The Magnificent Seven Ride!

The end of a franchise that should never have existed.

It is often said that there is no love like the first, and really Magnificent Seven was an excellent film, which deserves to be remembered and that is part of the great Western films, for me. The film had several sequels, as we know, but none of them were necessary, and the truth is that it would have been better if they had never been made.

This film was the third and final sequel to Magnificent Seven. Again, we witness an absolute renewal of the cast, in a radical break with everything that was done previously: here we already see Chris (always the same character, despite the rotation of actors) aged, as sheriff, about to get married. A local bank robbery, followed by the ki...

Lee Van Cleef takes on the famous Yul Brynner role as "Chris" - this time a US Marshal who is drafted in to recruit a team to protect a small agrarian township from the marauding "De Toro" (Ron Stein). The casting is oddly unconvincing. Stefanie Powers just doesn't cut it at all as love interest "Laurie", nor does Mickey Callan as "Noah" (he should just have stuck to fighting over-sized chickens and Herbert Lom) and, unfortunately, I just cannot take Ralph Waite seriously even though this was made before we became accustomed to his performances with his wholesome "Paw Walton" characterisation. It is stodgily directed, drearily written and is an exceptionally slow burn for an action film, and though it does pick up slightly for the last fift...