Disappointment for a huge fan!

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

It was always going to be difficult to re-cast the role of Chris Adams, Cajun gunslinger, leader of the Seven - a part made so famous and so charismatically in the original by Yul Brynner. But, the gritty, fatherly, gargantuan George Kennedy has a job to do and he takes us with him to rescue a Mexican patriot who is attempting to assist helpless and downtrodden peasants. The film has more expanse than the first sequel - more drama, breeziness, and the occasional funny one liner. The ensemble cast and others are quite interesting - playing it entertainingly high spirited and quirky. There are some tonal problems with the majestic Elmer Bernstein score and it is a very formulaic western, but it has some good action sequences and plenty of colour.

¨Guns of the magnificent seven¨ (Paul Wendkos,1969) with George Kennedy is a thrilling and truly thunderous sequel next to original and considered to be one of the best . Acceptable following co-produced by US/Spain and filmed in Almeria , Andalucía and Hoyo de Manzanares's Western-film town , Madrid , where were shot lots of Paella/Spaghetti Westerns in the 60s and 70s . This is the third in the original series of four "Magnificent Seven" movies , as The magnificent Seven are back and they don't aim to please . This sequel to ¨Magnificent seven¨ is well played George Kennedy as tough gunslinger named Chris who along a misfit group of gunslingers , all of them set off in rescue a Mexican revolutionary . As one day soldiers of the dictator Porfirio Diaz capture a rebel leader called Quintero (Fernando Rey) . His deputy (Reni Santoni) offers a reward to free Quintero and he sets out to look for Chris , the leader of The Seven for help . Chris is decided to take a squad and strike a blow against the Mexican army and free the captured leader of the revolutionaries . To carry out this assignment Chris has to join a misfit bunch of gunfighters . As Chris and his buddies (James Whitmore , Monte Markham , Bernie Casey , Scott Thomas , Joe Don Baker) , each of whom comes for a different reason , must free a Mexican revolutionary imprisoned by nasty Col. Diego (Michael Ansara) . All of them riding to the rescue of yet another bunch of downtrodden evil people and , at the same time , they get a chance to redeem themselves . Later on , the team develops a plan to secure an enemy attack and to pull off their mission against a fort strongly defended .Chris character was played by Yul Brynner in two occasions and one performed by Lee Van Cleef and George Kennedy . Brynner as a two-fisted Pistolero was very good ; in fact , it was Yul Brynner who approached producer Walter Mirisch with the idea of doing a Western adaptation of Akira Kurosawa's classic , The seven Samurais . Despite bearing no resemblance to Yul Brynner, including a full head of hair , George Kennedy and subsequently Lee Van Cleef took over the role of Chris Adams , played by Brynner in the first two films . Even Chris Adams' trademark dark clothing is gone , what remains is the steel resolve and affinity for cigars . Here George Kennedy as Chris is pretty well , giving a forceful interpretation . Besides , Monte Markham as well as James Withmore are unexpectedly lithe and other gunslingers are quite well defined . The remaining cast is a great help and they hold the picture together when it looks disintegrate after a promising start as did other follow-ups in the series . Wonderful ensemble cast playing unforgettable , moving roles with nice performers such as Monte Markham , Joe Don Baker , Frank Silvera , Reni Santoni and feature film debut of Bernie Casie . Being a Spanish/US co-production , there appears several actors usual in Spaghetti-Paella Western such as the Spanish Sancho Gracia , Jorge Rigaud and Fernando Rey playing his ordinary role as a good man . Rey is the only actor besides Yul Brynner to appear in two Magnificent Seven films , as he also played a priest in Return of the magnificent seven (1966) . The story is similar to previous entry , including customary outlaw band formed by an eclectic gang with diverse characters as well as speciality , as dynamite or guns . The film gets action Western , exciting riding , shootouts , it's fun and entertaining , although nothing new but displays a slight style . Despite the familiar framework of the screenplay , the interesting dialog is studded with memorably quotable lines and the flick arranges to raise some fresh entertainment from the vintage tale of the septet of Pistoleros . The movie contains some moment of violence and even touching on the relationships between the Mexican villagers and the Magnificent . Colorful as well as sharp cinematography in Panavision and Color DeLuxe by Antonio Macasoli , being filmed on location in Colmenar Viejo , and , of course , Almeria , Spain . As always , breathtaking and memorable musical score by Elmer Bernstein ; Elmer , whose score for this movie is one of the best-known ever composed , also wrote the soundtrack for the parody of this film, 'Three amigos' . The classic and stirring soundtrack helps highlight the action in the exciting climax . The motion picture was professionally directed by Paul Wendkos , whose works remain undervalued in USA . This is a decent though inferior sequel to the original and enduringly popular ¨The magnificent seven¨( John Sturges,1960) that is equally remake of ¨The seven samurais¨ (Akira Kurosawa) . After that , followed ¨The return of the seven¨(Burt Kennedy,1966), again with Brynner and and ¨The Magnificent seven ride¨ with Lee Van Cleef by George McCowan and continued with a TV series and a Television movie realized in 1998 . Although this film revisits the village from the first movie, it was shot in Spain , not Mexico and for once doesn't disgrace the original . Among the many reasons were the difficulties that occurred between the American filmmakers and the Mexican crew and government censors during the shooting of the first film .

