When Isabelle was home from college, the four of us watched (in order)
The Seven Samurai 1954 Kurosawa | The Magnificent Seven 1960 Sturges | The Magnificent Seven 2016 Fuqua |
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Aside from the fact that the original Kurosawa is legendary and influential in a way none of the derivative movies could possible be, here are a few interesting observation we had as a family:
Classic -----------------------------------------------------------------> Modern |
Bandits Need Food to Survive Bandits have a Bandit leader of pure evil (leader’s identity not critical) named leader Weapon of mass destruction Motivations are less personal Lead hero has personal vendetta |
Funny Scenes Less comedy, more cool
Intense acting, physical comedy Hair cutting/head shaving important scalping referenced |
Role of Farmers Townsfolk are farmer Emphasized (one hero is former farmer) Farming/Farmers (one samurai is secretly not important farmer) (gold is!) In the end, the farmers are the winners emphasized (also their willingness to do anything to survive) |
40 Bandits 40 Bandits 40 Townsfolk, 7 Heroes, 4 die 7 Heroes, 4 die hordes of bad guys 7 Heroes, 4 die Romance ends Romance succeeds Sexual references throughout No romance or references to sex
Sacrifice theme personal PTSD PTSD emphasized, (houses, stolen wife, heroes deaths) Hero self-sacrifice is belabored, heroic
Yoda-like old man Old man less iconic no old man |
No religion Religion in background Explicit Christianity No racial diversity Race important Racial identity important |
Additionally, the classic Kurosawa had carefully composed shots that could work as photography whereas the more modern films were more concerned with action and transitions.
Is the 1960 film the origin of the story about the man falling to his death and saying "so far so good" on the way down?
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| Yet another Lucas-Kurosawa link? |
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