EW reviews ''The Steve McQueen Collection''
Minimalist in speech, maxed out on macho, Steve McQueen was known more as the
poster child for cool than as a bona fide thespian. But his suave
virility usually overshadowed his limited craft, as with star-making
roles in director John Sturges' Great Escape and Magnificent Seven — the
highlights of MGM's mixed boxed set. The insouciance that serves him so
well as Escape's motorbiking WWII POW and Seven's upstart gunslinger is
sorely lacking, however, in Junior Bonner, a slow and bloodless rodeo
drama from Sam Peckinpah. And while McQueen works overtime in Norman
Jewison's original Thomas Crown Affair, which costars Faye Dunaway as his
notoriously erotic chess partner, the plot is too slight. EXTRAS A short
but dense making-of doc on Seven reinforces the McQueen legend, as
costars share anecdotes about the scene-stealer's attempts to make the
most of his 75 lines. Escape's 24-minute doc is equally compact and
compelling, but the moderated commentary among three historians on
Bonner and Jewison's apologetic remarks (''I never felt there was enough
story'') on Affair are snoozefests. Escape: A
Seven: B+
Bonner: C
Affair:
C+
