Movie: The Magnificant Seven

The Magnificent Seven: a Western based on a 1960 film of the same name.  Both are based on the Akira Kurosawa film, Seven Samurai.  All three versions share a common storyline: a town is under siege by evil individuals; seven men with no connection to the town rally together to save the town and its people; and there is violence.  The 2016 version is directed by Antoine Fuqua and stars Denzel Washington as Sam Chisolm, whose counterpart in the 1960 film was Yul Brynner.  Chisolm is the character who brings together the Magnificent Seven and his introduction into the story may be the best part of the film.   Although Denzel may be reason enough to see this film, like the 1960 version, the 2016 remake has a strong supporting cast.  The basic plot is unchanged, but the current version has two significant differences.  First, the 2016 Chisolm has a specific, personal reason for becoming involved whereas in the 1960 film, the motivating cause was simply righteousness.  Second, the 2016 tale includes as a significant character a gun-toting female villager, Emma (Haley Bennett).  The bad guy is played by Peter Sarsgaard, whose character is evil incarnate even if one dimensional.  The big shoot-up scene could have been better edited as I thought it ran long and reminded me why some of you do not like Westerns.  But the bottom line is that if you like westerns, you’ll enjoy this 132 minute film.