There is still the jolly old theme song and the main character whose actor changes in this film. To be honest I think Paul Kennedy is better actor for "CHRIS" than the other one in the 1st 2 films. This one also has a few notable actors in it as well, but none of them can beat Steve McQueen in the first film.So, in my opinion "GUNS OF THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN" is the actual gun of the 4 films...

ianlouisiana "When love congeals it soon reveals the faint aroma of performing seals" wrote Lorenz Hart who knew a good few things about love,the movies and even performing seals for all I know.Certainly a seal - like aroma pervades this truly terrible rip - off (sorry,sequel) to a much - loved original.Any remaining goodwill is soon dispersed with the appearance of George Kennedy (with a laughable syrup) as a narrow - eyed cigar chomping "Chris".He is squeezed into trousers at least two sizes too small which has the effect of making his bum resemble that of a less than athletic hippopotamus and has trouble bending down - let alone running.He recruits a crew of second - rate (James Whitmore always excepted)TV actors to rescue Fernando Rey who would quite like to escape from a Mexican prison and who can blame him? Bernie Casey plays a "Blaxploitation"dude a hundred years before his time ,is handy with a Gatling gun and often artistically covered with sweat but - like the others - dies with a whimper rather than a roar. The only other even vaguely interesting figure is Joe Don Baker as a disabled ( or crippled - as he delicately puts it)Confederate Civil war vet who,like Chris,can hardly hobble and it is hardly a surprise that he is less than adept at dodging bullets when the time comes. George Kennedy only seems happy when he is leaning against a doorway/hitching post/adobe wall lighting a cigar and narrowing his eyes - he does a lot of that. In the circumstances it is almost a blasphemy to use Elmer Bernstein's iconic music and it only serves to underline how far down the path of mediocrity "Guns of the Magnificent Seven" has wandered. A lot of Mexican soldiers are slaughtered at the end - a large proportion of whom are,for some reason not wearing a shirt.Kennedy and Whitmore ride off into the sunset.Hopefully the next time he tries recruiting mercenaries at a hundred bucks a pop he will go for quality rather than quantity.