This era has a shortage of "Real" men. American-born men are less Doc Savage and more Doc Holiday than yesteryear. This, I will cover after the line-up. As for the movie reboot, Hollywood hasn't come up with an original idea in a while; take the latest reboot, Thing, for example.
I'd like for fans to look up to actors these days and believe that they are truly tough. Bruce Willis can't do it forever, right?
The idea behind Mag 7...
The seven American gunmen were played by Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, James Coburn, Robert Vaughn, Brad Dexter, and Horst Buchholz. Their main adversary, the bandit Calvera, was played by Eli Wallach.
A Mexican village is periodically raided by bandits led by Calvera. As he and his men rode away from their latest visit, Calvera had promised to return for more booty and loot the village again.
Desperate to prevent this, the leaders of the village travel to a town just inside the American border to buy weapons with which to defend themselves. While there, they approach a veteran gunslinger, Chris. He suggests that they hire more gunfighters for their defense instead, stating that such men would be cheaper than guns and ammunition. They ask him to lead them, but Chris turns this down, telling them that a single man is not enough. They keep asking him, and then he finally agrees. Chris recruits six other fighting men even though the pay offered is not very much.
First to answer the call is the hotheaded, inexperienced Chico, but he is rejected. Harry Luck, an old friend of Chris, joins because he believes Chris is looking for treasure. Vin signs on after going broke from gambling. Other recruits include Bernardo O'Reilly, a gunfighter of Irish-Mexican heritage who is also broke, cowpuncher Britt, fast and deadly with his switchblade, and Lee, who is on the run and needs someplace to lie low until things cool down. Chico trails the group as they ride south and is eventually allowed to join them.
Even with seven, the group knows they will be vastly outnumbered by the bandits. However, their expectation is that once the bandits know they will have to fight, they will decide to move on to some other unprotected village, rather than bother with an all-out battle. Upon reaching the village the group begins training the residents. As they work together the gunmen and villagers begin to bond. The gunfighters enjoy a feast prepared by some of the women but they realize that the villagers are starving themselves so that the gunfighters will have enough to eat. They then stop eating and share the food with the village children. Chico finds a woman he is attracted to, Petra, and Bernardo befriends the children of the village, although he can never imagine himself as one of the villagers themselves. Although these paternal tendencies will have fatal consequences, the villagers come to respect and even admire him. Lee, meanwhile, struggles with nightmares and fears the loss of his skills.
Calvera comes back and is disappointed to find the villagers have hired gunmen. After a brief exchange, the bandits are chased away. Later, Chico, who is Mexican himself, and thus blends in, infiltrates the bandits' camp and returns with the news that Calvera and his men will not simply be moving on, as had been expected. They are planning to return in full force, as the bandits are also broke and starving, and need the crops from the village to survive.
The seven debate whether they should leave. Not having expected a full-scale war, some of the seven as well as some of the villagers are in favor of the group's departure but Chris adamantly insists that they will stay. They decide to make a surprise raid on the bandit camp but find it empty. Upon return to the village they are captured by Calvera's men who have been let into the village by those villagers fearful of the impending fight. Calvera spares the gunfighters' lives because he believes that they have learned that the farmers are not worth fighting for and because he fears American reprisals if they are killed.
Calvera has them escorted out of town and then contemptuously returns their guns and gunbelts.
Despite the odds against them, and despite their betrayal by the villagers, all of Chris' group except Harry decide to return and finish the job the next morning (Harry refuses to go back and face what he believes is certain death against such unfavorable odds). During the ensuing battle Harry returns in the nick of time to rescue Chris from certain death but is shot and fatally wounded. Bernardo is shot and killed protecting children he had befriended; Lee overcomes his fear of death and kills several men before he is shot dead. Britt is also slain but not before sticking his switchblade into the ground where he falls. Seeing the gunmen's bravery the villagers overcome their own fear, grab whatever they can as weapons, and join the battle. The bandits are routed and Calvera is shot by Chris. Puzzled, he asks why a man like Chris came back but dies without an answer. The Old Man in village is saying goodbye to them and claims :"You're like the wind - blowing over the land and... passing on"...¡Vayan con Dios! As the three survivors leave Chico decides to stay with Petra. Chris and Vin ride away, pausing briefly at the graves of their fallen comrades. Chris observes, "The Old Man was right. Only the farmers won. We lost. We'll always lose."
These are the men I've chosen to usher a new breed of tough amongst the weak...
Chris Meloni replaces Yul Brynner as Chris Adams
Keannu Reeves actually looks similar to him but no way was I using him and Statham would be ideal however, Meloni is the better actor of the 2
Clive Owen replaces Eli Wallach as Calvera
Owen has a very steely-eyed, worn look to him that very much reminds me of Wallach.
