Instant Favorite.

Crappy film

To all those who have watched it: I hope you enjoyed it as much as I do.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

I read several poor reviews on this one, and I think the movie was well done. No, its not a masterpiece of writing but it is entertaining. I really liked the Stefanie Powers character, I think it was well played. Did not really like the Noah Forbes character, he was out of place in a Magnificent Seven movie. Overall this is an entertaining movie, much better than Guns of the Magnificent Seven, which I think is the worse of the sequels.

The final chapter of the original series (as there was a short-lived TV series that came out decades later), but despite the recurring Chris character (this time portrayed by the steely Lee Van Cleef) and the Mexican bandits. "The Magnificent Seven Ride!" didn't feel like a magnificent seven film but more a western take on "The Dirty Dozen". Well when it starts it plays on a more personal, if adventurous note (Chris now a town Marshall seeking vengeance on a couple of bank robbers) before settling on the winsome, but safe story mechanics of the previous entries. A village (of women) in need of rescue from Mexican bandits. After chasing one of the bank robbers over the border, he finds himself accidentally getting involved as originally he knocked down the offer from an old friend to help in some shape. "He did my job. I'll do his." A team is hand-picked by Chris… this time it's criminals not bounty hunters. The same shtick, but still rather diverting. Arthur Rowe's story moves by quick enough, never becoming overly preachy but held together by some engaging dialogue passages and solid performances (Michael Callan, Luke Askew, Stefanie Powers, Pedro Armendáriz Jr. and Ralph Waite) that share a good rapport on screen. Also some familiar faces (James Sikking, Ed Lauter and Gary Busey) show up. Director George McCowan takes time to set it up with moments of reflection and humour, but there are well pieced shootouts with violence bursts and red sauce going around. The efficient direction stays grounded, even though it had that made for TV back-lot feel. The music score is recycled but still feels at home with the action. "Ride" won't blow you away, but I found it a slightly better effort over the last two instalments; "Return" and "Guns".

This ain't your grandfather's western. It's disturbing, cynical, morally ambiguous, and despite the stunningly bright visuals and bouncy themesong by Elmer Bernstein, it's one of the darkest westerns I've ever seen. I couldn't help but wonder if this film served as the template for the Eastwood masterpiece UNFORGIVEN that would come 20 years later.Unlike your classic westerns where the hero is infallable and can shoot the dandruff off a cockroach at 100 yards, this presents a realistic protagonist: a man who is troubled by questions of morality, one who doesn't always have the perfect plan, one who makes some pretty bad judgements and has to pay the price.There are some real gems of dialogue that illustrate this human factor, delivered brilliantly by Lee Van Cleef in the role of Chris.A priest says: "God works in mysterious ways."Chris retorts: "Yeah, he confuses the heck out of me, too."And throughout the film we get similar insight into the soul of a man who, despite his decades of experience, still doesn't have any answers--at least none that he can convince himself about, despite his bravado. For that reason alone, I rate this as one of my favourite westerns. Like the aforementioned UNFORGIVEN, this is one of the rare westerns that shows us what real life is about, not comic book goodguy/badguy stuff.I can only assume that's why this film doesn't seem to be well received. The earlier MAG7 films seemed to be a clearcut war between right & wrong, whereas MAG7 RIDE gives us a war between two different forms of insanity. This presents a much more challenging story to follow. Viewers might be confused at how a "good guy" can leave his friends to die, or how he doesn't fight fair. But to me--and maybe to you--it gives the story a lot more substance. It also makes the story very unpredictable right from the beginning, and as a result it's one of the most suspenseful westerns I've seen.A word about Stefanie Powers: FREAKIN AMAZING. Good golly miss molly, I didn't know she could act! If you think all she can do is "Hart to Hart" you gotta check this film out for her performance alone. It's a tough role, because she plays the emotional character amidst a backdrop of cold, leathery gunslingers. This formula is nothing new for western heroines; however I've noticed in other films the emotional heroine is too melodramatic, reducing her to the absurd. Stefanie, on the other hand, delivers the perfect subtle performance: very human yet not hysterical. She's smart, wise (in many cases wiser than any other character)... and I gotta say it... what a looker! You'll find your eyes glued to her in every scene.A final note, for anyone who notices this sort of thing: horses. As with all old westerns we see a fair number of horses getting thrown around. I went back & watched these scenes in slowmo, and I'm pretty sure that these were trained horses who fell without harm. Unlike RETURN OF THE MAG7 which was absolutely brutal (in one case you see a trip wire pop up, sending a 40mph, 2000lb horse onto its head--I doubt that horse ever got up again), these horses always fall to the side and roll safely. It always sucks when you learn how many horses are killed in these old westerns, but this film seemed to be pretty tame in that respect. Well, enough of that. The bottom line is I really enjoyed this film, and if any of this review made sense to you, I think you'll really like it, too. Go Ride(!) to your nearest video store and check it out. (gawd that was a cheezy line. Maybe I'll edit it out later)

