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For this task I will be comparing Seven Samurai (1954) with its remakes, The Magnificent Seven (1960) and The Magnificent Seven (2016).
In 1954 Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai was released, a film about a group of samurai who are hired to protect a village from bandits. Despite the basic framework of the the plot, several themes are explored over its three and a half hour runtime. Some of the themes in Seven Samurai include honor, society and class and morality and ethics. In 1960 the film was remade into the western ‘The Magnificent Seven’ and in 2016 it was remade again. The simple concept of Seven Samurai lends itself to many possibilities, Antoine Fuqua, the director of the 2016 remake said, “These guys could be knights, they could be cops, guys on the streets today. Any concept of going in to help people who can’t help themselves, you can do.” Because the plot is a universal underdog story as well as being applicable to several time periods, it lends itself well to any possible remake, and this is why it has had such an influence on so many films.
The most apparent difference between Seven Samurai and its remakes are the change in setting, time period and genre. Feudal Japan is swapped out for the old west and so we end up with a Western instead of a Samurai film, Samurai being replaced by cowboys. The choice to remake the film into a western in 1960 reflects what genre was popular at the time in America as a direct remake of a samurai film would be harder to get financed and would be less likely to make money in the US. The 1960 remake stars Yul Brynner, Charles Bronson, and Steve McQueen and most recently in 2016 actors such as Chris Pratt, Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke play the cowboys. From these casting decisions alone we can tell that both remakes had large budgets and were aiming to appeal to mass audiences with their casting of american movie stars. It is also worth noting that the most contemporary remake has a much more racially diverse seven leads whereas the 1960 version did not.
Whilst the foundations of the story and the basic plot points are kept the same in the remakes, there are several aspects which have been changed in order to make a more conventional and accessible action movie. In both remakes the runtime is significantly reduced; Seven Samurai is three and a half hours where as the remakes are both just over 2 hours, this is likely because the remakes did not explore the themes in as much depth as the original as well as trying not to put off general audiences with a film over 3 hours long. Another few changes that were made from the original would be the main villain, in Seven Samurai there isn’t a villainous character that is developed on as much as we see in most films, instead the film opts to give the villain a backseat, one appears at the beginning and doesn't re appear till the end of the film, this gives the film a sense of impending danger as we are building up to the inevitable return of the bandits. Because the villain isn’t shown through the main portion of the film it means that we are given more time to see the samurai bond with one another as well as see their relationships with the villagers they’re protecting. In the remakes however the villain is more developed and in the 2016 remake there is even a revenge subplot introduced as well, this makes the film more of a crowd pleaser rather than have the unconventional approach to a villain that the original had. Another difference is that the deaths of any characters in the remakes is much more over stylised and heroic whereas in the original they choose not to do this in order for the deaths of the heroes to feel like collateral damage of the battle, giving us a sense of hopelessness which the film ends on for the surviving samurai. To develop on what i touched upon before regarding the lack of exploration of the themes; there are certain themes regarding honor and social issues that do not translate well to the western genre, for instance the honor system of samurais in Japan isn’t applicable to cowboys as being a Samurai is an honor which must be earned. And also there are certain social issues raised in the original that are exclusive to Japan post WW2 and wouldn’t appeal to an american audience.
To conclude. Seven Samurai has a basic concept which is applicable to several situations and can be enjoyed by a wide audience. In the US remakes they stick to the basic premise though differences regarding the setting, runtime, themes and action, make for more conventional and crowd pleasing action movies.
References:
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-ca-mn-seven-samurai-magnificent-seven-20160913-snap-story.html
http://www.vox.com/2016/9/26/13024144/magnificent-seven-samurai-hollywood-remakes
http://www.shmoop.com/seven-samurai/themes.html