Daniel Craig replaces Steve McQueen as Vin
This one is a given and is in no need of an explanation as far as I'm concerned
Luke Pasqualino replaces Horst Buchholz as Chico
The 2nd to last cast. A hard one to fill but, in the end, the young Luke would do well to become the tag-along kid
Javier Bardem replaces Charles Bronson as Bernardo O'Reilly
Bardem, for my money, is the perfect actor to honor Bronson. Bardem, Craig, Owen and (the not used)Wahlberg and Jackman are some of the toughest actors to come along this decade, IMO.
Tobey Maguire replaces Robert Vaughn as Lee
Not exactly a tough guy per say, but nonetheless, the appropriate actor to become the man-on-the-run due to his extraordinary acting capabilities.
Jon Hamm replaces Brad Dexter as Harry Luck
He looks very little like him, but like Meloni, has an old school look and is a fantastic actor with loads of charisma (Schrieber was my first choice)
Benicio del Toro replaces James Coburn as Britt
It's in the eyes of each man. Look at each one, understand the roles each one has taken over the years and (I dare you to) disagree
Jon Voight replaces Vladimir Sokoloff as The Old Man
To be fair, I don't recall this role. though it's undeniably important. I felt Voight, at 72, was a healthy fit for this western.
Shelbie Bruce replaces Rosenda Monteros as Petra
At 18, and 3 years younger than Luke's Chico, the daughter in Spanglish is a great addition to a great Western.
OTHERS.......
Fillion, Hemsworth, Elba, Boreanaz, Damon, Hunnam, Eckhart, Cheadle, Gigandet, Jane, Brolin, and I'm sure there's a very small amount more (under 50) that I'm missing all have that old school appeal and can convincingly be a tough guy but there was no place for them in this movie. Feel free to mention any other actors you feel deserve to be considered.
THOUGHTS I found (and agree with) online......
Where have the cleft-chinned stars gone?
Not so long ago, Hollywood’s male stars were men’s men. Think John Wayne, Robert Mitchum, Humphrey Bogart and Steve McQueen.
Over the decades, that generation has given way to the likes of Johnny Depp, Keanu Reeves, Brendan Fraser and Tom Cruise.
“In a global culture, so what if the tough guys come from another country?” asks producer Sean Daniel, who padded “Mummy” with Hong Kong action stars Jet Li and Michele Yeoh. “It’s one big movie culture.”
Not atypically, the year’s top-grossing film, “The Dark Knight,” stars Brits Christian Bale and Michael Caine alongside the late Heath Ledger, from Down Under.
Even New Yorker Woody Allen is drawing his male stars from Europe, with Spain’s Javier Bardem in “Vicky Cristina Barcelona,” Britain’s Ian McShane in “Scoop” and Scotland’s Ewan McGregor and Ireland's Colin Farrell in “Cassandra’s Dream.”
Two of the top rising action stars right now are both from the U.K.: “300” star Gerard Butler and Jason Statham (“Death Race”).
“We all wish there were five more guys like Jason Statham,” says producer Mark Gill. “There’s no shortage of roles for them. There’s a shortage of guys who can plausibly do them. The more expensive the budget, the narrower the list.”
Where did America’s tough guys go?
Along with stars in the classic mold like Charles Bronson and Charlton Heston, the ’50s and ’60s brought more self-conscious method acting, men who revealed their sensitive side, like Brando, Jack Nicholson, Robert De Niro, Paul Newman, Robert Redford and Warren Beatty. These men explored irony, questioned authority and knew how to engage with a psychotherapist.
Of course, movie stars are a reflection of their times and culture. Ours is no longer the era of straight-ahead nationalism.
****NOTE FROM AGER... I hate that we've lost pride for America; it kills me
“It’s like the crisis of the American male,” says screenwriter Kirsten Smith (“The House Bunny”). “We just can’t find a real man.”
“Steve McQueen felt less was better,” says Relyea, “Less lines, less everything. In ‘The Magnificent Seven’ when he was going up Boot Hill, he took out a shotgun shell and shook it by his ear. He did it so well you believed it. If someone does it today they make it a three-act play and it’s phony. These guys had a masculinity and toughness that came across. McQueen didn’t give a damn who his makeup man was. It’s not fashionable for actors to be all-American men now; they have to be strange and different.”
Which is perhaps one explanation for the surprise success of AMC’s “Mad Men”: Star Jon Hamm reminds auds what ’60s stars used to be like: laconic, mysterious … and masculine.
That is all...