On the occasion of the theatrical release this week of The 7 Mercenaries by Antoine De Fuqua, remake of the 1960 classic, a small recap of the original film.
A hell of a remake of The Seven Samurai:
Considered one of the greatest westerns of all time, The Seven Mercenaries, a disguised remake of Kurosawa's The 7 Samurai, is itself the subject of another remake soberly titled The 7 Mercenaries and directed by Antoine De Fuqua to whom we owe the recent Equalizer. John Sturges' first Seven Mercenaries, however, struggled to forge an identity of its own, in the midst of many spaghetti westerns, the genre being largely dominated by Sergio Leone and his faithful Clint Eastwood. John Sturges had to hit hard to hope to reach the heights and overshadow these countless classics of the genre. Bickering, power struggles, betrayals and unions, the primary interest of the feature film lies in its characters whose distribution was made with little onions. Thus are gathered on screen Steve McQueen (The Great Escape), Charles Bronson (A Vigilante in the City), Yul Brynner (Mondwest), James Coburn (The Brawler) and the late Eli Wallach (The Good, the Bad and the Ugly). Actors who were mutually looking to steal the show on set at the time, which created the necessary tensions for the feature film directly on screen.
The Seven Mercenaries: a timeless classic
John Sturges Americanized Kurosawa's story while managing to keep the initial concept intact. The filmmaker offers a reflection on bravery and more broadly on the heavy loneliness of the cowboy who knows only violence and who solves all his problems with a colt. John Sturges chose a catchy musical theme in the spirit of the western, largely convincing. The Seven Mercenaries is an integral part of American cinematic heritage, a classic among the classics, unforgettable and unifying. Avengers before their time, these seven mercenaries appear as true ambiguous heroes able to save a small village from oppression. Easier to access than Leone's or Corbucci's westerns, The Seven Mercenaries is often one of the first westerns a young cinephile watches. With a big budget and a dantesque cast, The Seven Mercenaries is less in-depth and fleshed out than other films of the genre. Cowboys don't face themselves, their demons. Less taciturn and tortured, with such protagonists The Seven Mercenaries looks more towards pure and simple entertainment than towards the characterful study of a lonely cowboy seeking some kind of redemption. However, there are still very successful action scenes, quite breathless for the time.
Finally The Seven Mercenaries has become as cult over time especially thanks to its stunning cast and easily identifiable characters.
