The only difference between Westerns and Samurai movies is location, and this film is the proof. The three-hour epic from Akira Kurosawa, Seven Samurai, is the film The Magnificent Seven is based on, and the two are basically equal in their impact. Seriously, how often is a remake as good (or at least pretty close) as the original? Now, when it was released, the reviews were mixed. Most critics compared it negatively to Seven Samurai, but still recalled it as an entertaining Western. Reports on Kurosawa’s own reaction are conflicting. Some say he found it disappointing, but admitted its entertainment value. Others say Kurosawa was so impressed and pleased with the film that he sent the director, John Sturges, a sword. Luckily, over the years, critical analysis has only improved with most people drawing particular attention to its story, score and cast. That part is really impressive: this film is packed with an all-star cast. Yul Brynner (who also is the one who pursued the idea of remaking Seven Samurai), Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, James Coburn, Robert Vaughn, Brad Dexter and Horst Buchholz are the titular seven, and Eli Wallach is their opposition, the leader of the bandit gang terrorizing the poor Mexican villain, Calvera.

Calvera and his team of bandits raid a Mexican village, taking what little food and supplies there are. While there, the bandits kill a villager. This prompts the villagers to send three men to barter what little they have for guns for the next time. Just inside the U.S. border, the villagers meet Chris, a Cajun gunfighter. Chris suggests trying to get gunfighters than just guns, and he offers to help them recruit. They get Vin, Harry, Bernardo, Britt and Lee to join because they’re all broke and need whatever they can get or they expect Chris knows of a great reward involved. A young hothead named Chico has been told he can’t join but he follows them anyway, and is eventually let it for persistence alone. They reach the village and help train them and build fortifications. However, the gunmen also learn that the village has been hiding their women for fear of the gunmen taking advantage of them.

Soon, Calvera and his gang return, but the gunmen and villagers take out eleven of them and they retreat. The villagers believe Calvera will not return, but Chico infiltrates his gang and discovers they intend to return, and soon. Some of the villagers want them to leave, fearing Calvera’s return, but Chris demands they stay. The seven ride out to go ahead and take care of Calvera, but when they arrive to his camp, they see its empty. They return to the village, but Calvera is already there, having colluded with some of the villagers, and the seven are captured. However, Calvera believes the betrayal is enough to keep the gunmen from coming back, so he lets them live, escorts them out of the village and returns their guns to them. The gunmen, however, have grown attached to the villagers and understand they only acted out of fear, so they return for a great shootout. Harry, Lee, Bernardo and Britt all die during the fight, but Chris kills Calvera and ends it. Chico decides to stay in the village and Chris and Vin leave, passing by the graves of their comrades as they go.

The Magnificent Seven is (one of) the best of what the Western genre has to offer. Great performances, a bittersweet ending, thrilling shootouts, quiet standoffs, a beautiful backdrop of American landscape, and one of the greatest film scores of all time are the pillars of this remarkable remake of a foreign film. It has influenced so many films in its lifetime, some of them rather surprising. It’s the same story as Pixar’s A Bug’s Life and is also a loose inspiration for the plot of the Western Comedy, Three Amigos. When a story transcends genre and medium, that’s how you know it’s a classic. The Magnificent Seven is a great testament to that story. It may not be the original, it may not be the latest thing, but it’s a classic all its own.

Bonus Review: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

I mean, what is there to say? You know the movie, you know the score, you know the Mexican standoff scene. Considered the ultimate Spaghetti Western, The Good, the Bad & the Ugly follows three men -the quiet Blondie, the venomous Angel Eyes, and the oafish, double-crossing Tuco – in search of a cache of Confederate gold. With bounty hunters and U.S. military hot on their trails, they must, at times, work with each other and against each other if they’re going to find the grave where the gold is buried. This film was an international success, making Clint Eastwood a mega star and introducing the United States to Lee Van Cleef and Eli Wallach. It also happens to be Sergio Leone’s masterpiece.

Angel Eyes interrogates a Confederate soldier about a man named “Bill Carson”, who allegedly stole a cache of Confederate gold. He kills the soldier and decides to go after the gold for himself. Meanwhile, a man named Tuco has a bounty on his head for $2000, and he struggles to keep the bounty hunters at bay. Blondie is finally the one to bring him and collect the money. However, when Tuco is about to be hanged, Blondie shoots the rope and the two escape together and split the bounty. However, Blondie grows weary of Tuco and abandons him in the desert. Tuco catches up to Blondie when a carriage passes by with dead or dying soldiers. One is Bill Carson, who asks Tuco for water in exchange for $200,000 in gold buried in Sad Hill Cemetery. When Tuco comes back with water, Carson is dead, but before he passed, he told Blondie which grave to dig up. Since each has a separate piece of the puzzle, they decide to work together again. They are captured by a Union patrol, and Tuco gives his name as Bill Carson. Angel Eyes is there, posed as a Union officer, looking for Carson. He tortures Tuco into giving the info he has and sets him to be hanged. Angel Eyes recruits Blondie’s help since he knows the rest of the info, and Tuco escapes hanging again.

The three, plus Angel Eyes’ gang, all come together in an abandoned town. Blondie and Tuco kill the gang, but Angel Eyes escapes. A bridge is being fought for between the Union and Confederacy, so to get by, Tuco and Blondie decide to blow the bridge up. Tuco suggests that, in case they die, they share what info they have so the other can get the gold. Tuco says the name of the cemetery, and Blondie gives the grave name, “Arch Stanton”. Tuco hops on a horse and races for the cemetery to get the gold for himself. Both Blondie and Angel Eyes show up while Tuco digs, only there’s no treasure. Blondie admits to having lied about the name. He places a rock at the right grave, challenging the others to a duel. Angel Eyes draws first, but Blondie shoots him. And Tuco discovers his gun is unloaded. Blondie admits to doing that the night before. Blondie gets Tuco into a noose by holding him at gunpoint after the gold is dug up. Blondie takes his half and rides away, but shoots the rope just before Tuco gives way, allowing him to live and take his half.