Recent DVD purchases/viewings

[The Burgomaster]

* GUNS OF THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN - George Kennedy takes over for Yul Brynner (who starred in the first two MAGNIFICENT SEVEN flicks).  This time, the 7 gunslingers (including Reni Santoni who later went on to co-star in DIRTY HARRY and COBRA, Joe Don Baker, Bernie Casey, and James Whitmore as a knife-throwing expert) try to bust Fernando Rey out of prison.  The movie is nothing special (just a typical western), but it never gets boring and there are one or two clever sequences.  My favorite part is when Mexican soldiers bury some guys up to their necks and then trample on their heads with horses!

* THE ERRAND BOY - Here is a Jerry Lewis movie with some very funny gags.  Jerry plays a bumbling errand boy working at a major movie studio ("Paramutual Pictures").  This movie includes Jerry's famous "Chairman of the Board" routine.  Unfortunately, the movie has 2 scenes that slow everything down: one in which Jerry talks to a clown hand-puppet, and another in which he talks to a swan marionette.  Overall, though, the movie is worth seeing.

* THE BELLBOY - This is another Jerry Lewis movie (his debut as a director), but it isn't very funny.  There is no plot - just various scenes of Jerry stumbling and bumbling his way through his job as a hotel bellboy in Miami Beach.  Milton Berle makes a guest appearance (which doesn't help).  Fortunately, the movie runs for only 71 minutes.

* THE FALCON AND THE SNOWMAN - I picked this up in Wal-Mart's infamous $5.50 bin.  I probably hadn't seen this movie in at least 10 or 15 years, but it was worth the wait to see it again.  It's based on a true story about two guys who sold U.S. satellite secrets to the Soviets during the 1970s.  Timothy Hutton and Sean Penn turn in excellent performances under John Schlesinger's marvelous direction.  Highly recommended.



Post Edited (10-21-04 06:59)

[Ann]

you put the errand boy on DVD Why in the hell won't put over the edge on DVD

[Scott]

Been wanting to see GUNS OF THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN,  RETURN OF THE MAGNIFICIENT SEVEN and THE MAGNIFICIENT SEVEN RIDE. I know I've seen one of the sequels and remember not liking it to much, but that was at least 25 years ago. Would like to see them all including which ever one of the above that I did see.

[The Burgomaster]

Scott:

I have all 4 movies in the series.  I didn't like RETURN OF . . . very much.  I haven't watched THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN RIDE yet.

[Scott]

That's great you have access to all of them. Let me know how you rate them when your done. Like in what order you liked them. Thanks

[The Burgomaster]

Scott:

As requested, here is how I rank the movies in the MAGNIFICENT SEVEN quadrilogy (now that I have finally had a chance to see them all):

1. THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN
2. GUNS OF THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN
3. THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN RIDE!
4. THE RETURN OF THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN

THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN RIDE! is very watchable, even though I ranked it at #3.  Lee Van Cleef plays Chris, and the supporting cast includes Luke Askew, Ed Lauter, Ralph Waite, Stefanie Powers, Mariette Hartley, and a few others you might recognize.  The movie has the look, feel, and pacing of a western TV series . . . like an episode of GUNSMOKE or BONANZA.  But that's okay.  There is enough gunplay to keep the viewer interested.  Sure, it isn't very original, the dialogue is pretty basic (with a good smattering of cliches), and, overall, the movie isn't very memorable.  But I think you'll find that its worth seeing if you accept it for what it is: a couple of hours of pulp western fun.

[Scott]

Thanks Burgomaster. It can't be to bad if it has Lee Van Cleef in it.  : ) Haven't seen the Western Channel play them yet nor any other channel lately. Do you have DVD's of those film? How much did they cost?

[The Burgomaster]

Scott:

I have them all on DVD.  Themost recent ones that I bought were GUNS OF THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN and THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN RIDE!  I paid under $10 apiece for them.