# The Magnificent Seven - 4K Blu-ray Review



## Mike Edwards (Mar 10, 2011)

[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=87034[/img] 
*Title: The Magnificent Seven* 

*Movie:* :5stars:
*Video:* :5stars:
*Audio:* :5stars: 
*Extras:* :3.5stars: 

*HTS Overall Score:*97




[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=87050[/img]*Summary* 
Westerns have always been a personal favorite genre for this reviewer. I grew up watching John Wayne, Clint Eastwood and Lee Van Cleef tearing up the old west, so you can be certain that I was more than a little bit disappointed with the way the film genre faded from popularity. Pretty much the ONLY westerns being made for many years were direct to video schlock that starred no names or washed up old stars like Christian Slater. However, thanks to some of the biggest names in Hollywood like Quentin Tarantino and the Coen Brothers we’ve seen a new resurgence as of late (although they sadly don’t do as well at the box office in comparison to the glory days). “Hell or High Water” was my favorite western of the year for the intelligence and feel of a modern western, but “The Magnificent Seven” is probably the best home video experience I’ve had for months, and certainly the best traditional western in several years (“The Hateful Eight” was good, but not great). 

Antoine Fuqua has been hitting it out of the park with his revival films lately. I’ve always loved the director’s films, ranging from “The Replacement Killers” to goofier films like “Olympus has Fallen” or “Shooter”, but he really made an impression on me when he re did “The Equalizer” into a classic 90s action film set in modern days. I really enjoyed that ability of his to bring us back to the glory days of action movies where the fights were brutal, you could actually SEE what was going on (shaky cam and super quick cuts are the bane of action films) and starring truly TOUGH guys. As you probably well know, “The Magnificent Seven” is a remake of John Sturges’ classic western of the same name starring Yule Brenner. With remakes being so common, and so cruddy, these days I was a little bit nervous, but was willing to give Fuqua the benefit of the doubt due to his recent success with “Southpaw” and “The Equalizer”. Ironically “The Magnificent Seven” was originally a remake of Akira Kurosawa’s “The Seven Samurai”. A film that has inspired and been copied many times over during the last 60 years. The 2016 remakes actually does an amazing job at showing honor and respect to the classic western it was copied from as well as Kurosawa’s original work, leaving me VERY VERY impressed. 

The dusty town of Rose Creek is under attack from your typical western villain. A rich mining land owner named Bogue (Peter Saarsgard), who wants to steal all of Rose Creeks land for pennies on the dollar and mine the snot out of the surrounding area. Being that he’s a bit of an egotist and maniac, Bogue is more than willing to run over and kill anyone who gets in his way. After the town is shown a “lesson” due to their willingness to stand up for themselves, widowed Emma Cullen (Haley Bennett” reaches out to a wandering peace officer by the name of Sam Chisolm (Denzel Washington). A man who can handle himself with a gun and carries a burden of pain on his shoulders. Refusing to let Chisolm go after his careless dismissal of their desires, Emma begs for his help and appeals to the man’s love of coin. Well, every man has his price, and Sam has his. Now it’s time to gather a few bad bad men together to fend off the invading horde.

[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=87058[/img]Soon 1 becomes 2, and 2 becomes seven as Chisolm brings together a ragtag group of seven men including a smooth talking gambler named Faraday (Chris Pratt), a confederate sharp shooter named Goodnight Robicheaux (Ethan Hawke) and his Asian partner Billy Rocks (Byung-hun Lee), a wandering Comanche Indian, a Mexican killer (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo), and a giant bear of a mountain man named Jack Horne (Vincent D’Onofrio). The seven compadres now have to whip the town into shape and build a fighting force that will be able to repel the hordes of men that Bogue will be throwing their way.

The plot is fairly simply, but that’s a boon to the movie. It’s your classic western at heart. A big bad land owner trying to take the livelihood of innocent townsfolk, and it’s up to a group of tough, but kindhearted, wanderers to save the day. We’ve seen it a million times in the past, and it just WORKS. Clint Eastwood has done it, John Wayne has done it, Kurosawa made it famous, and the classic genre tricks work just as well today as they did yesterday. Fuqua has really knocked it out of the park here though, as everyone just meshes perfectly on screen. Denzel and Ethan have been pulled over form Fuqua’s previous films and the chemistry between the director and his regular actors is concise and very comfortable feeling. However I was really surprised about the rest of the cast. Vincent D’Onofrio was one I really had reservations about above all, but he turned out to be one of the best characters in the movie. His crazy, but powerful persona makes for a loveable (but very scary) giant, and the squeaky accent he puts on really fits the role. Byung-hun Lee was great as the high flying and knife wielding side kick to Ethan Hawke’s character, and Chris Pratt really allowed himself to be toned down a bit for the role of Faraday. He still adds the humor and smart-alec charm that he’s known for, but it was not as over the top as I was worried about.

