Though not as good as the original, The Return Of The Seven brings back Yul Brynner for another appealing turn as black-clad anti-hero Chris Adams, with Claude Akins and Warren Oates providing memorable support. However, the rest of the seven are kind of bland, but alright.
Burt Kennedy was one of the best and least heralded directors that the western genre has to offer. Here, he doesn't disappoint, filling the screen with the type of excellent screen composition that his old collaborator Budd Boetticher was known for and from whom he no doubt learned to direct.
The afore mentioned direction, good production values, and exciting action sequences, as well as the performances of Brynner, Oates, Akins and Emilio Fernandez all help make up for the slow spots in the script.
Speaking of Warren Oates, the same year he also starred in the art-house/drive-in western The Shooting. Such a great actor he is, that Oates doesn't even seem like the same person in both movies! Three years later, he and villain Fernandez were opposite each other again in The Wild Bunch.
Burt Kennedy was one of the best and least heralded directors that the western genre has to offer. Here, he doesn't disappoint, filling the screen with the type of excellent screen composition that his old collaborator Budd Boetticher was known for and from whom he no doubt learned to direct.
The afore mentioned direction, good production values, and exciting action sequences, as well as the performances of Brynner, Oates, Akins and Emilio Fernandez all help make up for the slow spots in the script.
Speaking of Warren Oates, the same year he also starred in the art-house/drive-in western The Shooting. Such a great actor he is, that Oates doesn't even seem like the same person in both movies! Three years later, he and villain Fernandez were opposite each other again in The Wild Bunch.