Answers to Quiz

In a recent post, I posed the question:

Name the movies, and the thing they have in common.
"I hate all wretched people! I feel disgusted with them!"
"But who made us the way we are, huh? Men with guns."
"I'm from Earth. Ever heard of it?"

Well, I've received... no entries. None. Nada. Zip. Tiddly-Squat. 3/5 of 5/8 of Blogger All.

Here are the answers, anyway.

The Movies:
1) Shichinin no samurai, in English Seven Samurai, originally titled in the USA "The Magnificent Seven".
2) The Magnificent Seven
3) Battle Beyond the Stars

What they have in common: Identical Plot. A Poor Japanese Farming Village / Poor Mexican Farming Village / Poor Agricultural Planet is threatened by an attack by Ronin / Bandits / Space Pirates. A youngster is sent by the Village / Village / Planet Elders to find *Hungry* Samurai / Gunslingers / Mercenaries to help defend them.

Of the three, "Battle Beyond the Stars" has the worst script, but the best characterisation. The Special Effects are technically good, just deliberately very cornball, and the film as a whole is somewhat tongue-in-cheek. Robert Vaughn plays exactly the same role that he did in "The Magnificent Seven", but does so rather better. George Peppard's role as a rather decadent Cowboy from an ancient and ruined place no-one has heard of called "Earth" is a minor gem.

"Seven Samurai" has the best Cinematography - but you'd expect that from Akiro Kurosawa.

"The Magnificent Seven" is one of the few Westerns that even I've heard of.

I should have included a fourth quote:

Remember, there is no such thing as sex in our country

from "Dikij Vostok", in English "The Wild East". The plot of this one is when a group of Dwarves leave the circus in Kazakhstan, and need seven helpers to defend them against a group of marauding biker bandits.

Not many people know that.