I've always been a fan of Steve McQueen, but lately my appreciation has really grown. I've noticed how he does most of his acting without speaking lines. He likes to physically react to things with his movements.

He reminds me of an American Daniel Craig. Tough and calm.

Anway, I've decided to sweep through his movies chronologically, many of which I've seen before but I'm going to watch again in order.

With one condition -- I'm going to start in 1960 with Magnificent Seven. It's been at least 15 years since I've watched it.

Steve McQueen is cool.

This movie is unusual because Yul Brynner would be the clear star of it (one of the main western roles for him), but McQueen's star was rising in 1960. There's all kinds of little touches you can see to try and accommodate them both as "alphas." The shots, the riding, etc. Always Yul and Steve.

This movie is boring to me. Very uplifting at times, and beautifully shot, but just seems to drag on predictably.

As you know, it's drawn from the Seven Samurai story.

McQueen had become a household name from the TV show Wanted: Dead or Alive (in which he played a bounty hunter, an ambiguous hero). He didn't make many western feature films, and this is his most well-known and acclaimed.

FYI, the Magnificent Seven also features young versions of James Coburn, Charles Bronson, Eli Wallach, and Robert Vaughn.

Steve McQueen is 100% man. Badass.

Okay, so Jay's gone homo for Steve McQueen.

What else is new?

Trying to compensate for the tea cozy thread.

nice thread jay. looking forward to more movies. cincinatti kid and bullett come to mind immediately, dont think i know a whole lot of his other films...

I can't wait 'til we get to The Getaway.

Oh, and The Blob, of course.

Addendum: Oops, The Blob was 1958, so we won't be talking about The Blob.

The Getaway... good one.

The original Thomas Crown Affair is one of my favorite heist films.

My highlights that I'm looking forward to include Cincinnati Kid, Bullitt, The Great Escape, and The Thomas Crown Affair. But I've heard some interesting things about his other films like Hell Is for Heroes and Le Mans.

Jimbo, maybe we'll make and exception for the Blob.

Looking forward to Cars and Cars 2.

I have not yet been able to get my hands on a copy of The Honeymoon Machine.

So I watched Hell is for Heroes (1962), which is available on Netflix. This was McQueen's first starring turn in a war movie, and it was one of my favorite straight war movies from the old days. This movie had no fluff-- it was like watching one extended Sgt. Rock comic book on screen.

McQueen played the perfect anti-hero -- all imperfect and drinkey from the very beginning. Questioning the war (WWII) as early as 1962 was all bad boy. (He wasn't loving on the Third Reich or anything, just all angsty about the nature of war and pitiful state of the world.

A small group of soldiers gets left to defend "Murder Ridge" without sufficient back up or big guns. They're pinned down by some Krauts who are holding a pillbox across the line.

I'm not going to sugarcoat this -- not everybody makes it.

Great movie to watch if you want an old time war movie feel, but one that sheds some of the corniness and starts moving into a grittier, eyes open view of WWII. This was Saving Private Ryan before all you drug-addled, slack-jawed hipsters were even a twinkle in yer daddy's eye.

Next up will probably be The War Lover (also 1962), as it is available on Netflix.

Steve McQueen was probably my father's favorite actor.

I liked him as Boon Hoggenbeck in the Reivers, even if the movie character was a little smarter than the one Faulkner created.

Mine, too. Seems like he was everybody's dad's favorite actor. He really burned hot in the 1960's. Made some really cool films, without too many turkeys at all. If you talk to any guy from the Baby Boomer generation or older, they think he's the coolest.

That's one reason I'm fascinated with him -- that excellent body of work in a short period of time, and all of it high on the "cool factor" scale.

By the way, this is an amazing deal -- I recently ordered the complete series of Wanted: Dead or Alive from Amazon for only 11.99.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002DH20PQ/?tag=imwan-20

A lot of people may not know this, but McQueen first became a household name by starring as a bounty hunter in this western TV show. It's really good.