Fuqua manages to hit all of the right beats for “The Magnificent Seven”. Big mustache twirling super barons, innocent townsfolk who just need saving, and fantastic heroes that work well together on screen. The language, the choreography and even the filming style work together harmoniously to create a wonderfully exciting film. Fuqua made the mart decision to not only film on 35mm film instead of digital, but made a very specific point of using practical effects and real stunt men instead of CGI trickery. The results are naturally more natural and realistic than I could have hoped for. Something which adds to the authenticity of the western genre in more than a little way.





*Rating:* 

Rated PG-13 for extended and intense sequences of Western violence, and for historical smoking, some language and suggestive material




*Video* :5stars:

[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=87066[/img]Even though “The Magnificent Seven” was shot on film it was also finished at 2K, something that makes one scratch their head as film has EASILY enough capturable resolution to finish at 4K. A process that would have future proofed it for generations, but I can’t complain about the image at hand. It makes for a very handsome upgrade over the already stunning 1080p Blu-ray that comes with this 4K UltraHD set. Textures are more noticeable and you can see the deeper blacks become richer and with less shadow detail lost. Everything just looks more detailed, faces, wood buildings, dirt flying through the air as horses rip up sod, the glint off of a Colt Peacekmaker in the sunlight. Grain is beautiful and very obviously more structured, without ever looking like it takes away from the picture (one of my favorite parts of the movie was being shot on 35mm film instead of digital cameras). Blacks are deeper and more vibrant, with even more shadow detail out our disposal. Excellent transfer all around, despite a surprising 2K master.





*Audio* :5stars:

[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=87074[/img]While Sony gave us a 7.1 DTS-HD MA track for the Blu-ray and a full on Dolby Atmos track for the 4K disc, the two tracks are more similar than not. Both of them have an intense and well situated sense of space and direction, but the Atmos track definitely has some perks. Mainly with the sense of overhead immersion that comes from those top oriented speakers. The music sounds more immersive and creates more of a “bubble” than a surrounding effect like the 7.1 track provides, and the battle sequences make great use of those overheads with bullets whizzing by over the top, or the explosion of a building lifting UPWARDS in the sound stage. The LFE is tight and powerful, and I have to say I think it’s ever so slightly more intense in the Dolby track than the DTS-HD MA. Overall the Atmos track and the DTS-HD 7.1 experience are both simply phenomenal in their own rights but if you have the equipment, I’d definitely choose the Atmos.





*Extras:* :3.5stars:
[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=87082[/img]
• Vengeance Mode: Director Antoine Fuqua and cast break down key scenes and discuss the making of the film
• Deleted Scenes
• Gunslingers
• The Taking of Rose Creek
• Magnificent Music
• Directing the Seven
• The Seven
• Rogue Bogue






*Overall:* :5stars:

I’m simply beside myself with joy to see so many excellent western’s returning to the big screen. Westerns have been declared dead for several decades (even more since the heydays of the 50s and 60s), but there has been a slow but steady resurgence of quality Westerns. Antoine Fuqua has done an amazing job with revitalizing multiple genres, and “The Magnificent Seven” does a fantastic job at showing a great deal of respect for the original (and its predecessor, “The Seven Samurai”), while allowing the 2016 remake to shine in its own right. Easily one of my favorite home video experiences, Sony’s disc features great extras, perfect picture and audio and combined with one of the best traditional western’s I’ve seen since “True Grit”, it makes for once enticing package. I don’t care whether you like westerns, or just good movies, but “The Magnificent Seven” is definitely a must buy.


*Additional Information:*

Starring: Denzel Washington, Ethan Hawke, Chris Pratt
Directed by: Antoine Fuqua
Written by: Richard Wenk, Nic Pizzolatto, Akira Kurosawa (Original Screenplay)
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 HEVC
Audio: English: Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 Core), English Descriptive Services, Spanish DD 5.1
Studio: Sony
Rated: PG-13
Runtime: 133 minutes 
Blu-Ray Release Date: December 20th, 2016



*Buy The Magnificent Seven on 4K Blu-ray at Amazon*
*Buy The Magnificent Seven on Blu-ray at Amazon*




*Recommendation: Must Buy​*







More about Mike


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## Savjac (Apr 17, 2008)

Whoa, a 97 ? That is like seeing the Grape Ape walking the streets of Laredo.

