Rating: 
Summary: Brilliant
Review: I saw this film some years ago and I have never seen anything better - they might be better colour and better action, but not a better story! This is the best film I've seen. A lot of Directors should watch this film and take notes, then hopefully we'ed be saved from seeing a lot of expensive rubbish that we have now. Perhaps less money and better scripts would be good.
Rating:
Summary: Bergman asks: how do you visualise the unknowable?
Review: 'the Seventh Seal' is considered a bit ersatz by Bergmanophiles, a cartoon of man's search for Revelation compared to the complex and truly harrowing analyses of existence, relationships and art we find in the late films. But we don't have to take Antonius Block's quest too seriously to enjoy 'Seal'. The film isn't really about Man facing Death, but comparing Death, its 'reality' and real-life effects, with artists' attempts to represent it - through religion, allegory, music, theatre, art, song, the film itself; in effect encompass the unknowable (indeed, Block is the artist as God, creating the film from darkness with his opening words). Even 'real' death is made into a spectacle or pageant, as with the burning of the witch, or the procession of the plague victims. To express such a theme, Bergman contrives some astonishingly powerful images, as simple and stark and unforgettable and inscrutable as the art of the medieval world he recreates. 'Seal' is also a lot funnier, and thus more human, than its doom-and-gloom reputation might suggest.
Rating:
Summary: The Essence of Human Existence...
Review: "Questing" and "Questioning" are on the same intellectual, metaphysical, and aesthetic chain of movement...and we all move along that chain, either finally awake and aware...or asleep and unaware...following in the "dance of Death"......Death is certain...no one escapes...God is not so certain...but affirmation of his existence (even if beyond the terror and decaying matter of the created universe)is a matter of faith...not of knowledge that can ever be satisfied...certainly the connection between God and the universe of decaying matter and death...is far more complex and enigmatic than most religions and believers would have us accept...and it might well be that he does not exist...even beyond the Universe... even beyond man's knowing and striving to understand... but which is more "absurd": saying that one believes in God and yet living a life of lies, drunkenness, and debauchery as if there isn't one... or saying that there isn't one(or one does not know for sure if there is...or if one can ever be sure one way or the other) and living a life of orderly questing, ethical behavior, and thoughtful, earnest searching? ..."Carpe diem" or "Carpe deum"? ... ...the three most stark and revealing scenes in this film...TELL it all...or even better...SUGGEST it all... and it is really up to the individual viewer to be open and aware...or not...to receive...or turn away in disgust, fear, or derision...but has it not always been so when some artist, teacher, or prophet of profound insight has asked for some moments of mankind's "busy" life in order to ask him where he is going...why he is here...and why he believes what he believes? ...the knight talking to the silent, distorted wooden figure of Christ on the cross...the knight talking to Death...the leader of the flagellant penitents who searingly derides the gawking, apathetic, or fearful townspeople looking on...for he picks out every human type in the crowd and "lashes" them for their "passive as Hindu cattle" attitudes [to borrow a phrase from "Fight Club"]... ...it may well be ironic if the speaker only represents the voice of the church trying to berate mankind into active involvement with meaning and existence...and it would be awful to think that(in the face of the devastating death all around them and the willingness of some of the "faithful" to whip themselves to gain God's forgiveness or favor...while others look on in hypnotic fervor and awe...simply as an affirmation of "taught" faith) it was simply the voice of church doctrine alone that could so well "know" their types... as the farmer told the visiting tourist after he had whacked his mule on the side of the head with a 2x4 board: "First, you have to get their attention!" ...wake them up from their lethargy, disinterest, distractedness, fantasy living...from their sleep-walking and acceptance of the programmed illusion of life's "meaning" and its lures and supposed promises... ...but if you try to "preach" they won't listen...so get the message through, indirectly, by allegory and art...it is not for nothing that the head of the troop of actors calls himself the "director"...and what "lives" on after us? ... ...as for those who can see no meaning in this film... no relevance except their pique at its lack of color or not being spoken in English...that says volumes...but not about the flaws or poverty of the film...look again at the image of the silent, dead corpse along the road...whose eyes are gone..."all of this is not without meaning"... Bergman is a master artist with his black-and-white imagery and compositions...the master BEFORE Antonioni... but he is a master of thoughtful, tell-the-Truth-and- tell-it-all insight as well...
