I consider the first Magnificent Seven movie to be an over-rated cowboy 'classic', a western retelling of Kurasawa's The Seven Samurai that is hampered by schmaltz and clichéd characters. It is, however, made watchable thanks to its star power, the impressive cast including Yul Brynner, Eli Wallach, Charles Bronson, Steve McQueen and James Coburn.
The only 'star' in this fourth film in the series is Lee Van Cleef, and as good as he is, he can't carry this tired movie by himself. Cleef is U.S. Marshal Chris (previously played by Brynner in the first two movies, and George Kennedy in the third), who, with writer Noah Forbes (Michael Callan) at his side, goes on the trail of a trio of bank-robbers who have kidnapped his wife.
After finding the body of his spouse, who has been raped and killed, Chris tracks down and executes two of the guilty men (one of whom is played by a young Gary Busey), and goes looking for the third, who he believes to have been recruited by bandit De Toro (Ron Stein), whose band of outlaws have been terrorising the small Mexican border town of Magdalena (killing all of the men and raping the women).
At Magdalena, Chris promises the frightened women (very few of whom look Mexican and all of whom are attractive) that he will return with a group of men to deal with De Toro and his bandits. Visiting the prison in Tucson, Chris assembles a team comprising of men he put behind bars, promising each of them a pardon if they help his cause...
While the preparation for the arrival of De Toro's gang, and the subsequent gun battles, are reasonably fun (with some bright red squib work), the film lacks originality and has the look and feel of a made-for-TV movie, with much of the action taking place at one of cinema's most recognisable and over-used film and TV locations, the Vasquez Rocks in California. The inclusion of Hart to Hart's Stefanie Powers as Chris's love interest only adds to small-screen vibe.
4.5/10, rounded up to 5 for IMDb.