I gots to what this movie, thank You Mike


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## Mike Edwards (Mar 10, 2011)

Savjac said:


> Whoa, a 97 ? That is like seeing the Grape Ape walking the streets of Laredo.
> 
> I gots to what this movie, thank You Mike


it's one of the best movies of the year IMO... not to mention the fact that it gets perfect video and audio, which makes it VERY hard to resist


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## JBrax (Oct 13, 2011)

Well if that wasn't a convincing BUY ME review I don't know what is? Thanks for the review Mike I'll be adding this to the growing collection.


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## NBPk402 (Feb 21, 2012)

I wish they would stop putting the Atmos audio on the 4k only! I wonder if you can strip the audio from the Blue Ray and replace it with the one from the 4k version if you rip it to your HDD...


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## JBrax (Oct 13, 2011)

ellisr63 said:


> I wish they would stop putting the Atmos audio on the 4k only! I wonder if you can strip the audio from the Blue Ray and replace it with the one from the 4k version if you rip it to your HDD...


 I absolutely LOATHED the fact they started doing that! I made the investment adding the speakers for Atmos and then the studios did that. It worked though because that pushed me into the 4K upgrade. Gotta say I don't regret it but it was very savvy from a business standpoint.


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## Mike Edwards (Mar 10, 2011)

lol, and that's exactly why they did it. Carrot to entice everyone to upgrade ... at least Universal and Warner is good about putting them on both (Lionsgate too)


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## JBrax (Oct 13, 2011)

Mike Edwards said:


> lol, and that's exactly why they did it. Carrot to entice everyone to upgrade
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 It worked!


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## Savjac (Apr 17, 2008)

This is one of the toughest decisions I have had to make in many a moon and should probably be in another threat but I have to mention it for what will be obvious reasons.

I do not presently have dolby atmos in my home. I know you gents are weeping for me as I post this. 
But I have two hobbies presently that can cost some substantive amounts of cash, Home Theater, Movies mainly as Photography.

I need to invest in a new receiver that would have Dolby Atmos and I do have in ceiling speakers already in the house. I also want a bigger and badder subwoofer for the Tranquility Base. Conversely, I have had several fine folks as me to do portraits, the good kind not typical family pictures, for which will need some additional lights, backdrops and a newer lens, glass is everything. 

I am torn here, I "adore" the Home Theater, I just have not done much up there. I "Like" photography and it promises to return a small amount of cash.
So I guess in reality to get to Atmos, I just need to find a way to obtain a new receiver while selling off my older Denon. Not having heard Atmos in a home before, I have no idea if there will be a significant improvement or if it will be an....well ok moment. 

This is hurting my brain.


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## JBrax (Oct 13, 2011)

Take this to the Atmos thread?


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## Savjac (Apr 17, 2008)

I dunno, I think I have said my piece and now I just need to go into my brain and make some decisions.


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## JBrax (Oct 13, 2011)

Hmm? Ok.


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## JBrax (Oct 13, 2011)

Back to the thread topic then. Like you Mike I miss the good westerns. True Grit was outstanding but I'm looking for Unforgiven quality. Blind buy regardless.


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## willis7469 (Jan 31, 2014)

JBrax said:


> Back to the thread topic then. Like you Mike I miss the good westerns. True Grit was outstanding but I'm looking for Unforgiven quality. Blind buy regardless.




Unforgiven is one of the best ever. I also liked forsaken. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## willis7469 (Jan 31, 2014)

Savjac said:


> I dunno, I think I have said my piece and now I just need to go into my brain and make some decisions.




Hi jack! So good to see you poking around here again. Not been the same without you. A suggestion if I may, would be to hit eBay for some photo gear and sell the photographs to finance the theater. Win/win. 
Sorry. Derail over. Lol


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Savjac (Apr 17, 2008)

willis7469 said:


> Hi jack! So good to see you poking around here again. Not been the same without you. A suggestion if I may, would be to hit eBay for some photo gear and sell the photographs to finance the theater. Win/win.
> Sorry. Derail over. Lol
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Thank You Willis, I would like to poke about more, we just need a couple good topics. :grin2:


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