Rating:
Summary: Seventh Wonder
Review: To those who already know this film--you may have it on video? Well you owe it to yourself to get this DVD version. The restoration is remarkable. The optional on-screen commentary by Peter Cowie is priceless to those who love this classic film. To anyone who has never seen this work--you are missing one of the best bits of movie-making to come out of any country--period. This is truly a touchstone work. Many a film-maker has stolen elements from this film just as many a musician has stolen from Lennon and McCartney. I don't mean that in a disparaging way...it's just what happens to works of art that are so original and impressive as The Seventh Seal.
Rating:
Summary: Timeless
Review: There are too many reviews here already. If anyone gets this far, just know that the Criterion edition of this film is by far the best translation to English. The film? If you have not seen it, you must. Of all of Bergman's films, this one has the most compelling characters, as well as the best use of humor to engage one in a most disturbing premise. I laughed a lot more than I cried.
Rating:
Summary: Christian catharsis
Review: Ingmar Bergman's own self-confessed religious catharsis is a powerful piece. In Bergman's own words, "This movie is about fear of death." A knight from the Christian crusades begins to question whether or not killing people for Christ is such a great idea. He is faced with his own death and plays a game of chess with Death to buy himself enough to time to find out if there is a God. In an astonishingly insightful and moving scene, the "white knight" played by Max von Sydow kneels in the Confessional begging the priest to tell him why God won't show himself. Why must he wonder that God exists. "We make an image out of our fear and call that image, 'God.'" Most movies, particularly in the modern era, have limited depth. But, Ingmar Berman's masterpiece goes straight to the heart of human fear. "What man can stand on the edge of oblivion (that is death) and believe that nothing lies on the other side." Spiritually, emotionally, humanly moving. This movie is a wonderful experience.
Rating:
Summary: Overwhelming....
Review: I first saw this film as part of a History of Cinema course in college. I remember sitting down in the library's A.V. section prepared to take notes for the paper I would have to write. By the film's end, I had all of two words written. This is a remarkable piece of work. It will either awaken a thirst for answers or will it leave you shell-shocked. I was shell-shocked. It seems like a simple allegory - a little fable to make you think. Seriously, how are you supposed to take a knight challenging Death to a chess match ? What are you to make of a squire who is afraid of death, but totally willing to put himself on the line for a woman he doesn't know ? What are you expected to take from a bad acting troupe whose kind-hearted is enough to make you cry ? But that's just the beauty of this film. It makes an impact that you don't quite notice until it's too late. One point : after years of consideration, I've come to all kinds of conclusions about this film. The strongest of these conclusions is this - if you see no other part of this film, see the scene with the traveling group of priests and devotees. It's brutal. Not just physically, but mentally. In the midst of death hysteria, the priest's sermon is without a doubt one of the greatest abuses of power you may ever see on film. The only sermon that has stuck with me as closely as this one is the one in James Joyce's "Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man" about the concept of eternal damnation. See this film. If you're an enthusiast, don't call yourself a collector until you buy this. It's definitely worth the time.
Rating:
Summary: Astounding!
Review: utter surprise (and a very pleasant one I might add indeed); I must say, state and verily write that I do consider it to be the best Swedish movie that I have seen so far. Von Sydow is excellent in his portrayal of the knight (whom plays chess with death); and his performance is filled with vigor, fortitude and resolve. The actor (whose name for some reason or other I cannot remember) whom plays death is also very talented. Overall, I would and will definitely (and by any means) recommend this movie, i.e., The Seventh Seal - Criterion Collection DVD ~ Gunnar Björnstrand as I see it as the pinnacle of Swedish movie making.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic Mastering and transfer
Review: Well done again criterion
Rating:
Summary: spectacular
Review: This movie is a masterpiece don't get me wrong but everyone seems to think that the chess game with death is original to this film where as it is actually taken from viking mytholgy when eric the red returns and plays a game of chess with death ( but sweden is a viking area) but don't let this disparage you from buying this excellent film
| 
