Seven' DVD novel among Western genre A nRS Monday, June 4, 2001- The Michigan Daily - 11 o ey talks: Portrait uf m.iddleA class U.S.oA. By Lyle Henretty Daily Arts Writer John Sturges' 1960 reworking D Akira Kurosawa's epic "The Seven Samurai" is not simply mother Oat Opera where you can spot a good guy for miles due to the gleam off of his shiny fhe white hat. Magnificent "The Magnif- icent Seven," Seven:Sea in retrospect, Edition DVD changed a l l MGM Home Video the genre rules and ecame a bridge between the sweeping long shots of John Ford to the uncomfortable close- Ups of Sergio Leone. While the bad guy (Eli Wal- ach playing Mexican) is still the sort that may eat children, the good guys are gunslingers who fully realize that they kill people money. Sure, they kill mostly ad guys, but the more worldly >f the group yearn for the nor- malcy of children and jobs that nvolve death less directly. Yul Brenner and Steve (cool >ersonified) McQueen lead the to defend an entire town against the evil Calvera (Wallach). While there is a great deal of humor and cornball antics as the gun- slingers attempt to arm the town and prepare them for Calvera's onslaught, the underlying theme is always the effect of violence. The townspeople simply fear it, while the men they hired both fear and make a living from it. For instance, gentleman slayer Lee (Robert Vaughn) is deter- mined that age has slowed his reflexes, and his outward arro- gance is permeated by an inward terror of being outgunned. MGM gives the film the treat- ment it deserves, including a forty-minute documentary, inter- spersing footage from the set, contemporary interviews with the remaining cast and archival interviews with Brenner, McQueen, and Sturges. A commentary track includes Coburn, Wallach and assistant director Walter Mirisch. The men mostly reminisce, and while Mirisch explains certain shots, the commentary will interest old film buffs more than serious film students. the disc are truly gems. While standard on newer films, it's always a joy to see what was used to make people interested in a particular movie. Each trailer includes a goofy (no other word to describe it) song about the "Seven," showcasing their tal- ents ("the violent one," "the dan- gerous one") culminating in Brenner, "their leader." Just as today, the advertise- ments seem more interested in portraying the film as a pigeon- holed genre pic than the ground- breaking (though heretofore unseen) epic that it really was. The sociological implications are wonderful, yet it is the film that is the true joy, both for its histor- ical importance and its sheer By Ryan Blay Daily Arts Writer America is no stranger to social com- mentary. Immortal literary characters such as Babbitt and Willy Loman lost their way in person turmoil. "American Beauty" followed Lester Burnham to Six Figures an Oscar. Six Fig- ures isn't quite in Fred G. Leebron their class, but it Grade: A comes awfully Harcourt close. M ai n c har ac te r Warner Lutz is unhappy. In Boston and San Francisco, lie was hailed as a visionary who could turn companies around. In Charlotte, lie hasn't found that magic. In fact, his job is in jeop- ardy, due to no fault of his own. To make matters worse, his daughter may have developmental problems, and his son is teething. He's living life as a series of bad days. His marriage is stressful, which has continued ever since their second child was born. Warner loves Megan, his wife, but often hates her at times. She once described him as "the most nega- tive person I've ever met." When comes as a surprise only to Warner that he is the main suspect. Megan's fatnily, his own family and the readers by this time have drawn their own conclusions. An award-winning writer, Leebron successfully manipulates his characters in a scathing critique of middle class life. Six Figures is in no way a straight- forward tale of envy and family. The real pleasure is in following Warner through his own psyche, thanks to Lee- bron's capacity for tapping into psy- chology and personal demons to make his characters real. For just 2 hours of your time! Participate in a research study involving reading some material and responding with your opinions, thoughts and feelings about various products and issues. You will need to attend two sessions, one week apart. The first session will be on either Friday, the 8th of June or Saturday, the 9th of June and the second session will be exactly a week later on Friday, the 15th of June or Saturday, the 16th of June. Each session will last no longer than 1 hour. You will be paid $20 at the end of the second session. To participate, please email tancjumich.edu.