The Magnificent Seven Ride! (1972)

Written by CinemaSerf on May 28, 2023

Lee Van Cleef takes on the famous Yul Brynner role as "Chris" - this time a US Marshal who is drafted in to recruit a team to protect a small agrarian township from the marauding "De Toro" (Ron Stein). The casting is oddly unconvincing. Stefanie Powers just doesn't cut it at all as love interest "Laurie", nor does Mickey Callan as "Noah" (he should just have stuck to fighting over-sized chickens and Herbert Lom) and, unfortunately, I just cannot take Ralph Waite seriously even though this was made before we became accustomed to his performances with his wholesome "Paw Walton" characterisation. It is stodgily directed, drearily written and is an exceptionally slow burn for an action film, and though it does pick up slightly for the last fifteen minutes or so it is not really much of a worthy successor and I found that it was a film that I am sure I must have seen before, but remember not at all.