THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN (1960)

Yul Brynner had one of his biggest box office hits when he brought Japan to Hollywood with this spirited remake of Akira Kurosawa’s classic Seven Samurai (1954). With John Sturges directing, it was sure to be a top-notch action film, but the filmmaker never lost sight of the original’s pathos. Kurosawa’s tale of a small village hiring seven samurai to protect it from a band of ruthless bandits had focused on Japanese traditions of honor and social engagement. With a transplanted story, Sturges centered on the way the West was changing over time as the frontier of bandits and lone gunmen became a more civilized place. The film provided a big boost to co-stars Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, James Coburn and Robert Vaughn. But it gave Brynner such an iconic role he wore the same costume in his role as a robot gunslinger in the science fiction thriller Westworld (1973).

d. John Sturges, 128m, DCP

DCP courtesy Amazon Studios and Park Circus.