A great Kurosawa remake that transforms the period drama "The Magnificent Seven" into a Western drama *Note! Contains spoilers.

*This article touches on the ending of the story, so we recommend watching the movie before reading it.

“The Magnificent Seven” Synopsis

Across the border, the cold Mexican village of Iztlacan suffers as its crops are stolen by bandits led by Calvera every year during the harvest season. The elders and villagers, determined to fight them, decided to hire helpers. Seven skilled gunmen, including Chris, gather and take on 40 enemies in a fierce battle to drive out bandits from the village.

Index

• A remake project that started with some ups and downs
• Production systems are collapsing one after another
• Seven gunslingers cast at a rapid pace
• Yul Brynner and Steve McQueen feud
• John Sturges faced the challenge

A remake project that started with some ups and downs

In 2010, it was ranked #1 on Empire's ``100 Best Foreign Language Films of All Time.'' In 2018, it was ranked 1st in the BBC's list of the 100 best foreign language films of all time. Akira Kurosawa's `` Seven Samurai '' (54) is undoubtedly one of the great achievements of Japanese cinema, and is a world standard film that continues to influence the world today.

Multi-camera shooting that uses multiple cameras running simultaneously from various angles, slow-motion expressions during battle scenes, and images full of speed that utilize telephoto lenses. Many of the techniques used in ``The Seven Samurai'' were later imitated in every scene of every movie, and became the cornerstone of the next generation of action movies. The well-known ``The Magnificent Seven'' (1960) was a remake of this great film, moving it from a historical drama to a Western drama.

“The Magnificent Seven” preview

When Sergio Leone remade Kurosawa's `` Yojimbo '' (61) as `` A Fistful of Dollars '' (64), he was sued for copyright infringement because he did not give any notice to Toho, and the worldwide box office gross was 15. It is a well-known story that Kurosawa ended up having to pay a percentage of the profit. Producer Lou Morheim negotiated closely with Toho and officially acquired the remake rights for ``Seven People in The Magnificent Seven''. That amount is only $250! Even if you convert it into today's currency, it's a super cheap price of about $2,200 (by the way, Toho did not consult Kurosawa at all when negotiating the remake).

Anthony Quinn, known for his roles in Zapata the Revolutionary (52) and Van Gogh (56), was considered for the lead role. He was also one of those who was moved by watching ``Seven Samurai''. After being recommended by Anthony Quinn, Yul Brynner was also deeply impressed by Seven Samurai. He had just suddenly become a popular star with `` The King and I '' (1956), but he also had an extraordinary desire to work as a director. The original idea was for the film to be produced by Lou Morheim, directed by Yul Brynner, and starring Anthony Quinn.

However, Yul Brynner and Anthony Quinn have too strong egos and fall out. Brynner bought the remake rights from Lou Morheim, and he will be leading The Magnificent Seven. Anthony Quinn became furious and filed a lawsuit claiming that the contract had been breached. Although this lawsuit was ultimately dismissed, ``The Magnificent Seven'' got off to a rocky start.

Production systems are collapsing one after another