7 MEN FROM NOW

DVD Review by David Blackwell

DETAILS: 78 minutes, audio commentary, three featurettes, two trailers, and photo gallery

STUDIO: Paramount/ Batjac

RELEASE DATE: 12-20-2005

7 MEN FROM NOW is a classic western starring randolph Scott and lee Marvin.   Both actors have been in a number of Westerns over the length of their careers.  With 7 MEN FROM NOW airing on TCM on Dec 21th after a documentary about director Budd Boetticher is a good way to attract people to this DVD when they see it in the stores or an online place like Amazon.com

Scott is an ex-sheriff who is out for revenge after seven men rob a bank and kill his wife.   He catches up with the first two at the start of 7 MEN FROM NOW and he ends up travelling with a man he once put in jail (Lee Marvin) and a married couple who are going to California.  For a 78 minute film, 7 MEN FROM NOW has it's moments and keeps you watching to the very end including the usual things you expect from westerns released at the time.   The movie is from John Wayne's production company, Batjac, and I will keep looking for more Batjac produced films to come out from Paramount including the four films (TRACK OF THE CAT, MAN IN THE VAULT, RING OF FEAR, and PLUNDER IN THE SUN) that were postponed from being released on the same day as 7 MEN FROM NOW.

VIDEO: 1.85 (Anamorphic Widescreen)

The tranfer is good. Colors pop out and shadow values are OK. Image detail is good, but grain is noticeable in some scenes.

AUDIO: English 2.0 Dolby Digital Mono

Subtitles: English

SPECIAL FEATURES: The audio commentary by James Kitses (Film Historian and Author) sounds too much like a lecture. BUDD BOETTICHER- AN AMERICAN ORIGINAL is a series of seven featurettes (AMERICANO/ BURT KENNEDY, WRITER/ DUKE, RANDY, & BUDD: THE BEGINNING OF SEVEN MEN FROM NOW/ LOVABLE VILLAINS & STRONG WOMEN/ KEEPING IT SIMPLE/ THE LAST MATADOR/ RESTORING THE LEGEND) running fifty minutes in total. they look at 7 MEN FROM NOW, Budd's dream project, his fall from Hollywood, and the restoration of 7 MEN FROM NOW. Interviews with other directors including Clint Eastwood and Quentin Tarantino as they talk about Budd are featured in addition to an interview with Budd Boetticher.

THE JOHN WAYNE STOCK COMPANY: GAIL RUSSELL focuses on the roles Gail had in John Wayne movies and productions. LONE PINE is all about the famous location used in 7 MEN FROM NOW and other westerns (with talk about the Lone Pine Film Festival too). Rounding out the extras are a Batajac Trailer, the original theatrical trailer for 7 MEN FROM NOW, and a photo gallery.

FINAL ANALYSIS: 7 MEN FROM NOW is a classic western with a great restoration job and great special features like the previous Batjac DVD releases.