The Magnificent Seven
By Jeffrey Anderson,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Crowd-pleasing Western remake is very violent.
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The Magnificent Seven
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What's the Story?
In THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN, it's 1879, and murderous robber baron Bartholomew Bogue (Peter Sarsgaard) is persecuting the town of Rose Creek, intimidating its simple farmers into giving up their land. When bounty hunter Sam Chisolm (Denzel Washington) arrives in town, the newly widowed Emma Cullen (Haley Bennett) begs him to put a stop to Bogue's evildoing. So Chisolm recruits a team of outcasts -- including a quickdraw Irishman (Chris Pratt), a Southern gentleman (Ethan Hawke), a Chinese knife expert (Byung-hun Lee), a Mexican bandit (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo), a grizzly bear-like tracker (Vincent D'Onofrio), and a Comanche warrior (Martin Sensmeier). But with only a short time to prepare and Bogue heading up an entire army of gunslingers, can Chisolm's team finish what's been started?
Is It Any Good?
It's perhaps a bit too noisy and relentlessly violent, but this remake adds a new, multicultural angle to a sturdy old story and looks good doing it. The Magnificent Seven is a Western that's worth re-telling to a younger generation. Re-teaming with Washington for the third time (after Training Day and The Equalizer), director Antoine Fuqua takes inspiration from many classic Westerns, as well as Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai (1954), which is the original source of the story. His sense of rhythm and space is admirable, though he often errs on the side of too much, rather than not enough.
Yet even if Fuqua's direction isn't on par with that of Kurosawa or Western masters like Sam Peckinpah, he effectively uses the language of the genre to underline its strong, simple themes and codes of honor. The movie occasionally acknowledges racial differences and fears but quickly gets the seven on equal footing, and they come to life in entertaining ways. The thundering score (begun by the late James Horner and completed by Simon Franglen) helps, using bits of Elmer Bernstein's legendary music from the 1960 version. The Magnificent Seven has always been, and still is, more crowd-pleaser than great poetry, and that's OK.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about The Magnificent Seven's violence. How does the fact that much of the shooting and killing is bloodless affect its impact? Does exposure to violent media desensitize kids to violence?
Do you consider Bartholomew Bogue a bully? How is he dealt with? What is learned? How else can bullies be handled?
How do the characters in The Magnificent Seven demonstrate teamwork? How do the individuals contribute to the team? Why is teamwork an important character strength?
How does the movie deal with the characters' different races and cultures? Does it seem to take a positive, pro-diversity approach? Does that make up for the fact that there are few female characters of note?
Faraday drinks a lot and is referred to as "drunken." Why does he drink? Are there consequences? Why does that matter?
Movie Details
- In theaters: September 23, 2016
- On DVD or streaming: December 20, 2016
- Cast: Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke
- Director: Antoine Fuqua
- Inclusion Information: Black directors, Black actors
- Studio: Sony Pictures Releasing
- Genre: Western
- Character Strengths: Teamwork
- Run time: 132 minutes
- MPAA rating: PG-13
- MPAA explanation: extended and intense sequences of Western violence, and for historical smoking, some language and suggestive material
- Last updated: February 26, 2023
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