The Steve McQueen Collection (DVD)

I know this will seem like blasphemy, but I had never seen a Steve McQueen film until screening this collection from MGM. I knew enough about the man and the films he had been in simply by running this site and adding him into the database, but I had yet to see any of his movies. But now I have, and I certainly know understand all the praise.

McQueen has a certain flare, a certain style to his acting, and while I wasn't entirely impressed with all four of these films in this collection I did enjoy a couple of these features thoroughly.

Starting off with my least liked film, let me give you my impression on The Thomas Crown Affair. First of all, the 1999 Pierce Brosnan remake is one of my favorites, I loved every minute of it. Taking that into consideration I had a certain idea of who Thomas Crown was and what he should do before watching a single frame of this feature, which meant McQueen had to fill a certain role for me, of which I did not think he did. McQueen is a rough and rugged guy, from which you will find out in the other three features, I didn't think he had the class, or style, to carry off the likes of Thomas Crown, nor do I think he would have been able to seduce Faye Dunaway's sexy character, Vicki, the way he did. Needless to say, I never really bought into the film, and it simply doesn't have the appeal the remake does in my mind.

As for the rest of the collection you have three gems in The Great Escape, The Magnificent Seven and Junior Bonner, each with their own style, and two of them only featuring McQueen in a supporting role.

Of the remaining three Junior Bonner, a film about a rodeo cowboy returning home to his somewhat dysfunctional family, finds McQueen in the lead role as JR Bonner. Out of all four films in the set this is the most human and heartfelt story as McQueen captures the role of Bonner perfectly making a seemingly boring film about a rodeo family extremely interesting and emotional.

Now the next two aren't exactly secrets in the world of movies as The Great Escape and The Magnificent Seven are a couple of John Sturges films that have received great notoriety over the years, and for good reason... they are spectacular. Of the two The Magnificent Seven is certainly my favorite as westerns simply aren't done like this anymore, if they are done at all. On top of that, both, The Great Escape and Magnificent Seven, bring together ensemble casts that rival the likes of Ocean's Eleven.

Featuring names such as Yul Brynner, Eli Wallach, Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, Robert Vaughn, James Coburn, Vladimir Sokoloff, James Garner, Richard Attenborough, James Donald and Donald Pleasence these two films bring together so many classic actors in their prime it is amazing. Of the group McQueen impressed me of course but it was also a joy to watch James Garner, Charles Bronson and James Coburn in their earlier roles as I am so used to seeing them as they are now, it was quite a treat.

As for special features, throughout this collection they are rather limited.

The Thomas Crown Affair has an audio commentary with director Norman Jewison, Junior Bonner has an audio commentary with three authors who have all written books on director Sam Peckinpah, The Great Escape has a 24-minute making-of documentary and finally is The Magnificent Seven, which has the best features of the bunch and really the only features besides The Great Escape documentary that I suggest you watch.

The Magnificent Seven features a making-of documentary that is 100 percent enjoyable as you learn about all the on set antics that went on as each and every actor tried to outdo one another, primarily McQueen and Brynner. On top of that, the commentary with James Coburn, Eli Wallach, producer Walter Mirisch and assistant director Robert Relyea as amazing and fun to listen to the whole way through. The four men rehash the old days and it is as if you are in the room with them loving every minute of it.

Overall, I enjoyed this set, but I would recommend taking a second look at buying the complete collection depending on your taste. If it was up to me I would probably only purchase The Magnificent Seven and The Great Escape if it was my money, but if you are a McQueen fan you can't go wrong with this one and for only $37.47 at Amazon, what are you waiting for?