tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8298105293143495655.post9108126509415899611..comments2024-02-28T21:15:07.992-08:00Comments on Prequels Scene of the Day: The Magnificent RemakeUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8298105293143495655.post-57518834576160806562016-09-30T11:16:04.559-07:002016-09-30T11:16:04.559-07:00Yes. To say a film is actually a fantasy (as the i...Yes. To say a film is actually a fantasy (as the in the last paragraph) is not to diminish it.Bluehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14667147687700902147noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8298105293143495655.post-18633919987176346252016-09-30T11:15:48.972-07:002016-09-30T11:15:48.972-07:00This comment has been removed by the author.Bluehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14667147687700902147noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8298105293143495655.post-6582288133100666092016-09-30T11:11:19.748-07:002016-09-30T11:11:19.748-07:00There's at least an argument to be made that t...There's at least an argument to be made that the 1960 Magnificent Seven is the version with the purest message, precisely <i>because</i> guns can serve as equalizers. <br /><br />Why do the peasants see the samurai, basically, as terrifying aliens? Because the samurai basically <i>are</i> terrifying aliens. They have, by dint of training and upbringing, destructive skills that no peasant could ever hope to match. (More or less, fudge fudge.) Relying on them for martial aid is just a recognition of the world's realities: samurai can fight, peasants can't. Which is an interesting dynamic to examine, and a real one -- but on some level it doesn't have much to say beyond "different people are in fact different, and that has consequences." <br /><br />Why do the villagers see the cowboys, basically, as terrifying aliens? Because of worldview and expectation. That's it. There's no fundamental, ontological divide; any one of them, with a revolver, can be almost as powerful as a professional gunslinger. But the villagers fear fighting, and they fear death. They have things to lose: land, family, social role. The power of the Magnificent Seven is not the functionally-magical power of warrior-caste training, but simply the power of being <i>prepared</i> to fight and die, which is in fact the power of having nothing to lose. <br /><br />And I think it's much more worthwhile to tell a story about the reasons that the power of having nothing to lose, alone, makes you a terrifying alien. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com