Spitball Army

7.7
[DVD, library]

How I have lived this long without seeing this classic that is exactly as old as me is a mystery. But, since I have seen countless Westerns since then, seeing the one that so many of them borrow from and imitate is a bit disorienting (despite TMS itself being a remake of Kurosawa’s SEVEN SAMURAI). The entire second half of THREE AMIGOS, for example (despite clearly not being an example of a classic Western), is an homage to the Mexican village setting of MAGNIFICENT, right down to Martin Short – while merely being Martin Short – acting as a double for an over-acting Horst Buchholz. UNFORGIVEN, OPEN RANGE, THE QUICK AND THE DEAD, and many other Westerns made since then: they all owe a debt, in some way, to THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN. I was thoroughly engaged throughout, and the constant presence of the famous musical theme ignited an urge in me to throw a slab of beef on the barbecue grill and light up a Marlboro.

https://boxd.it/kR9At