The Magnificent Seven

If not exactly magnificent, it's still a well-executed traditional western. [31 Dec 1997]

The Magnificent Seven is sort of an odd mixture of 1990s political correctness and every cliche that's ever been played out in Western movies and TV shows. But, odder still, it all comes together in a rather enjoyable way. [2 Jan 1998]

Seven features an entertaining ensemble, a tongue-in-check approach and an attractive visual style that alternates between sweeping vistas and ultra-tight closeups. The sap and the male-bonding is sometimes a bit thick, but overall Seven is a clever update of an old TV genre - and a welcome break from TV's current glut of cops and docs. [2 Jan 1998]

The debut is cinematically beautiful, the cast is top-notch, the story is compelling, the characters distinct, the music stirring. The question is, why now? [30 Dec 1997]

Dozens of off-the-shelf cowboy cliches ... make this brand-new film seem so, so old. [3 Jan 1998]

Magnificent Seve" can't hold a candle to its cinematic predecessor, or to most of the old TV classics like Gunsmoke. But in a world where all the cowboys rode off into the sunset decades ago, we'll take a watered-down Western just fine, ma'am. [3 Jan 1998]

A few gun-notches below magnificent. [3 Jan 1998]

While it pales next to the original movie, it is an enjoyable Saturday-matinee-styled Western show with a charismatic cast and the potential for savvy plots reflecting the complications of race and violence in the post-Civil War West. [3 Jan 1998]

There's some nice moments in the premiere and great camaraderie. But it's stock stuff and you would hope for some invention. [31 Dec 1997]

A standard cowboys ‘n’ Indians, good vs. evil horse opera where good looks and good shots come together for the good of mankind.

Trying to be both sensitive and obstreperous, TV's Seven lacks a sure sense of itself, its audience— or even its history. ... The new Seven would be a lot better if its gang interacted more interestingly—more contentiously—with each other, and if its cast wasn't so uniformly youngish.

Most of the staples are there: the shootouts, flinty stares, purposeful strides through gunpowder smoke, tobacco spitting and rides into the sunset. What's missing is a little credibility. [2 Jan 1998]

An energetic attempt ... What there isn't, unfortunately, is enough character development to make you care about anybody or anything. [1 Jan 1998]

Considering the ways it's been scaled down for TV, "The Adequate Seven" or "The Essentially Competent Seven" might have made more accurate titles. [3 Jan 1998]

This remake of many remakes features a rerecording of the original Elmer Bernstein score, but no one in the cast has the magnetism to live up to that famous music, which comes with a set of expectations that asks a lot of the actors as well as of the script.

The power of the original lay not just in its stylish bravado but in its quiet, reflective moments ... There's little comparable depth in CBS's version. Perhaps the most poignant indication that this Magnificent Seven is not much more than a pale imitation is the inclusion of snippets of Elmer Bernstein's brilliant score from 1960.

This new "Magnificent Seven" is so far from magnificent, it's almost depressing. ... There's no sense of drama, humor or urgency. [2 Jan 1998]

Looks more like a tired old episode of "Wagon Train." [1 Jan 1998]

This low-rent knockoff of the estimable 1960 movie is a sleep--inducing, cliche-choked, rope-a-dopey slowpoke starring a buncha no-names substituting for the likes of Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson and James Coburn. We haven't seen markdowns of this magnitude since Sears fire-saled its entire line of Johnny Miller menswear. [3 Jan 1998]