"The Magnificent Seven Ride!" qualifies as a saddle sore sequel compared to its two predecessors, Burt Kennedy's "Return of the Seven" (1966) and Paul Wendkos' "Guns of the Magnificent Seven" (1968), the followed John Sturges' incomparable original "The Magnificent Seven." Lee Van Cleef is the best thing about "TM7R." He looks like he belongs in this uninspired horse opera and his performance is top-notch. No, he looks nothing like either Yul Brynner or George Kennedy. Nevertheless, he lends a commanding presence that this woebegone western desperately needs. Indeed, Van Cleef dwarfs the rest of the cast. Moreover, this "Seven" lack depth of character and whip up no more than a modicum of sympathy, unlike their forerunners."Frogs" director George McCowan manages to keep the action galloping along for its 100 minutes, and seasoned TV scenarist Arthur Rowe has altered the formula for this outing. For example, unlike the original, our heroes attack the Hispanic villain's camp before they engage him in a fight to the death in the village at the end. Unfortunately, "The Magnificent Seven Ride!" breaks too many rules. The villain is a one-dimensional cipher with no personality. Indeed, he doesn't utter a word. The best part of this lackluster western occurs in the last twenty minutes as the seven prepare for the onslaught of De Toro's men. "TM7R!" looks tired, empty, and worn out owing to its ersatz back lot setting and familiar television locales. Clearly, McCowan could not surmount the obstacles inherent in the low budget. Walter Thompson does a competent editing job, but he doesn't have much with which to work so the film has a routine rhythm to it. Talented "Patton" lenser Fred J. Koenekamp had little time to make this sagebrusher look as majestic as the earlier "Seven" entries.Die-hard "Magnificent Seven" fans have every right to abhor this lame western. I saw it in the theatre when it came out in 1972 and found it nothing short of deplorable. "The Magnificent Seven Ride!" doesn't live up to the Sturges, Kennedy, and Wendkos films. In fact, Geoff Murphy's television pilot surpasses the McCowan film. I remember "Playboy" magazine film critic Bruce Williamson commented that "TM7R" got by "on bits and pieces." In retrospect, more than 30 years later, my aversion to this film has dissipated. Although the McCowan film has its good points, the bad points set aside most of its assets. The stupendous Elmer Bernstein orchestral score seems to have lost its grandeur, too."The Magnificent Seven Ride!" opens with Lee Van Cleef and another horseman skedaddling out of town. One of Chris' pals from the past, former bounty hunter Jim McKay (Ralph Waite of "The Stone Killer"), is riding to see him in the hope that he can enlist Chris' help against a dastardly Mexican bandit called De Toro. Two of De Toro's men lay in ambush for Jim, but Chris guns down them and saves his old friend's life. When Jim asks Chris to ride with him, our pipe-smoking protagonist refuses. Not only has he ridden to Mexico three times before, but now he has taken a wife, Arrila (Mariette Hartley of "Barquero"), "who's still practically a bride." McKay reminds Chris that he saved his life, but Chris isn't about to budge. MacKay reminds them about the first time that they went south and earned only $50 dollars per man. Chris still turns him down.Meanwhile, a washed up journalist, Noah Forbes (Michael Callan of "Cat Ballou"), wants to immortalize Chris the way the real-life Ned Buntline did Buffalo Bill Cody. While all this is transpiring, Arrila pleads with Chris to release an 18-year old robber, Shelly (Darrell Larson), who is about to serve a stretch at the infamous Tucson Territorial Prison. Eventually, Arrila wears her husband down and Chris frees Shelly. Shelly repays him by robbing the town bank, wounding him in the shoulder, and abducting Arrila. Chris and Noah track down Shelly's accomplices and Chris guns them down in cold blood. Chris crosses trails with Jim again. Jim is the law in Magdalena, a Sonora farming village that consists primarily of Mexicans with a few American families. De Toro (Ron Stein)and his army of pistoleros terrorize the border. Neither the Rurales nor the U.S. Calvary has had any luck thwarting his notorious activities. Worse, neither refuses to work with the other. When Chris encounters Jim the second time, he learns that Shelly has ridden by and left. Chris learns later Shelly joined De Toro's gang, showed them a rear approach (a la "The 300 Spartans") but Jim killed Shelly. "He's done my job," Chris observed, "I'll do his." Chris rides into Magdalena and finds wives who're widows and some children. They don't have enough horses to escort them out of the village, but De Toro and his gang have ridden north across the border. Chris promises Mrs. Laurie Gunn (Stephanie Powers of "Hart to Hart")that he'll return. Noah and Chris ride to Tucson Territorial Prison where the warden reluctantly paroles into his custody Walt Drummond (William Lucking), Scott Elliot (Ed Lauter), Matt Skinner (Luke Askew), Pepe Carral (Pedro Armendáriz Jr.), and ex-Army officer Andy Hayes (James B. Sikking). Chris warns them that he has to consign the pardons before they can be freed and that he dies under any circumstances that the law will track them down."TM7R" looks completely different from the three earlier oaters. "The Magnificent Seven" was made in Mexico, and "Return of the Seven" and "Guns of the Magnificent Seven" were shot in scenic Spain. In fact, "TM7R" was shot at Universal Studios back lot where "Laredo," "Alias Smith & Jones," and "The Virginian" were made. The exterior desert scenes were lensed at Vasquez Rocks where Captain Kirk battled an alien in the "Star Trek" episode "Arena" and where virtually every cheapjack genre B-movie has been shot."The Magnificent Seven Ride!"isn't very magnificent.