"Magnificent Seven" & "Seven Samurai" Movies Page at Magic Lantern Video & Book Store

"How'd you like to kill thirty bandits?" — Gorobei character in "Seven Samurai"

Japanese auteur director Akira Kurosawa [1910-98] co-wrote and directed "Seven Samurai", which was released in Japan in April 1954, with U.S. release in November 1956. The film was for a time the highest-grossing Japanese film, and raised the standards for production of Japanese cinema. The original Japanese version ran 207 minutes, while the U.K. release ran 150 minutes and the U.S. release ran 141 minutes; re-release prints in the 1990s had several scenes restored, and recent DVDs run as long as 204 minutes.

Director John Sturges developed a Western script based closely on the plot of "Seven Samurai"; filming took place on location in Mexico, using widescreen Cinemascope cameras. The U.S. release of "The Magnificent Seven" was in October 1960; the film reached Japan in May 1961. The musical score by Elmer Bernstein was nominated for an Oscar. The film was a huge hit, giving a boost to the careers of several of the main actors, and was followed by three sequels – "Return of The Seven" [1966], "Guns of The Magnificent Seven" [1969], and "The Magnificent Seven Ride" [1972] – and a two-season TV series in 1998-2000. (The 1984 Italian 'swords & sandals' remake "The Seven Magnificent Gladiators" starring Lou Ferrigno is best forgotten.)

"The Seven Samurai"
aka 'Shichinin no samurai'
[Toho Japan April 1954; US release Nov 1956]

Battle Beyond The Stars movie from Roger Corman

"Battle Beyond The Stars" [New World Pictures Sept 1980]
A rather faithful adaptation of "Seven Samurai", except it is on the distant planet Akir. This typical low-budget Corman feature is notable mostly for the 'watershed' nature of the film: John Sayles (script), James Cameron (SFX), James Horner (music), Gale Anne Hurd (asst. P.M.), and actor Richard Thomas all went on to bigger projects. Produced by Roger Corman; directed by Jimmy T. Murakami; script by John Sayles & Anne Dyer; starring Richard Thomas, Robert Vaughn, John Saxon, George Peppard, Darlanne Fluegel, Sybil Danning, Sam Jaffe, Jeff Corey & Morgan Woodward
New Concorde color DVD [2/2001] out of prodn/used
New Concorde color VHS [2/2001] out of prodn/used
full credits at IMDb • movie entry at Wikipedia

Return of The Magnificent Seven movie directed by Burt Kennedy

"Return of The Seven" [Mirisch/United Artists Oct 1966]
Filmed in and near Madrid, Spain (because Mexican authorities were still mad from the first movie crew.) When a Mexican bandit leader captures the men of three villages, including Chico, for labor to build a church, Chico's wife seeks out Chris & Vin, who recruit four others to rescue their former pard.
Directed by Burt Kennedy; written by Larry Cohen; music by Elmer Bernstein; starring Yul Brynner, Emilio Fernández, Robert Fuller, Julián Mateos, Warren Oates, Claude Akins, Elisa Montés, Warren Oates, Claude Akins, Jordan Christopher & Fernando Rey; Oscar nomination for Best Music Score
M.G.M. widescreen color DVD [4/2002] for $13.49
M.G.M. color VHS [9/98] out of prodn/many used
Rykodisc soundtrack CD [2/98] 16 tracks - out of prodn/used
full credits from IMDb • film entry at Wikipedia

The Magnificent Seven Ride movie starring Lee Van Cleef

"The Magnificent Seven Ride" [Mirisch/United Artists Aug 1972]
Filmed in the California desert. Chris, now a marshal and married, declines to help a friend trying to stop a gang of Mexican outlaws; when the gang robs the bank and kidnaps Chris's wife and kills his friend, he takes up the cause, getting help from convicts at the Territorial Prison. Directed by George McCowan; written by Arthur Rowe; starring Lee Van Cleef, Stephanie Powers, Michael Callan, Luke Askew, Gary Busey, Ralph Waite, Mariette Hartley, James Sikking, Ed Lauter, Pedro Armendariz Jr. & William Lucking
M.G.M. widescreen color DVD [5/2004] out of prodn/used
full credits from IMDb • film entry at Wikipedia

"Guns For Hire: The Making of The Magnificent Seven" documentary [Channel 4 TV May 2000]

60-minute documentary directed by Louis Heaton; featuring John A. Alonzo, Elmer Bernstein, Horst Buchholz, John Carpenter, James Coburn, Brad Dexter, Walter Mirisch, Robert E. Relyea, Robert Vaughn & Eli Wallach, with archive footage of Yul Brynner, Akira Kurosawa & Steve McQueen
available as part of the 4-disk box set (above); credits from IMDb

Into the Beautiful North novel by Luis Alberto Urrea

"Into The Beautiful North: A Novel" [2009]
by Luis Alberto Urrea
A young girl in a Mexican coastal village realizes that all the men have gone north to work in the USA, leaving the town at the mercy of drug lords and bandits. Inspired by "The Magnificent Seven", she and two friends head north to find seven Mexican men, to bring them back to defend the village.
Little, Brown hardcover [5/2009] for $16.49

	"Seven Samurai" screenplay [1970] by Akira Kurosawa S&S pb [1970] out of print/used "Seven Samurai" The Ultimate Film Guide" [2001] 'Noted by' Roy Stafford York Press 8¼x6½ pb [11/2001] out of print/used
	"Seven Samurai" [2008] critical text by Joan Mellen British Film Institute 7¼x5¼ pb [1/2008] for $11.21

Magic Lantern Video & Book Store"Seven Samurai" Movie& "Magnificent Seven" Movies

Magic Lantern Video & Book Store
"Seven Samurai" Movie
& "Magnificent Seven" Movies