Taking over from Yul Brynner as Chris the organizer of the seven, George Kennedy's services are called upon by yet another Mexican village. But it's not to fight some bandit leader, Guns Of The Magnificent Seven involves the group in Mexican revolutionary politics.
Fernando Rey as an opposition leader is visiting a village to recruit for the revolutionaries when the local army colonel, Michael Ansara, arrests him and several villagers in an effort to learn who is organizing in his area. One of the villagers who's apparently heard about the success of the Seven in a couple of other films rides to look for Kennedy. Reni Santoni and Kennedy recruit a new batch of seven to rescue Rey from Ansara who's a particularly sadistic individual.
The rest of the seven include Monte Markham, Bernie Casey, Joe Don Baker, James Whitmore, and Scott Thomas. As is usual, some survive the final fight, some do not, I won't say who.
The best part of the film is the assault on the fort where Ansara and his troops are garrisoned. It's a well staged battle sequence.
In a bow to history, both real and cinematic, a young Mexican kid played by Tony Davis adopts one of the seven, James Whitmore, as a substitute father. The young man's name is Emiliano Zapata. Of course if the producers had done their homework, they would have learned that the real Emiliano Zapata did not come from the US border area, but was from the other end of Mexico.
Of course the Elmer Bernstein theme, one of the most famous in film history is here as well, you couldn't do a Magnificent Seven film without it. But when all is said and done Guns Of The Magnificent Seven remains a rather routine western.
Fernando Rey as an opposition leader is visiting a village to recruit for the revolutionaries when the local army colonel, Michael Ansara, arrests him and several villagers in an effort to learn who is organizing in his area. One of the villagers who's apparently heard about the success of the Seven in a couple of other films rides to look for Kennedy. Reni Santoni and Kennedy recruit a new batch of seven to rescue Rey from Ansara who's a particularly sadistic individual.
The rest of the seven include Monte Markham, Bernie Casey, Joe Don Baker, James Whitmore, and Scott Thomas. As is usual, some survive the final fight, some do not, I won't say who.
The best part of the film is the assault on the fort where Ansara and his troops are garrisoned. It's a well staged battle sequence.
In a bow to history, both real and cinematic, a young Mexican kid played by Tony Davis adopts one of the seven, James Whitmore, as a substitute father. The young man's name is Emiliano Zapata. Of course if the producers had done their homework, they would have learned that the real Emiliano Zapata did not come from the US border area, but was from the other end of Mexico.
Of course the Elmer Bernstein theme, one of the most famous in film history is here as well, you couldn't do a Magnificent Seven film without it. But when all is said and done Guns Of The Magnificent Seven remains a rather routine western.