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| Brad
Pitt, Morgan Freeman, Gwyneth Paltrow and Kevin Spacey |
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Anamorphic
widescreen |
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Dolby Digital
5.1 |
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DTS |
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Trailer(s) |
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Featurette(s) |
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Documentary |
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Audio commentary
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Deleted scenes
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Concept art
/ storyboards |
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Multi-angle
feature |
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Detective
Somerset: "This isn't going to have a happy ending."
Two
homicide detectives go on a desperate search for a serial killer who
uses the seven deadly sins as his calling card.
 The
release and commercial success of Se7en was like a bomb going
off under the conventional Hollywood thriller. With a screenplay specifically
designed, Tyler Durden-like, to upset audience expectations and an overpowering
visual style that brings the viewer as close to a sensation of Hell
as one would like to get, its schoolboy-style pranksterism is offset
by its sombre and disturbing outlook on society. But though its visual
style has redefined its genre's aesthetics, all subsequent imitations
(and there have been quite a few so far) have fallen back on more audience-friendly
narrative thriller conventions. Darker and much more disturbing than
the previous 'definitive' serial killer movie The
Silence of the Lambs, Fincher's breakthrough piece strips the
killer mythos of all its gothic trappings and reduces its heroes to
ineffectual detectives following and documenting the trail the killer
lays out for them. The killer is the only character in the film with
any influence over the development of the film's narrative, while Brad
Pitt's character is the embodiment of audience expectations for traditional
police thrillers. And as the narrative sets him up for the ultimate
fall, so does it set up the audience.
The movie has been criticized for drenching the viewer in ugliness,
and I certainly wouldn't recommend it to those with a strong belief
in the fundamental goodness of humanity. It's a movie that offers a
diagnosis, not a cure, as neither detective is able to counter any of
John Doe's arguments for doing what he did. As played by Kevin Spacey,
John Doe is a controlled, intelligent force of evil that only Somerset
understands you can't argue with. His character provides the movie with
its soul: the challenging thought that evil cannot be vanquished but
one must nevertheless keep fighting may prove too gloomy for many a
viewer, but still sets this contemporary classic leagues apart from
would-be imitations like The
Bone Collector and Copycat. Se7en sees the good
guys go down without even a fighting chance, and though it's a rough
ride, it's one you really should take. |
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Previously
released as a flipper disc in Region 1 and a mediocre Dolby Surround
presentation in Region 2, the R1 New Line Platinum Series 2-disc set
is now the only DVD version of this film worth your while. It has been
released in Region 2 in two slightly different versions, one for the
UK and one for the Netherlands and Belgium [see separate R2
review]. This review deals only with the R1 version.
The
anamorphic widescreen image is framed at 2.35:1. This is an incredible
presentation, struck from the original negative under David Fincher's
personal supervision. The movie has never looked like this before, not
in theaters and not on the laserdisc. Detail in every shot is clear
and overwhelming, as are the colours (all newly color-corrected). The
only flaws I detected are some shimmering edges in indoor scenes and
light moire patterns on the outsides of buildings, but it's never distracting.
The audio
mix has had a complete working over, with a near field mix used to
fully immerse the viewer. It's been specifically mixed for DVD, and
both the Dolby Digital EX 5.1 mix and the DTS ES 6.1 mix are terrific.
I found the DTS to be slightly boomy at times but it does provide
a wider soundstage than the DD track. Dialogue in the opening scenes
is a bit harder to follow due to the very present rain sounds in the
audio mix but that's the only time it's a bit too much. The chase
scene and the opening title sequence with the Nine Inch Nails track
are great pieces to check your settings.
 New
Line has provided four audio commentary tracks on the first disc
with each commentary dealing with a specific element of the movie:
- "The Stars"
is a commentary from director David Fincher with actors Brad Pitt and
Morgan Freeman. Fincher and Pitt are recorded together and there's a
relaxed atmosphere as the two remember their experiences during the
production and talking about their thoughts on getting the movie out
as Fincher and Pitt wanted (check for the "the people who made this
movie should be killed" remark). Freeman analyzes his performance and
how he works with different directors.
- "The Story"
is the most informative and has author and film critic Richard Dyer,
Screenwriter Andrew Kevin Walker, editor Richard Francis-Bruce, president
of production at New Line Michael De Luca and David Fincher, all recorded
separately. Dyer is the track's host and he focuses on the story structure,
images and subject matter. Walker provides details about the inspirations
and thoughts about the subject matter, as does Fincher.
-
"The Picture" is a commentary from Richard Dyer, David Fincher, editor
Richard Francis-Bruce, cinematographer Darius Khondji and production
designer Arthur Max. As expected, this is the most technical of the
commentaries but still interesting and makes you appreciate the enormous
amount of detail in the movie.
- "The Sound" has comments by Richard Dyer, David Fincher, composer
Howard Shore and sound designer Ren Klyce (who adds the most interesting
remarks). When the commentary is silent, the isolated score in Dolby
Digital 5.1 is playing. And as Fincher says 'there's sound everywhere'
so this is obviously an important and interesting aspect of the overall
picture and one you don't hear described in detail that often.
 The
second disc has great extras but the most satisfying aspect of it all
is that everything on this disc is presented in anamorphic quality,
which greatly adds to the quality of the overall package. Another great
thing is the presentation of most of the extras in pieces ranging from
5 to 15 minutes, with subtly underscored music and commentary on top.
It all adds up to a relaxed viewing of all these extras and it's the
first time with a special edition DVD of this scale that I managed to
take it all in in a single viewing.
There's a great presentation on how this DVD was optimized for
the home theater with commentaries from the people involved in aspects
of audio mastering, video mastering, color correction and the Telecine
gallery (where the viewer can experience the differences between
the original release and the new release in three scenes with the audio
and angle buttons allowing the viewer to go back and forth). The same
method is used for the opening title sequence exploration, with
different commentaries, angles and audio options (Dolby Digital EX,
DTS ES, Stereo Surround Sound or 24bit/96k stereo). The deleted scenes
section contains extensions of existing scenes with the exception of
a different opening sequence. These scenes can be viewed with an optional
commentary by director David Fincher. Also included here is an animated
storyboard sequence for an original opening with a train scene. The
alternate ending is not that different from the one we all know,
but is great with the optional commentary from director David Fincher,
as is an animated set of storyboards for an ending that was not filmed.
Very impressive are the photo gallery of production designs presented
in video with music and commentary and John Doe's snapshots of
Victor's decomposition and crime scene photos used in the film,
all with commentary. The creation of John Doe's notebooks is
covered in a special featurette with commentary from the people involved.
Also a theatrical trailer, the orginal electronic press kit
(a featurette for the movie) and some great DVD-ROM material.
Right
from the bat you know this is going to be an awesome DVD in every aspect:
all the menus are done in sync with the look and design of the movie,
with easy navigation to all the different screens. The ambient sounds
are everywhere as are the John Doe character's notebook layouts.
Dan
Hassler-Forest & Gerard
Castelein
Reviewed: 2001
Click
here for IMDB info on Se7en.
Click here
to return to the front page.
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