Guns Of The Magnificent Seven is the best of the 4 films. It takes a huge leap from the dullness of the 2nd film to an action packed hit! This one has a better storyline from the original 2 and yet do many disagree, they are all wrong. This film is as good as any Western film. There is still the jolly old theme song and the main character whose actor changes in this film. To be honest I think Paul Kennedy is better actor for "CHRIS" than the other one in the 1st 2 films. This one also has a few notable actors in it as well, but none of them can beat Steve McQueen in the first film.So, in my opinion "GUNS OF THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN" is the actual gun of the 4 films...

I've always been a big fan and personal admirer of George Kennedy. He's a number of great things. He's a severely underrated actor who appeared in a large number of cinematic milestones but hardly ever received any recognition for it. He's a versatile actor who can effortlessly adapt to every possible genre as well as to every possible type of character. He's a hard working and unpretentious actor who starred in massively budgeted blockbusters as well as in cheap B-movies. I also tell you what he's not, though … George Kennedy is NOT Yul Brunner and therefore cannot carry the leading heroic role in a western, especially not when this particular western franchise already outstayed its welcome. In fact, George Kennedy is not a leading actor; period. He's at his best in a major supportive role. Standing in the shadow of the hero but still essential to the plot, like his roles in the "Airport" series. "Guns of the Magnificent Seven" is a fairly worthless and time-wasting western, and that is definitely not George Kennedy's fault. As said already, the franchise was clearly dried out in the first sequel already and thus far all the follow-ups are redundant and uninvolving rehash of the original John Sturges' classic. Yet again, some poor Mexican schlemiel is seeking the help of Chris Adams because a malignant Colonel is exploiting the defenseless farmers in his community and this time even kidnapped their revolutionary leader. Yet once again Chris Adams seeks out six fellow gunslingers to ride with him, a process that already consumes 40 minutes of the entire film, and comes to the rescue. And, finally, once again the seven supposedly relentless hired gunman develop a deep sympathy for the pathetic Mexican villagers and sacrifice their lives for their well-being. Yawn. This third entry in the series is incredibly boring most of the time, because Chris' plan of action exists mostly of … waiting. I was actually rooting for the drunk Mexican posse leader who continuously referred to the Seven as greedy cowards. None of the (not so) magnificent seven characters is even remotely worth talking about and the big bloody finale, set in an allegedly maximum security prison were all the guards take Sundays off to spend the day in bed with their wives, is overlong and unexciting. There came one more sequel after this one, namely "The Magnificent Seven Ride!" with no less than Lee "the Bad" Van Cleef reprising the role of Marshal Chris Adams. I am still going to check that film out, mostly because I'm a Van Cleef fan boy. And, quite frankly, because I bought the Magnificent Seven box set, so I already paid for all four movies anyway.